{"id":835,"date":"2015-09-12T15:10:02","date_gmt":"2015-09-12T22:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ecopsychology.org\/gatherings\/?p=835"},"modified":"2015-09-18T18:20:07","modified_gmt":"2015-09-19T01:20:07","slug":"exploring-themes-in-the-personal-development-of-sustainability-leaders-a-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecopsychology.org\/gatherings\/exploring-themes-in-the-personal-development-of-sustainability-leaders-a-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Psychology for Sustainability Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exploring themes in the personal development of sustainability leaders
\n<\/strong>A book review by Mary A. Hernandez<\/em><\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

A New Psychology of Sustainability Leadership:\u00a0 The Hidden Power of Ecological Worldviews<\/p>\n

by Steven Schein\u00a02015 Greenleaf Publishing<\/p>\n

Steven Shein is both a professor and a highly experienced entrepreneur with a Ph.D. in human development and organization systems.\u00a0 Drawing on his own experiences with nature and his companionship with others who are likewise nature-oriented, his personal stories of communion and revelation in nature draws us into his own motivation to becoming curious about other leaders equally concerned about the environmental crisis.\u00a0 His interests are inclusive and extend to eastern, aboriginal, and depth psychologies.\u00a0 The author\u2019s educational and occupational backgrounds and interests position him well to make recommendations related to the topics presented in the book.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the tradition of positive deviance, Dr. Schein explores the factors which influenced the development of ecological worldviews held by corporate sustainability leaders.\u00a0 Using transcripts from interviews with these leaders, he gleaned certain themes in their narratives which affect their motivation to act in sustainable ways.\u00a0 He contends that their earth-friendly motivation is reflected through an ecological worldview inimical to the formation of environmentally harmful behaviours.\u00a0 Dr. Schein presents the benefits of studying the development of ecological worldviews and suggests that examining these worldviews would constitute a \u201cnew psychology in sustainable leadership\u201d.\u00a0 On page 12 he noted that \u201cwe need a new story, a new language, and most of all, a new psychology\u201d.\u00a0 While the rationale for doing such an examination was convincingly presented in Dr. Schein\u2019s study, it is unclear whether studying extant ecological worldviews amounts to a new psychology.\u00a0 There is clarity, however, in his notion that particular nature-biased experiences throughout a person\u2019s development are more likely to result in ecological worldviews than the contemporary anthropocentric perspective.<\/p>\n

Contributes to psychology and to the applied field of leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Schein initially asked why senior corporate executives do not respond with urgency to climate change despite the abundant evidence that our current ways, especially corporate ways, have resulted in this environmental crisis.\u00a0 He wondered why evidence is not enough to cause behaviour change.\u00a0 And, instead of searching for reasons behind our anthropocentric stance, as other writers have done, Dr. Schein focused his own inquiry on people who demonstrated nature-connected behaviours despite living in a human-centric milieu.\u00a0 Specifically, he wanted to know how a nature-inclusive ecological stance arose from the modern environment of consumeristic convenience.\u00a0 In doing so, Dr. Schein reviewed some academic fields related to this topic, and to worldviews in particular.<\/p>\n

The book enlightens the intersection of ecological studies, psychology, and organizational leadership to reveal possible connections that the author found salient to the development of an ecological self.\u00a0 Dr. Schein purports that corporate leadership needed deeper analyses through the lenses of social service fields which historically have not been reviewed in conjunction with leadership.<\/p>\n

Juxtaposed fields such as ecological economics, social psychology, and environmental sociology, among others, were introduced to the reader in a succession that made visible their associations to each other.\u00a0 These relationships reveal the complexity of ecosystems, the distance created by our unbalanced society; and the resultant gaps in education which perpetuate the problems of imbalance and disconnection.\u00a0 For example, business school and corporate training do little in terms of acknowledging ecosystems and their importance to entrepreneurial practice.\u00a0 Even different ecological fields remained separate from each other, thus remaining blind to the benefits of cross pollination.\u00a0 Dr. Schein noted that this kind of boundary between essentially interdependent topics do not result in sustainable outcomes.<\/p>\n

Dr. Schein also acknowledged the tendency for education to operate in silos and, thus, encouraged a change in focus to support an ecologically expanded self-concept (a.k.a. the ecological self). \u00a0In this realm, the book delivers very pragmatic exercises for immediate use; exercises which are easy to do and highly adaptable to adult populations because they capitalize on existing activities: \u201cEco-literacy\u201d, \u201creflective journaling\u201d and \u201ceco-biography\u201d, for example, are exercises already popular amongst educators.\u00a0 Their use would, therefore, not require much adjustment for the educators or students.<\/p>\n

Another strength of this book is its incorporation of measurements, knowing how the current world values this \u2018scientific\u2019 type of verification.\u00a0 Speaking in measurement \u2018language\u2019 by using a validated test like the \u201cNew Ecological Paradigm Survey\u201d (NEP) allows easier introduction of eco-centric information into psyches already enamoured with science.\u00a0 In alignment with the author\u2019s experiences at becoming ecologically aware, using these measures may allow people to develop an attention to anthropocentrism and its extent in their lives, the limitations of science, and their own participation or non-participation in sustainability measures.\u00a0 Awareness through measurement can help people accept their reality in relation to the earth.<\/p>\n

Dr. Schein is clearly realistic as well.\u00a0 He communicates the understanding that the right political and governmental contexts must envelope this new paradigm for success to occur, and that changing political temperaments can result in changed realities.\u00a0 His grounded perspective is demonstrated by his admission of personally experiencing \u201csustainability fatigue\u201d which he feared may become the experience of his students too.\u00a0 He explained that his students were enthusiastic during class but he wondered whether they would fare well when faced with external resistance — the kind of historical resistance ubiquitous to modern culture. \u00a0One can not help but understand the concern he brought forth.<\/p>\n

It is this kind of personal concern and honesty that allows the book to be read as more than a treatise; this is a personal journey of how heart-achingly difficult it is to change the predominant culture, especially in business. \u00a0Dr. Schein supposed that \u201cmost corporate executives and business educators not directly involved with sustainability have not felt a sense of their ecological selves\u201d, and one good example is the lack of traction in the business world for Joanna Macy\u2019s transformational workshop on the ecological self.\u00a0 That is why in his own practice, Dr. Schein brought ecological awareness to education when he became a teacher at a business school.<\/p>\n

Dr. Schein recollects the development of his ecological self with feeling and authenticity.\u00a0 His narrative of being in nature, partaking in aboriginal practices, and walking in his own epiphanies imbued this non-fictional work with an atmosphere that speaks beyond cognition, and towards emotion.\u00a0 He gives a sense of being reborn within these paragraphs; opening his eyes and wondering for the first time.\u00a0 He is also candid about his learning experiences and does not hold out as an expert by giving credit to influential others.\u00a0 All of these were couched in approachable language that humanizes sustainability leaders and helps us develop an empathy — or at least an understanding — of their perspectives.\u00a0 Dr. Schein makes the lessons come alive with true examples of individual change through the interviewees\u2019 own words.<\/p>\n

The author used excerpted paragraphs from transcripts.\u00a0 Those paragraphs reveal certain conditions that help sustainability leaders maintain their ecological selves.\u00a0 According to Dr. Schein, the first is an \u201cawareness of ecological embeddedness\u201d or feeling oneself as part of nature.\u00a0 Second is an \u201cawareness of the vulnerability of planetary ecosystems\u201d, typified by behaviours that help to reduce environmental impact.\u00a0 Third is \u201ca belief in the intrinsic value of nature\u201d, such as giving due value to nature as a sentient organism.\u00a0 Fourth is an \u201cenhanced systems consciousness\u201d and, last, is \u201cplanet-centric circles of identity and care\u201d.\u00a0 These conditions take a long time to be realized; one interviewee described it as, \u201cphases of understanding over a long period of years\u201d.<\/p>\n

This period of needed \u2018maturation\u2019 is the reason why this book is important.\u00a0 By bringing to light the themes and conditions distilled from the interviews, Dr. Schein helps educators and trainers begin the process of integrating nature-friendly material into lesson plans faster.\u00a0 Considering that natural experiences during childhood has been associated with the development of an ecological worldview, this work could be made more influential if discussed in parenting classes.\u00a0 However, does this potential mean that a new psychology was born?\u00a0 Not yet.<\/p>\n

Working towards a new psychology<\/strong><\/p>\n

At this stage, it is not clear that a new psychology has been demonstrated.\u00a0 Dr. Schein himself states that this publication is meant to initiate dialogue; to be a catalyst in the discussion that may eventually become a new psychology.\u00a0 The intent is to start the process of conducting formal research into the aspects which comprise the creation of an ecological worldview.\u00a0 He noted, \u201cnew conversations and new research which will ultimately lead to a new kind of psychology for the benefit of all life on earth\u201d, and “I propose… we need to develop a new type of shared language… through a new psychology for sustainable leadership” (p 150).\u00a0 Dr. Schein believes that there are enough recurring themes present in his interviews and communications with sustainability leaders to warrant further investigation.<\/p>\n

There are also outstanding questions stemming from the possibility of interpreting data in different ways.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 How do we know that other more \u2018capitalistic\u2019 leaders did not have the same early experiences in nature as the sustainability leaders did? \u00a0Did something change the latter\u2019s trajectory or were they never on the same trail as other leaders?\u00a0 Do these groups share other commonalities?\u00a0 In the development of ecological worldviews, articles have been written about \u201cgreen personality\u201d, \u201cenvironmental consciousness\u201d, and \u201csystemic leadership\u201d.\u00a0 Perhaps the author could append observations and literature reviews from these areas to look for similarities and contrasts with his findings.\u00a0 Another angle is related to corporations.\u00a0 One, in particular, stands out.\u00a0 Are corporations the appropriate vehicle to do the work of changing the environmental situation?\u00a0 Especially when Dr. Schein himself noted that corporate leadership culture remain largely unchanged notwithstanding the evidence on environmental crises.\u00a0 Perhaps corporations and corporate culture could be examined further in succeeding works.<\/p>\n

Structure<\/strong><\/p>\n

The structure of the book bears logical progression.\u00a0 Content is presented in four parts:\u00a0 a) an introduction to his objectives and a summary of the present ecological climate, b) short introductions of various related social and psychological fields, c) the presentation of themes and excerpted data from the interview transcripts regarding relevant experiences and skills, and d) suggested exercises and actions to develop the same skills and characteristics in students and in the workforce.\u00a0 The table of contents exhibits the flow of sections from general to specific, and the book is written well.<\/p>\n

How might the flow of detail become even more effective?\u00a0 Might it be beneficial to include a summary page as an organizer in the beginning?\u00a0 In the experience of reading this book, some of the main proposals appeared later.\u00a0 If these proposals appeared near the front, a reader would have advance notice of how other sections funnel to substantiate the author\u2019s main points, which are:<\/p>\n