In 2005 after several years working with the UN in sustainability issues internationally, I left to pursue an MBA at London Business School to learn more about what the business sector was doing in this area. The original plan had been to then go and work on these issues from within a company, working to make changes from the inside out. However, once I started the MBA, I realized that students were not being adequately exposed to sustainability issues and had a very limited knowledge of what it all meant and how it could and was being applied to organizations of all shapes and sizes. By some estimates more than 60% of today’s business leaders have MBAs, not to mention those with undergraduate business degrees or that have passed through different executive training programmes. Most of these students are still getting limited training in sustainability issues if any at all.

How can sustainability really be taken seriously, really move forward, if every year thousands of new managers are entering the ranks of business without being exposed to these issues. This goes beyond just business students; it includes future law makers, government officials, engineers. Imagine the change a whole new generation of managers and leaders could have on the business sector if they were armed with the knowledge and the tools to explore sustainability in their businesses and their jobs, whatever job that may be.

After being approached by many students asking about sustainability options and careers, in second year I decided to do something about it. I started a project focused on understanding why sustainability was not being addressed in the curriculum and what could be done to change that. One of my findings was that in order to really reach all students, and not just those who were already interested in these issues, the information needed to be embedded into the material already being taught.

So rather than waiting for things to change, I started working on a booklet that would be made available to the students and alumni that would give clear information on what sustainability was and how managers could use it. It would be organized according to the different classes taught in the MBA so that students could easily follow it and use it as part of their core courses, or apply it to their businesses. It would be full of tips, tools and useful advice on how to bring these ideas to whatever career they chose post graduation.

The idea was so well received that upon graduation I looked at ways to scale things up. Wiley believed in the project and agreed to publish it internationally as a book. I then set out to interview over 150 experts from business leaders, sustainability experts from NGOs and international organizations, academics, students and young managers from around the world in order to make the book as relevant and useful as possible.

At the beginning of all of the chapters of the book you will some wonderful little illustrations. These have been created by the very talented Paul Woolfenden. Paul lives and works in Paris. His wife is French and they have two children. His illustrations appear in Advertising, Publishing, the Press and Audiovisual communication. It’s possible his British sense of humour is tinged with a French accent.

This is what Paul had to say about the illustrations he created for the book…
“All but one of the illustrations show a stylized figure bearing a graphic feature loosely linked to the chapter heading. The aim of this combination is to mark the significance of the verb, to bear, as it denotes not only something to be sustained but also suggests a sense of responsibility. Advancing from right to left the figures meet the reader’s gaze, summarizing the dual nature of text – a combination of signs and sounds, thought and imagery.”

Paul Woolfenden / pauwool@free.fr / tel-fax 01 58 59 19 53

Reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.