How to Speak Sustainability to a Skeptic

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My Sustainable Encounter with Ashwini Mavinkurve

by Albert Schiller

Sustainability cannot be achieved by the sustainability team alone. So how do you translate its value into a language the rest of the organization can understand and act upon?

In our feature on Ashwini Mavinkurve, we explored the psychological paradoxes of passion in the sustainability movement. We concluded that effective leaders must be strategic communicators. But what does that look like in practice? A sustainability strategy, no matter how brilliant, is inert if it remains confined to a single department. A common point of failure for many well-intentioned programs is the inability to gain genuine support from the rest of the organization.

Ashwini’s experience provides a clear, logical framework for overcoming this hurdle. The key, she argues, is to abandon a one-size-fits-all message. To achieve true integration, a sustainability leader must become a multilingual diplomat, translating the broad goal of sustainability into the specific, native language of each corporate function.

The Fallacy of the Silo

First, we must understand why this translation is necessary. The core reason is simple. As Ashwini states, “a sustainability team alone cannot deliver on sustainability.” The work cannot be done in a silo. She provides a perfect example: a sustainability team decides to set a corporate target for reducing carbon emissions. This decision, made in the corporate office, is meaningless without the active participation of other departments.

The operations team on the factory shop floor must be the ones to implement energy efficiency measures. The procurement team must be the ones to find and engage with "lean vendors" or more responsible partners. Without their buy-in and execution, the target is just a number in a report. The same applies to social goals. A company can set a target of hiring 30% women, but that goal will fail if the HR department does not simultaneously build a culture that is "conducive for them to grow," with flexible policies and safe working conditions. The strategy is only as strong as its cross-departmental support.

A Multilingual Approach to Value

If a siloed approach is doomed, the only alternative is integration. This requires abandoning a generic pitch about "doing the right thing" and instead framing sustainability in a way that resonates with the specific goals and metrics of each department. Ashwini’s approach is a masterclass in this kind of strategic translation.

“It’s very important to speak in a language that really resonates with them,” she insists. This means understanding what each department values. For the procurement team, the language is about efficiency and risk. The conversation should be about how sustainable sourcing can lead to leaner supply chains, more resilient partnerships, and potentially "better costs" in the long run.

For the HR department, the language is about talent. The pitch should focus on how a strong sustainability profile helps with "having better retention" and "attracting better talent," which is a critical advantage in a competitive market for skilled professionals.

For senior management, the language is about strategic advantage. The discussion should center on how a robust ESG strategy helps in "attracting more capital" from investors and enhances the overall brand and market position.

By framing sustainability as a tool that helps each department achieve its own pre-existing goals, it stops being an external burden and becomes an internal asset. It is no longer "another thing to be taken care of." It becomes integral. This approach, she argues, is what moves sustainability from a special event, like an annual celebration on "World Environment Day on the 5th of June," into the fabric of "a regular conversation." That is the final, most important translation of all.

So what can we take from her approach?

Questions for Audience Discussion

1. Ashwini argues that a "sustainability team alone cannot deliver on sustainability." Using her examples, explain how the failure to gain support from a department like Procurement or HR would directly sabotage a specific ESG goal.

2. The blog advocates for "speaking the language" of different departments. What is the underlying strategic principle behind this approach, and why is it more effective than simply mandating a new sustainability policy from the top down?