Page 96 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

HR PRACTICES AND PROCESSES THAT MAKE SUSTAINABLE VALUES STICK 75

organization to cohere. Empathic leadership, self-awareness and respectful under-
standing of others, refined communication skills, mentoring—these practices shape the
culture and make it stick. If people in an organization are the bricks of a culture, then
the culture-building practices of an organization serve as the mortar—the green glue—
that holds it together. The vision of a green bottom line company is indistinct from the
way that company’s culture is constructed and practiced. The vision of a green bottom
line company is its culture, and the culture, in many ways, is its vision.
Businesses typically work from a vision that gets translated into a multi-year stra-
tegic plan that, in turn, leads to various tactical initiatives. The business has a blue-
print for where it wants to go and how it intends to achieve its objectives. Creating a
vision, defining shared values, assessing the struggles impeding the creation of a
high-performance team, developing initiatives and processes for improvement, meas-
uring the company’s progress—these standard elements of a company’s blueprint
determine how its culture is shaped and the critical role people play in creating it. The
green bottom line company, instead, has what I like to call a greenprint. A greenprint
begins with a central question: How can we build a sustainable business model with
processes that will hold it together? The fundamental response to that question—a
company’s strategic greenprint for operating sustainably over the long term—is all
about people.
What inspires people in an organization? I believe that the shared values and beliefs
of a leadership team can trigger intellectual activity, excitement about direction, and
greater commitment. A leadership team that can inspire, develop, and empower peo-
ple within an organization will create a well-run machine, but studies report that most
people in organizations use only 5 to 10 percent of their abilities at work. But if peo-
ple are using only 5 to 10 percent of their abilities on the job, they must be applying
the rest to other activities that bring meaning to their lives.
After a decade working with Melaver, Inc., it is clear that the company’s focus on
sustainability inspires people to give well beyond 10 percent of their abilities. They
feel good about their reduction in carbon emissions, their reduced consumption of
energy and water, and their general stewardship of the environment. They also feel
good about giving back to the community through a strong sense of civic responsibil-
ity. Perhaps most importantly, Melaver, Inc. staff members feel good about the sense
of belonging they have within a culture they helped shape.
The company’s belief in what it does, this green glue, does more than hold the
company together. It impacts the community such that others start getting stuck to it
as well. The company discovers a network of people beyond its walls watching what
it does, and what they find is indeed inspiring. This company “gets it.” But it took
considerable time and effort for this passionate and talented group of people to pull
it together.
It takes a significant investment for an organization of people to open themselves
up to feedback from others. As a coach, I tell leaders that they will likely receive feed-
back that they could improve their communication style. After seminars and coaching
sessions, they still struggle. At Melaver, Inc., some changes are visible only after con-
stant coaching and practicing of skills until they become internalized. It takes time to