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Core value · Stability family
Sustainability
Living in a way that can last
What does sustainability mean as a core value?
Sustainability as a core value means choosing ways of living and working that can last, for the planet and for yourself, and avoiding short-term gains that borrow from the future.
Sustainability asks one stubborn question of almost everything: can this last? Sometimes that’s about the planet, and you think about what you buy, how you travel and what your organisation takes out of the world. Sometimes it’s closer to home: a workload, a budget or a pace of growth that won’t collapse in two years. Either way, you’re wary of short-term wins that borrow from the future. You like building slowly on something that holds.
What does sustainability look like in practice?
- You repair, reuse or buy second-hand before replacing something.
- You push back on a project plan that relies on the team working weekends for months.
- You weigh the environmental cost when choosing suppliers, holidays or how to get to work.
- You pace your training, saving or career moves for the long run.
- You ask what a decision will look like in ten years, as well as what it achieves this year.
When is sustainability overplayed?
Taken too far, sustainability becomes a source of constant guilt and judgement. Every purchase is a moral test, other people’s choices feel like personal failings, and you may exhaust yourself trying to be perfectly responsible, which is itself unsustainable. It can also make you slow to act when a short, intense push is the right call. The steadier form focuses on the few choices that make the biggest difference. It can help to pick the two that matter most to you and allow yourself, and others, to be imperfect on the rest.
Often confused with
Sustainability vs Balance
Balance is about sharing your time and energy sensibly across the parts of your life. Sustainability asks a longer question: could you keep living this way for decades?
Sustainability vs Responsibility
Responsibility is owning your obligations. Sustainability gives that ownership a long horizon: the effect of today’s choices on the future, and on people not yet here.
Sustainability vs Health
Health is looking after your body and mind. Sustainability includes that, and extends to the environment, communities and ways of working that need to last.
Questions to sit with
- Which part of your current life, at work or at home, could you not keep up for another five years?
- Where are you borrowing from the future to make today easier?
- Which of your sustainable choices make a real difference, and which mainly ease your conscience?
More values in Stability
Safety, roots and solid ground.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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