How Women are Pioneering Impactful Sustainability Globally

Jennifer Klar has a global background in operational and sustainability experience spanning China, Turkey and India. As Director of Corporate Sustainability for Six Senses, she coordinates a worldwide team working on operational impacts as well as driving positive environmental and social change within a portfolio of 26 hotels and resorts around the world.

In an enlightening conversation with Global Woman Leader Magazine, Jennifer shares her experience and learnings from driving sustainable action in the hospitality sector. She talks about embedding sustainability throughout teams, encouraging cross-functional collaboration, and delivering value-driven leadership in the hospitality sector.

Read the interview to know more about Jennifer Klar’s leadership lessons on sustainability, and tips for aspiring women hospitality leaders who intend to embed sustainability in their approach to work.

Having led initiatives like Plastic Freedom, what insights can you share about women leaders’ ability in hospitality to embed a sustainability mindset across teams?

It’s all about building culture, rather than looking at those topics as one-time initiatives. Teach people about why those things matter. Once people understand why they do what they do and it aligns with their personal values, they act on their own convictions, not because they have to, and that’s how you form new habits which leads to a stronger culture over time.

Brand culture is dynamic, it constantly changes, because it’s the people who drive it and people change (we grow, new people come & go). As leaders it is important to be consistent in your approach and communicate clearly. Make an effort to speak to each audience in their language: Some require more visuals, some more data, others prefer story telling. Effective communication will help you succeed in building culture.

How can women leaders leverage cross-functional collaboration to create impact projects that benefit community development and environmental restoration?

When working with other people or organizations, it’s important to be clear about your goals: What is the impact you aim to achieve? Associate with people/ organizations who complement your skills, experience or knowledge, to have a better outcome because you work together, rather than if each relies on their own skill set or resources.

Ask yourself: Can you create synergy, because of working with someone else on a project? It’s about resource efficiency: Don’t waste time trying to do everything yourself if someone else could do it better. Work on your self-awareness and what competencies you have and need, to maximize the impact of a project. Be mindful of your resources (time & money), they’re valuable and limited.

What leadership lessons emerged while scaling sustainability across multiple hotel properties? How can other leaders apply these learnings to their work?

You’re only as strong as your weakest link. Work on getting the basics right, and allocate resources in maintaining those. Often, we forget how difficult it is to maintain past progress, instead we focus on innovation, because “new” is often more exciting (not in my world!). You need the success stories of your strongest performers which go beyond the minimum to inspire others. Never restrict, always support and share those stories, this is how you encourage growth on a global scale.

In our case as a global brand, each location has its own set of challenges. We support by providing a framework and standards that define the minimum requirements, while still leaving some room for adaptation and localization of those requirements, allowing each property to express itself in the most authentic way possible.

What’s one sustainability innovation from your organization that other women leaders should adopt to drive industry-wide transformation?

Being consistent and communicating about your progress are the most impactful things you can do to inspire others and drive change. “Do good & talk about it”, how my German grandma likes to say. We don’t need more innovation, we know what needs to be done. The hard part is getting the work done & getting the mass to do it too.

Creating large scale impact requires consistent improvement, the Japanese have a word for this: “Kaizen”. I like to refer to this philosophy during my training calls with the global teams, to remind them that we need to focus on small steps and be consistent in our approach, to enjoy the large successes. Time will take care of the rest.

LAST WORD: Advice For Women Hospitality Leaders Who Want to Champion Sustainability

Be authentic. Find what you enjoy & what you’re naturally good at and think about how you can turn this into your strength. Soft/ Emotional skills matter a lot in the hospitality industry, more than hard skills. Everyone can learn about processes, guidelines, regulations or technology. But how you apply those will set you apart from other leaders.

Work on your communication skills, it’s the most powerful tool you have when inspiring others. Be consistent & authentic. Set yourself goals, both, career-wise but also for yourself. Set aside some time every single day to achieve those goals. It could be as small as spending 5 minutes reflecting whether you’re on the right path or not, no giant steps needed. Just consistency.