The Role of the Chief Sustainability Officer: An Interview with Danielle Azoulay
Insights on CSOs and their roles in a corporation
In this week's sustainability newsletter, we feature an interview with Danielle Azoulay, a leader in sustainability. As the founder of The CSO Shop and an adjunct professor at Columbia University, she brings a wealth of experience from roles at L'Oréal USA, Marc Jacobs, and PVH Corp. Danielle shares her insights on the evolving role of CSOs (Chief Sustainability Officers), the skills CSOs need, the challenges they face and trends in female leadership.
What is a CSO?
A Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) is tasked with leading an organization's sustainability strategy, embedding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles across all business operations1. According to Danielle, the role of the CSO has transitioned over the last 15 years:
“The role of the CSO has evolved over the past 15 years from being the internal thought leader and owner of a function to being a stakeholder manager, coordinating the execution of a sustainability or impact program across many functions. […] CSOs bring functions together to connect the dots, transforming the enterprise or organization around a set of impact goals, making them an internal change maker.” Danielle Azoulay
What are the required skills of a CSO?
According to Danielle, to be effective, CSOs need a comprehensive understanding of the business and global challenges. They must grasp how the company can be a force for good while driving strategic growth.
“The CSO has to be really good at understanding the basics of change management and knowing how to build coalitions within organizations to foster change over time. […] This is a person who really is a jack of all trades. They understand the issues and the different stakeholder needs and perspectives and know how to marry both of them to make change over time.” Danielle Azoulay
According to the Harvard Business Review, CSOs must also be skilled in navigating regulatory compliance, ensuring adherence to laws and managing risks, while being proficient in ESG monitoring and reporting, to benchmark and communicate the company's sustainability performance effectively. The article recommends using a Spider graphs (also known as radar graphs) to map the different CSO responsibilities.
Challenges faced by CSOs
Managing these various tasks can be challenging for CSOs working in organizations that have not adequately resourced or funded their sustainability initiatives. In addition, rapidly changing policies pose additional challenges:
“One big challenge is the speed at which policy is moving. For many years, there was little to no policy on these topics, and then suddenly, we have a lot of policies to manage. […] Understanding how the evolving space affects the day-to-day management of sustainability as an issue within a function is crucial.”
Danielle Azoulay
Implications of CSOs for Female Leadership
While the latest Global Gender Gap Report from the World Economic Forum suggests that only 32.3% of senior leadership positions are held by women, the rise of CSO position may have an impact on board gender diversity.
In fact, a report from Weinreb Group demonstrates that the percentage of female CSOs has doubled since 2011 reaching 58% in 2023. This growth may be explained by the high percentage of female occupying sustainability positions with a percentage of 61% of vice president, 54% of director, and 64% of manager positions in the field.2
“It does make sense to me that there might be more women in the role because it's a newer role. Perhaps this is where we're seeing organizations strive for more gender-balanced leadership at the top, also intersecting with this kind of work.”
Danielle Azoulay
Final thoughts
In conclusion, the role of CSOs is evolving to become pivotal in driving sustainability and impact within organizations. CSOs possess a unique skill set to influence change, manage stakeholders, and align resources effectively. Understanding the current trends and challenges faced by CSOs is essential for organizations to navigate the sustainability landscape successfully. With a focus on gender balance and the urgency to act, CSOs play a crucial role in shaping a sustainable future for companies and society as a whole.
To find out more about the CSO Shop and how Danielle is helping organization step up their sustainability efforts, you can book a call with Danielle here.
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https://hbr.org/2023/03/the-8-responsibilities-of-chief-sustainability-officers
https://weinrebgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-CSO-Report.pdf