Understanding how to create and maintain high performing, resilient, environmentally friendly and socially responsible organizations and societies requires input from many disciplines, insights from researchers with diverse backgrounds, and leadership from business and government. A good place to start is with an understanding of the issues.

The multidisciplinary author team on Sustainable Leadership: Fresh Thoughts quite provocatively covers diverse topics related to establishing sustainable leadership in different national and industry settings. The contributions are based on current research into sustainable leadership presented at symposia run by the Institute for Sustainable Leadership.

Sustainable Leadership: Fresh Thoughts contains 15 chapters organized into three parts. Part I contains chapters concerned with transforming organizations towards sustainable practices. Then, as the chapters in Part II indicate, leadership plays a major role in creating and maintaining sustainable enterprises. Part III in turn then covers a fundamental aspect of sustainable leadership, namely what educators are doing for sustainability, particularly in universities.

Overall, the chapters in Sustainable Leadership: Fresh Thoughts examine many aspects of sustainable leadership – from transformational change and leadership issues to education; from insoluble problems to easy-to-use tools for under-resourced small businesses and individuals; and from cultural change at the national level to ways in which individuals can become proactive, civil and skilled at picking up cues related to sustainability.

With contributors from multiple continents including Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe, this book offers the read a stimulating journey through these fresh thoughts.

GAYLE AVERY is Professor of Management at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM) at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia. She is also the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Leadership. Gayle specializes in sustainable leadership, and her mission is to develop research-based frameworks that assist managers in implementing leadership practices in analytical, effective ways, thereby improving organizational performance and sustainability.

Dr. BRONWYN HUGHES is director of Ansvar Insurance and director of the Willow Creek Association in Australia. Her research interest is leadership in the volunteer sector with a focus on the church sector. Her doctoral research, exploring how leaders can build commitment to organizational vision among church volunteers, was published in A Passion for Evangelism: Turning Vision into Action. She also co-authored Shaping a Future: Characteristics of Vital Congregations and Build my Church.

PART I - Transforming Organisations Towards Sustainable Practices
Chapter 1 - Sustainable leadership practices: Enhancing business resilience and performance
Chapter 2 - Transforming large organisations toward innovative sustainable practices
Chapter 3 - Making sense of sustainability: A cue-based approach to sustainable organisational performance
Chapter 4 - An environmental reporting tool for small scale entrepreneurs
Chapter 5 - Incivility and sustainability: Is there a link?
Chapter 6 - Proactivity at work: A path to organisational sustainability

PART II - Leadership and Sustainability
Chapter 7 - Leadership for sustainability: Principals from an aboriginal society
Chapter 8 - Sustainable leadership in jazz bands: The practice of shared leadership
Chapter 9 - Creative leaders and leading creatives: Leadership models in Australia's dance companies
Chapter 10 - Sufficiency economy philosophy: A Thai approach to sustainable enterprises
Chapter 11 - Leadership communication at the edge

PART III - Educating for Sustainability
Chapter 12 - Water markets
Chapter 13 - A partnership approach in the professionalisation of sustainability
Chapter 14 - Developing leaders for sustainable outcomes: An Australian case study
Chapter 15 - The role of social capital in business education for sustainability
Chapter 16 - Creating sustainable organisations through servant leadership