A final, but important characteristic was that effective sustainability change agents were able to keep sustainability from taking on the status of any one person or group's 'pet project.'

"I've seen a reasonable number of situations where an enthusiastic CEO starts some sustainability activity and the next CEO cans it. If you're creating something that is not really rooted in the business then it's just a personal hobby, it's got no roots." (CEO)

"I think the most important thing is that this is in the DNA of the organization. It isn't seen by anybody as the sort of pet project of any particular CEO at a point in time at his tenure. [At our company,] this will survive many more CEOs to come because it's so ingrained in the organization, and what we're about, and what our brand is about. […] I think very many organizations in the world, who have a chief executive who's a very strong public spokesperson around this, run a huge risk that it isn't seen as something that's core to the organization. It's seen more as belonging to the CEO's brand." (CEO

"It's not only don't bring your own pet projects, but it's also be willing to challenge other people's pet projects... It's being able to respectfully explain why something that somebody else has pitched... isn't adding enough strategically." (Change Agent)