So complex and challenging is the sustainability agenda that having just finished off a Social Responsibility report, I'm feeling like Joe Carter.  How's that?  At the bottom of the 9th, his was the home run that sealed victory for the Blue Jays World Series win.  He stood in the loneliest place in the world.  Hitting the home run on sustainability is almost as difficult!

Tackling the sustainability issue triggers key issues that arise from within the corporate zeitgeist.  Are we doing this because it’s the right thing to do or the smart thing to do?  Is the driver for sustainability a means to an end, i.e., profitability, or is it a moral imperative, about high minded ethical behaviour towards the planet, environment, diversity, our people?

Fortunately, “saving the world” isn’t what the best sustainability champions are pushing these days. The good ones are solving business problems by talking about the issues.  That’s where we communicators enter the conversation, because we’re trained to think in terms of messaging from a WIIFM (What’s in it – for me?) strategic perspective.

More experts agree that companies are at very different stages in declaring the benefits of sustainability and that’s where we can help in translating sustainability efforts into relevant strategies and goals.  But ensure there's a sustainability champion heading up your team (like I did) otherwise that home run may elude you.