Sustainability

How do you change the future?

Discover and develop authentic leaders to drive a sustainability agenda.

In this era of profound transformation, organizations need outstanding leaders to steer them towards a sustainable future. We believe leaders, especially CEOs, are the critical link between articulating the organization’s guiding vision and integrating purpose into its operating blueprint. This is critical not just because communities, employees, investors and other stakeholders are urging organizations to make a positive social and environmental impact, but because purpose is one of the most powerful forces for leaders to unlock resilience and results.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) elements and sustainability are some of the most tangible manifestations of purpose that leaders can embrace to achieve both short- and long-term goals. At their fullest potential, they represent hope and renewal, legacy and impact.

Spencer Stuart is proud to play an active role in accelerating change, both within our own organization and by partnering with clients to help them achieve their goals. Energized by our purpose to discover and develop leaders for a better future, we partner with organizations — from NGOs to the world’s largest and fastest growing companies — to identify and accelerate leaders who deliver the strategic and cultural transformation necessary to build a sustainable enterprise.

Sustainability and the Board: A Conversation with Noel Kinder, CSO Nike

Climate change – Addressing the leadership challenge

Your Sustainability Journey: How to Find Energy Transformation Talent

Discovering leaders

We help our clients discover CEOs and leaders across numerous functions: human resources, ESG and sustainability, supply chain, finance, marketing, and technology who understand how to embody sustainable leadership.

We also assist in identifying board directors who bring technical expertise and lived experience with sustainability and ESG to the boardroom. As with other dimensions of business transformation such as DE&I or digital innovation, we advise our clients to think carefully about how their sustainability leadership needs should be driven by a deep understanding of their specific organizational context.

Developing leaders

Our global team of leadership experts can also work with your leadership team to unlock the power of purpose for leaders, teams and organizations to accelerate performance, especially at pivotal moments such as leadership transitions, a merger or acquisition, IPOs and other major business transformations.

We also partner with boards of directors to assess and unlock the capacity and capability for effective governance. This goes beyond a checklist or a scorecard. It is about the board’s role and success in overseeing the impact and sustainability of an entire organization.

Recognizing your priorities are unique, we assemble a specialized team with relevant industry, functional and geographic expertise. From executive search and leadership assessment to organizational culture and board director recruitment, we focus on areas including:

ESG and chief sustainability officers
Supply chain
Human resources
Impact investing
Boards of directors recruitment
Governance effectiveness
Social impact leaders

Leadership and its potential are critical to shaping a more sustainable world and we are here with the rich experience of seven decades to help you in your sustainability and purpose journey.