After hearing quite a few times over the last months the question “sustaina… what?” I wanted to give a human face to this actual buzz-word “sustainability”.

I started thinking what is sustainability and how I could rephrase the word… Without knowing I was thinking, acting and communicating from the outside in, starting from what, from the marginal interest instead of the core. That was when great friends from the Net Impact Professional Chapter guided me towards author and strategic leadership professor Simon Sinek. I was in what he called “The Golden Circle” and had to start with “why” so that I could address the heart of the matter.

“The Golden Circle”

That was when I pivoted my project and started asking “Why Sustainability?”, why do we do this work, why do we care? The first one I asked was Moura Quayle, Strategic Design Professor at Sauder Business School, who said ” it’s all about balancing the three legged stool of environment, economic and social.” Moura quoted words great leaders like Robert Kennedy and Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day Founder, have used… “Economy is a subsidiary of the Environment and not the other way around…”

I then went on to ask a bunch of other people, with different backgrounds and different interests, to see why they think we do and need sustainability in our lives…

I will mention just some of their answers…

Julia, library assistant: “because resources are finite.”

Omid, MBA student: ” because otherwise things will degrade to levels you see in Iran! It is only by paying attention to the difficulties we can come up with innovative ideas…”

Gavin, plumber: “with limited resources in the world we need to make them last as long as possible and find new ways to produce new methods for survival!”

Jose, MBA student: “to be able to give more than we extract from the Planet; because it is a growing business demanded by the consumers; because it engages employees more than other initiatives; because it creates limitless opportunities and it drives our creative spirit! Because it brings people back to a simpler way of life!”

Jordan, Arts student: “because living on Earth is a privilege and if we’re not smart about keeping it healthy we might have to move to Mars and that sounds like a scary trip…”

Tim, Decision Theatre Manager, UBC: “because it’s about our future and creating a better present!”

Jason, MBA student: “because it simply makes sense!”

And the ones it made most sense to were Ryan and Iain, 13 and 14 years old high school students, who synthesized beautifully the answer to “why sustainability?” Because it is good for the environment, it creates long term benefits and less side effects and it protects nature.

I would say I accomplished this mission, as I gave more human faces to “sustainability” and showed it is a meaningful reason to act and not just an actual buzzword.

As for my “why sustainability…” I leave you with some more human faces and visions of the future…

Bach Choir Singing at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Charity Event

A quarter into my Sauder MBA Journey I stop, breathe in and try to go to the balcony, like I learned in Consulting and Strategic Management Class, to see the big picture and put everything in perspective.

I now have confirmation that even a right-brainer like myself does have a place in the Sauder MBA Program. After taking classes like Creativity and Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation and learning tools like the Design Thinker and Mind Mapping I choose to step to the right of the left hemisphere of my brain and fulfill my meaning in a purposeful way.

Reflecting on the months that have past I learned the importance of connecting with fellow classmates and professionals alike and getting involved in the space I care about. For me part of that space is the Net Impact UBC Chapter of which I have had the honor of being elected president. It is my opportunity to take business concepts and ideas from the classroom and apply them into the Greater Vancouver community. These first few months on my MBA Journey have confirmed my initial assumption that business is, indeed, an engine for change. I have been fortunate in these months to have the guidance and support of amazing and dedicated people who encouraged me to actively learn and improve my skills, which I will then employ for the benefit of my community.

Being selected to participate in the Sauder Early Alumni Connect Program made me feel part of the Sauder global network from the very beginning. I felt motivated and engaged to learn and become a part of the Canadian professional network. I have discovered partners and friends worth investing in! Actually, this may be one of the key lessons of the first quarter of my MBA Journey: invest the time to become a part of my network and prove that I deserve my place at the table by bringing my unique self into the conversation.

Volunteering with the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, together with like-minded fellow Sauder MBAs I had a first opportunity to pay if forward…

I take these first few lessons and continue to design the next part of my MBA Journey. Come January I begin my chosen career track at Sauder: Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship, one of my goals being to place my dot on the map of Vancouver’s entrepreneurial ecosystem!