Implementing Corporate ESG in 3 Steps

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My Sustainable Encounter with Nilesh Dayalapwar

by Albert Schiller

And then there was ESG

Your company is excited to begin its ESG journey, but where do you start? For many leaders, the task starts daunting. You face competitive corporate pressure and opposing stakeholder demands, while lacking a dedicated team or a clear roadmap. It is a classic state of paralysis, a complex problem without an obvious first step. This educational post offers a solution: a clear, three-step manual derived from the integrated philosophy of Nilesh Dayalapwar. His "Sustainability Trinity" model provides a logical sequence for building a considerate program from scratch by adopting three distinct mindsets in a specific order. The model argues that how you begin is as important as what you do. Is the sequence of your actions, not just the actions themselves, the most critical factor for long-term success?

Step 1: Be the Consultant - Set the Roadmap

The first lesson in the Sustainability Trinity is that you must begin as a Consultant. A company starting from zero cannot begin with auditing since there is nothing to audit. The common mistake is to dive into data collection, a frantic effort often leading to tracking the wrong metrics for an undefined purpose. The educational insight from Nilesh’s method is to resist this impulse and start with a strategic, forward-looking view. His first step is always to benchmark the company against its competitors, understand the global regulatory trends, and develop a clear two-to-three-year roadmap. This architectural phase provides the necessary focus in direction, and genuine purpose. It aligns leadership toward a common goal and creates a narrative that can be communicated unanimously and defended resolutely to skeptical stakeholders. It answers the fundamental question, "Where are we going and why?" before getting lost in the granular details of "How do we measure it?". Dayalapwar’s lesson is clear: in the first step, strategy precedes measurement. You must first design the destination.

Step 2: Be the Auditor - Ready for Third-Party Certification

Once a strategy is in place and the first KPIs are reported, the mindset must shift to the Auditor's. The second lesson is that a strategy without verifiable data is merely a collection of good intentions, a potential exercise in greenwashing. The lesson here is the non-negotiable need for a foundation of truth. Nilesh’s second step is to focus on compliance, conduct a thorough gap analysis against relevant standards like ISCC, and ensure the data is accurate and ready for third-party certification. This phase is about building an able internal system and a culture of accountability. It involves scrutinizing data, questioning anomalies, and ensuring every claim can withstand external scrutiny. This step transforms aspirational goals into measurable, verifiable facts. The crucial process gives a company's claims legitimacy in the eyes of regulators, investors, and customers. The lesson is meaningful and straightforward: after you have a map to your destination, you must build an unwavering compass to prove you are on course.

Step 3: Be the Solution Architect - Navigate the Journey

The final step is to become the internal expert, the Solutions Architect. With a strategy (the map) and a verification system (the compass) in place, the goal becomes to establish a long-term, continuous improvement. The final lesson is that sustainability is not a one-time project to be completed to check the compliance box, but an ongoing process to be managed with care. Nilesh's third step is integrating ESG tools and empowering in-house expertise to monitor data, analyze trends, and drive the journey along the roadmap. This is the engine of the program. This phase is about turning a static report into a dynamic, learning system. The in-house expert uses data provided by tools like SAP to track mass balances, innovate, retrain workers, and, where needed, redesign products to avoid waste from the start. This internal ownership ensures the sustainability initiative is not just a reporting exercise but a core part of the company's operational DNA. The lesson is that once you have a map and a compass, you need a skilled driver who knows the vehicle and the terrain to steer the ship for the long haul.

So what can we take from his approach?

Questions for Audience

1. Nilesh Dayalapwar's "Sustainability Trinity" model argues for a specific sequence: Consultant -> Auditor -> Solutions Architect. In your experience, what are the risks of getting this sequence wrong, for instance, by focusing on auditing before a clear strategy is in place?

2. The playbook's final step is empowering an in-house expert to "drive the journey." How can organizations ensure this role is truly empowered and that sustainability becomes a core part of the operational DNA, rather than just a peripheral reporting exercise?