Leading change for sustainable development

Promoting sustainable development involves people working together to initiate and drive change. To do this, individuals and groups need leadership capacity. In this unit you will learn how to manage your own development as a leader, explore your values and purpose as an emerging sustainability leader, and reflect on which leadership roles are likely to suit you best. Starting with the concept of ‘self-leadership’, you will develop key skill sets that sustainability leaders need, and learn about approaches/strategies that are commonly used in this context. You will also have the opportunity to explore real case studies and learn from experienced sustainability leaders.
We define ‘leadership’ as a process of influence that delivers a shared vision (direction), the alignment of resources towards that vision, and personal commitment to collective success. From this perspective, leadership is not a position. It is a group-based process of influence that involves capacities that people and groups can learn. The unit differs from traditional MBA-style leadership education and training in that it focuses on the theoretical frameworks/models, leadership roles, case studies, tools and skill sets from the vast leadership literature that are most relevant to sustainable development practitioners.
A key part of the unit is to build your own individual leadership development plan, drawing on concepts, principles and methods of sustainability leadership and leadership development that we explore over 12 weeks. This plan will describe the kind of sustainability leader you want to be, the aspects of leadership you are seeking to develop, and specific actions you intend to take to grow your leadership capacity, such as practising new approaches to sustainability leadership, seeking feedback, receiving support from mentors, and reflecting.