The Bottom Line on Going Green: Egon Zehnder Sustainability Dialogue features Interview with Mark Tercek, President and CEO of The Nature Conservancy

NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Corporations must go beyond philanthropic support as their sustainability program to understanding how sustainability initiatives improve their bottom line, according to Mark Tercek, President and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, the world's largest environmental nonprofit with an annual operating budget well over $500 million.  Tercek, who came to the Conservancy from a senior leadership role at Goldman Sachs, discussed his organization's efforts to protect nature by working with the private sector with Christoph Lueneburger, leader of the global Sustainability Practice at Egon Zehnder International, in a video interview (http://www.egonzehnder.com/dialogues-mark-tercek).

The discussion, the first in Egon Zehnder's Sustainability Dialogues series with top-level executives, focused on what corporations can do to improve sustainability initiatives and the tough criteria the Conservancy uses to select private sector partners.

"We don't give seals of approval to any company," said Tercek. "Collaborating with companies to find ways to improve environmental practices is serious business.  We want partners that are committed to trying new things and changing behavior."

The commitment to improving business practices must come from the top, according to Tercek.  The Conservancy will only work with companies whose CEOs are expressly committed to getting the company on the right trajectory from an environment perspective.  Corporate leaders must also emphasize the seriousness of sustainability initiatives to all levels of their organizations. 

"Companies who are succeeding in embedding sustainability in their core business practices are relying on highly commercial talent – strategic leaders who are plugged into social trends – to effectively implement these new strategies," Lueneburger added.  Click here to view an interview with Christoph Lueneburger. http://www.egonzehnder.com/interview-corporate-sustainability

Global Sustainability Practice
Egon Zehnder International has uniquely robust methodology to measure leadership competencies that complement and transcend environmental expertise. Why is this important? Executives must leverage diverse strengths over time to both resolutely cultivate and effectively implement a sustainability strategy. The Global Sustainability Practice has developed the Sustainability Pulse Check, a diagnostic tool used with clients to assess the level of engagement across their organizations around sustainability. 

The Sustainability Practice at Egon Zehnder works with companies to:

• Pinpoint your company's organizational readiness to pursue sustainability as a commercial theme
• Map the untapped commercial potential and the leadership competencies essential to fulfilling your sustainability strategies – now and in the future
• Benchmark your existing team against best-in-class
• Develop your current leaders to excel at sustainability leadership
• Attract external candidates who demonstrably possess the experience and competencies to create exceptional business value through sustainability.

Sustainability is a core expertise across all the practice groups of Egon Zehnder International. The entire firm operates as a single profit center, which both encourages and rewards collaboration. The global network of consultants works as one to help integrate sustainability into a client's business strategy by matching talent to vision.  For more information visit: http://www.egonzehnder.com/sustainability

About Egon Zehnder International

Egon Zehnder International is the largest privately-held executive search firm in the world with over 400 consultants operating from 64 wholly owned offices in 38 countries.  The firm specializes in senior-level executive search, board consulting and director search, management appraisals, and talent management. 

Egon Zehnder International's clients range in size from the world's largest corporations to emerging growth companies to government and regulatory bodies and major educational and cultural organizations. Egon Zehnder International has sector specialists organized into global practices. These include Industrial, Financial Services, Consumer, Life Sciences, Technology & Communications, Services, Private Capital and Sovereign Wealth Funds. For more information visit  www.egonzehnder.com.

About The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.  To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have helped protect 130 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at http://www.nature.org/.

SOURCE Egon Zehnder International