Episode 90: Leadership - The Power of Mobilising your Employees and Key Stakeholders to drive Impact and Progress, with Kevin Dunckley, CSO, HH Global

The Marketing Society podcast

As we continue to discuss and explore the role of leadership in our ‘Sustainable Leadership’ mini-series, what better than to gain the viewpoint from someone with sustainability at the core of everything they do. This led us to Kevin Dunckley, Chief Sustainability Officer at HH Global.

Kevin’s passion for what he does is crystal clear and we loved our conversation with him talking about the practicalities of being a hands-on CSO - what’s involved, where the challenges lie and more importantly, unearthing the opportunities.

Kevin shares, “the sustainability strategy for our organisation is my responsibility - along with my team, what that looks like and also how it comes to life with our clients.” We further explore the stakeholder chain and how important it is that everyone is aware and knows the role they play in driving the agenda, from supply chain partners to clients, customers and colleagues.

There’s a critical role internal engagement plays, an area Kevin has been placing a lot of focus on, driving collaboration and enabling invaluable different perspectives. Kevin explained, “everything’s interconnected in terms of sustainability. Something goes wrong over there and the ripple effect can be huge. Likewise, if something goes right the ripple effect can be really positive. You have to kind of de-compartmentalise it and put it in buckets in your head, so it doesn’t feel as daunting. But, you don’t have to do it alone.”

Driving internal engagement and ensuring everyone understands the objectives and direction of the sustainability agenda should be a priority for every organisation. From driving progress through to shaping a culture that’s inclusive and makes people want to work for you has got to be at the top of the list.

And as we discuss, this is an area we see missing so often - organisations focus on outward facing agendas, yet missing the critical internal piece.

We take a deep dive into this and so much more, so headphones on.

Join us on this episode as we talk to Kevin about:

• What you can achieve if you mobilise all your employees and stakeholders.
• How enormous capacity and capability is unlocked when everyone is armed effectively and engaged through shared knowledge and bringing people together.
• The role of marketing as creative problem solvers.
• The need for a common language between sustainability and marketing to minimse the risk of greenwashing and maximise understanding.
• How every function has sustainability in their role.
• What you need to be a sustainable leader.

Tune in and have a notepad and pen ready!

For more, follow and connect with Kevin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevindunckley/

Another great episode in our Sustainable Leadership mini-series. One more to come. Stay tuned. And if you love the podcast, do share with colleagues, peers and friends.