ABSTRACT
Key concepts for sustainability education:
Sustainable leadership is about how our decisions and actions impact all living things as well as the broader environment.
Leaders and leadership should be distinguished: leaders are persons occupying a particular role, whereas leadership is systemic – it emerges when leaders and followers interact in a particular context.
We use insect metaphors to describe two diametrically opposed leadership systems: honeybee and locust.
Business-as-usual “locust” leadership emphasises the interests of single groups of stakeholders such as owners and investors, seeking to maximise returns for those groups in the short term, often at the expense of other stakeholders.
Sustainable “honeybee” leadership focuses on long-term benefits to multiple stakeholders – individuals, groups, organisations, nations, human society, the natural environment and future generations.
Sustainable leadership is not a zero-sum game and strives for positive outcomes for multiple stakeholders.
Leadership outcomes should be broadened beyond traditional financial metrics to encompass a wide range of benefits including – at the broadest level – promoting wellbeing, self-reliance, resilience and immunity.
Research and practice provide comprehensive guidelines for delivering sustainable “honeybee” outcomes.
“Honeybee” educators seek to promote the kinds of decisions, actions, behaviours and systems that deliver sustainable outcomes.
