Can Business Balance Profit, Purpose and Sustainability?

How can leaders balance commercial performance, environmental responsibility and long-term value? The opening session of our 2026 Executive Leadership Programme explored why embedding sustainability into strategy requires more than just good intentions. It demands clarity of purpose, critical thinking and the confidence to navigate difficult decisions.

The opening session of our 2026 Executive Leadership Programme, delivered in partnership with the University of Edinburgh Business School, brought together senior leaders from across Scotland’s business landscape to explore the relationship between sustainability, strategy and leadership.

Led by Dr Sarah Ivory, alongside Sarah Beattie Smith, Head of Sustainability at SSEN Transmission, the session challenged participants to reconsider the purpose of business, examine competing organisational priorities and put their decision-making skills to the test.

The discussion highlighted a central leadership challenge: how can organisations pursue commercial success while taking meaningful responsibility for their wider impact on society and the environment?

Beyond profit: Understanding the purpose of business

The session began with a deceptively simple question: Why does business exist?

Is its primary purpose to generate profit, provide goods and services, or contribute to a thriving society?

Dr Sarah Ivory challenged the assumption that commercial success and positive societal impact must be competing objectives.

While profitability remains essential to business viability, the discussion explored whether profit should be viewed solely as an end goal or also as a means of delivering value to customers, employees, communities and wider society.

For boards and executive teams, establishing a shared understanding of organisational purpose is fundamental. Without that clarity, leaders may approach strategic decisions with very different assumptions about what constitutes success.

Sustainability as a strategic consideration

Sustainability is often approached through reporting frameworks, environmental targets and regulatory obligations. While these remain important, the session encouraged leaders to look beyond sustainability as a standalone function.

Dr Ivory explored how sustainability thinking has evolved, from the traditional triple bottom line of economic, social, and environmental performance to models that recognise the interdependence of businesses, society, and the natural environment.

A central concept was materiality: identifying the sustainability issues that genuinely matter to an organisation and its stakeholders.

This involves considering both how an organisation’s activities affect society and the environment, and how wider environmental, social and economic developments create risks and opportunities for the organisation.

For leaders, this provides a practical starting point for determining where to focus attention, resources and investment.

Rather than attempting to address every sustainability issue equally, organisations must understand where they have the greatest impact and where strategic decisions can create meaningful value.

Putting leadership decisions to the test

Moving from theory into practice, Sarah Beattie Smith drew on her experience at SSEN Transmission to explore the realities of embedding sustainability into organisational decision-making.

Participants were presented with a fictional scenario involving a UK electronics company facing a significant procurement decision.

In this case study, an existing supplier contract was approaching renewal and the executive team had to choose between continuing with an established overseas supplier or moving production to a more expensive Scottish manufacturer.

The decision involved competing considerations, including cost, supply chain reliability, carbon emissions, employment opportunities, commercial risk and the organisation’s wider strategic commitments.

Working in groups as executive committees, participants examined the available information, challenged assumptions and debated the potential consequences of each option.

While many groups favoured the Scottish supplier, others highlighted the financial and operational risks of changing an established arrangement. Several questioned whether sufficient information was available to make a fully informed decision.

The exercise demonstrated that sustainable decision-making rarely involves a straightforward choice between right and wrong. Instead, leaders must weigh competing priorities, understand the implications of uncertainty and balance immediate commercial pressures against longer-term opportunities and responsibilities.

It also reinforced the importance of robust board papers, constructive challenge and drawing on different perspectives before reaching a decision.

Adaptive leadership in an increasingly complex world

Introducing the wider leadership themes underpinning the programme, Professor John Amis of the University of Edinburgh Business School explored the importance of adaptive leadership.

Traditional technical challenges can often be addressed through established expertise and processes. Adaptive challenges, by contrast, are more complex, involving competing interests, incomplete information and problems for which no obvious solution exists.

Sustainability provides a clear example.

Decisions relating to climate change, infrastructure investment, supply chains and organisational transformation frequently require leaders to operate beyond their individual areas of expertise.

Effective leadership in these circumstances depends on the ability to mobilise people, encourage different viewpoints and create the conditions for collective problem-solving.

It also requires leaders to recognise their own blind spots, remain comfortable with uncertainty and resist the temptation to focus exclusively on challenges that are easiest to resolve.

From ambition to action

A recurring theme throughout the session was the importance of translating sustainability ambitions into everyday organisational decisions.

Participants were encouraged to consider the role they can play, even if sustainability isn’t part of their formal responsibilities. This might involve engaging with colleagues leading sustainability activity, questioning the information used in investment decisions, examining the wider impact of procurement choices or ensuring different stakeholder perspectives are represented in strategic discussions.

The speakers also highlighted the importance of organisational values, reliable data and individual behaviours in influencing change.

Embedding sustainability is not solely the responsibility of a specialist team. It requires leaders across an organisation to understand how their decisions contribute to wider strategic objectives.

Leadership starts with the questions we ask

The session concluded with a discussion between Dr Sarah Ivory and Sarah Beattie Smith, exploring their career journeys, leadership experiences and the importance of pursuing work aligned with personal values and ambitions.

Their different professional paths reinforced the idea that leadership development is rarely linear. It requires self-awareness, a willingness to challenge established expectations and the confidence to make difficult choices.

For participants, the opening session offered both a practical introduction to sustainable strategy and an opportunity to reflect on their own approach to leadership.

Effective leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about asking better questions, understanding competing perspectives and making thoughtful decisions in the face of complexity.

As organisations face increasing pressure to balance performance, purpose and long-term resilience, these capabilities will be essential to shaping sustainable success.

Our Executive Leadership Programme is delivered in partnership between FWB Executive Search and the University of Edinburgh Business School, bringing together senior leaders to develop the knowledge, perspectives and capabilities required for executive leadership. Now in its sixth year, the programme was established after the successful launch of the Executive Women in Leadership and NXD Development programmes, which have supported over 600 delegates in advancing their executive and non-executive careers. The Executive Leadership programme is designed to enable the next generation of leaders across multiple ownership classes and organisations within a broad range of private, public and not-for-profit sectors.