Page 63 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

42 CHAPTER 2

rhetoric. Section four takes into account the history of a business’ culture,
focusing on the synthesis of change and continuity. In section five, the
author looks at the costs and benefits of the glue binding a green culture,
updating the financial analysis begun in Chapter 1. In the final section, she
summarizes her study.

Building a Culture
of Community

How does a fast-moving, innovative, values-driven company that is focused on the well
being of the land and community around it take care of its own small community of peo-
ple? Can it afford to spend time (and money) on so-called soft issues when there is so
much work out there to be done? Can it afford not to? Can a company aspiring to sus-
tainable real estate practices be sustainable if it is constantly turning over its workforce or
otherwise engaging in practices that do not nurture and cherish its own human capital?
This chapter addresses such questions, telling the story of how Melaver, Inc. devel-
oped the culture of community now in place. The company journey required leader-
ship’s awareness of the company’s future direction, the provision of internal resources
needed to follow that direction, and the ability to recruit and develop the right people
to get them there. My role as a consultant included guiding Melaver, Inc.’s management
team toward an assessment of individual and corporate values, creation of a values-
centric organizational design, articulation of a shared vision, methodologies for work-
ing collaboratively despite distinct and diverse management styles, and the development
of HR processes that would move the company toward its vision of becoming a thought
and product leader in sustainable practices, internally and externally. As the journey
evolved, people went through personal transitions that required leaders to learn how to
coach their colleagues through change as well as manage such change themselves.
My work started at the top with Martin Melaver, CEO of the company, and then
broadened over time to include every staff member at Melaver, Inc. I engaged in one-
on-one coaching with the management team, worked to develop a performance team,
facilitated meetings and retreats, and collaborated with other Melaver partners. My
focus has been to assist this innovative company to become the sustainable pioneer
and learning company it aspired to be as well as to ensure that leaders focused on peo-
ple and process as they decided what to become and how to become what they envi-
sioned. This chapter speaks to years of dedicated, diligent work by the Melaver team.
Their work was accomplished at day-long meetings, annual retreats, in one-on-one
coaching and feedback sessions, and by internally driven team efforts.