The Breakthrough Challenge Lib/E: 10 Ways to Connect Today's Profits with Tomorrow's Bottom Line

Businesses today need to balance the pursuit of profit with the needs of growing numbers of people on a planet under pressure. While sustainability programs, government action, and nonprofits are all parts of the solution, a growing contingent of forward-looking leaders recognizes the real challenge: a fundamental shift in the nature of commerce. CEOs and other leaders must focus the practice of business on social, environmental, and economic benefitnot only because it will make the world a better place, but because it will ensure lasting profitability and success in the business climate of tomorrow. The Breakthrough Challenge is an inspiring call-to-action and guide for this transformation, based on the work of the B Team, a major initiative uniting leaders in sustainability. As founding members of the B Team, John Elkington and Jochen Zeitz map out their agenda for change. The most important goal for businesses must be redefining the bottom line to account for true long-term costs throughout the supply chain. To achieve this, leaders must rethink everything: what counts on balance sheets, how to incentive performance, who does what in the C-suite, and even what inspires us. The Breakthrough Challenge draws on over 100 exclusive interviews to show this shift in action, sharing the pioneering work of leaders such as Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever; Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of The Huffington Post; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of the Nestle Group; Linda Fisher, pioneering Chief Sustainability Officer at DuPont; among many others. Change-as-usual strategies are not enough to move business from breakdowns to breakthroughs. The Breakthrough Challenge shows leaders how to achieve a true transformation and refocus the definition of profitability on the lasting wellbeing of people and planetfor the lasting success of their business.

About the Author :
John Elkington is a writer, thought-leader, serial entrepreneur, and, at heart, an environmentalist. Described as the Godfather of Sustainability, he has now written or coauthored twenty books, including the million-selling Green Consumer Guide series. Elkington has worked with many scores of corporations, often at the board and C-suite level, as well as with the financial community, industry bodies, government, the media, NGOs, academia, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Along the way, he has cofounded four social-purpose businesses since 1978, including Environmental Data Services (ENDS, 1978), John Elkington Associates/CounterCurrent (1983), SustainAbility (1987) and Volans Ventures (2008). All four still exist and the last two were respectively the second and first certified British B Corporations in the UK. Over the years, Elkington has also served on over seventy boards and advisory boards, advising companies, non-profits and policy-making organizations. He is a visiting professor at the Cranfield School of Management, as well as at Imperial College London and University College London (UCL).