Sustainability is now and will continue to be a major driver of innovation. I believe this fervently, and your interest in reading this book suggests you believe this too. While you might be prepared to take my word for it, this view is also the opinion of change agents at global and local companies and thought leaders around the world. Businesses as diverse as Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Kellogg, and Microsoft have committed to making products that are more respectful of the resources consumed, the employees who make and deliver their products and services, and their customers. This practice is partly driven by government mandate, but also by consumer sentiment. According to research firm Nielsen, “66% of global consumers say they're willing to pay more for sustainable brands—up from 55% in 2014. 73% of global millennials are willing to pay extra for sustainable offerings—up from 50% in 2014.”

Audrey Choi, the chief executive of Morgan Stanley's Institute for Sustainable Investing; Chris McKnett, managing director and head ESG investing strategist at State Street Global Advisors; Christine Bader, Amazon's former director of social responsibility; and Harish Manwani, Unilever's former chief operating officer, have made similar arguments for sustainable business practices. In fact, more than nine thousand companies and three thousand noncommercial organizations have signed on to the United Nations Global Compact, and thousands of companies now file corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports.

Yet as we look across the landscape of global commerce, we need to ask how many companies are fully committed to sustainability. In 2015 and 2016, we surveyed talent development professionals and asked, “Do you teach sustainability and social responsibility in your leadership development programs?” The results are shown in Table 7.1.

As we examined the data, we concluded that no company had integrated sustainability to a significant degree in training and development across all functions. In 2016, companies that responded in the affirmative to our question typically taught a small number of courses on sustainability, with the following being true: