Share
Facebook Facebook icon Twitter Twitter icon LinkedIn LinkedIn icon Email

Brain Circuits

Soft skills for hard targets: Why leaders need IDGs to reach the SDGs 

Published 27 January 2025 in Brain Circuits • 3 min read

Progress towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals has been slow. Leaders need Inner Development Goals to become true sustainability champions.

Why is a new type of goal necessary?

Driving sustainability transformation is much harder than many had anticipated. Meeting the SDGs poses multifaceted challenges for which there are no established models or easy answers. To tackle them, leaders need to be emotionally intelligent, resilient, and willing to engage in ongoing development and collaborate with multiple stakeholders. Meaningful progress thus requires strengthening the leadership capabilities of sustainability champions – not merely their strategic acumen and mastery of practical tools.

 

What are the IDGs?

In November 2023, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), together with various non-profit and business education institutions established the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) as a necessary supplement to the SDGs.

The IDGs start from the premise that accumulating more knowledge about the climate crisis and other societal problems will not lead to the required level of action – simply investing in more think tanks, technologies, and policy instruments seems unlikely to resolve them.

The IDG framework consists of five dimensions and 23 transformational skills that are critical for leaders to drive necessary change. These so-called ‘soft’ skills are needed to capture existing inner resources and help organizations turn them towards their ongoing sustainability efforts. The five dimensions are:

  1. Being – Relationship to Self
  2. Thinking – Cognitive Skills
  3. Relating – Caring for Others and the World
  4. Collaborating – Social Skills
  5. Acting – Enabling Change

 

Key takeaway

To tackle the climate crisis and the social ills targeted in the SDGs, we need to incorporate a focus on the inner drivers of action (and inaction). Doing so is likely to boost the psychological, adaptive, and cultural capacity to work together towards the necessary transformation and boost the chances of achieving sustainable development for a more equitable world.

Authors

David Bach

David Bach

President of IMD and NestlĂŠ Professor of Strategy and Political Economy

David Bach is President of IMD and Nestlé Professor of Strategy and Political Economy. He assumed the Presidency of IMD on 1 September 2024. He is working to broaden and deepen IMD’s global impact through learning innovation, excellence in degree- and executive programs, and applied thought leadership. Recognized globally as an innovator in management education, Bach previously served as IMD’s Dean of Innovation and Programs.

Natalia Olynec, Head of Sustainability at IMD

Natalia Olynec

Chief Sustainability Officer at IMD

Natalia is the Chief Sustainability Officer at IMD. She designs and implements sustainability strategy, develops executive education programs and advisory, publishes research, builds cross-sector partnerships, and communicates IMD’s ambitions and progress. The Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business, co-led by Olynec, aims to support leaders and companies to take steps towards a more sustainable and inclusive business world by harnessing IMD’s knowledge and expertise in this field and offering tools to help them deliver systemic, innovative, and impactful responses.

Cairns-Lee_Heather

Heather Cairns-Lee

Affiliate Professor of Leadership and Communication

Heather Cairns-Lee is Affiliate Professor of Leadership and Communication at IMD. She is a member of IMD’s Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Council and an experienced executive coach. She works to develop reflective and responsible leaders and caring inclusive cultures in organizations and society.

 

 

Related

Learn Brain Circuits

Join us for daily exercises focusing on issues from team building to developing an actionable sustainability plan to personal development. Go on - they only take five minutes.
 
Read more 

Explore Leadership

What makes a great leader? Do you need charisma? How do you inspire your team? Our experts offer actionable insights through first-person narratives, behind-the-scenes interviews and The Help Desk.
 
Read more

Join Membership

Log in here to join in the conversation with the I by IMD community. Your subscription grants you access to the quarterly magazine plus daily articles, videos, podcasts and learning exercises.
 
Sign up
X

Log in or register to enjoy the full experience

Explore first person business intelligence from top minds curated for a global executive audience