Global Leadership for Sustainability: Essential Competencies for Leading Transformative Multi-Sector Partnerships

Barbara W. Altman and Louis W. Fry ()
Additional contact information
Barbara W. Altman: Department of Management and Marketing, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, 1001 Leadership Place, Killeen, TX 76549, USA
Louis W. Fry: Department of Management and Marketing, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, 1001 Leadership Place, Killeen, TX 76549, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 13, 1-23

Abstract: Multi-sector partnerships (MSPs), as a collaborative approach to address complex social issues, have been documented in the literature for nearly forty years. Transformational MSPs, which accomplish system-wide change, are integral to accomplishing Sustainable Development Goal 17. While MSP research has uncovered some factors that ensure partnership success, leader competencies for these inter-organizational phenomena are underexplored. The purpose of this paper is to identify the leadership competencies necessary for leading a successful transformative MSP and, in doing so, propose that global leadership for sustainability (GLfS) not only encompasses these competencies but also incorporates and extends current approaches to the leadership of transformative MSPs. For context, we present an overview of the existing multi-sector partnership literature, highlighting how the field has evolved and the critical phases of its development, including a definition of a transformational MSP. This leads us to examine various leadership models that, taken together, specify the necessary and partner development competencies for leading transformative MSPs. We then demonstrate how the GLfS model can be used to facilitate the success of transformative MSPs for achieving system-wide change focused on sustainable development and the triple bottom line. Finally, we conclude by re-examining MSP themes and identifying avenues for future theory, research, and practice.

Keywords: multi-sector partnerships; cross-sector partnerships; sustainability; sustainability leadership; sustainable development; leadership for sustainability; leadership competencies; collaborative leadership; integrative leadership; systems leadership; responsible leadership (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5737/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5737/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5737-:d:1429209

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().