Summer is coming to a close and fall is just around the corner. This shifting season is a time when many of us – including me – take a break away from work to reconnect with our passions, our families, and our lives outside of work. Kids are going back to school, new routines will start to kick in, and for many organizations, strategic planning for 2023 is imminent.
It’s a great time to pause and take stock, not only of our work but of ourselves.
It’s been a challenging year. In energy markets, price volatility, supply constraints, geopolitical tensions, extreme weather and heat waves, and threats of recession have compounded to make it difficult to focus on long-term sustainability progress.
Navigating a business through this seemingly never-ending onslaught of disruptions is the true work of leadership. But it’s essential to make sure that we manage our own energy, too, to ensure we’ve got the sustained personal resilience we need to go the distance.
For me, that means taking care of my health and protecting my calendar against unnecessary interruptions. It means connecting with my family, my community, and my team. It means working from a place of purpose so that I can drive greater impact.
We know things aren’t going to slow down. And on the whole, that’s a good thing. The momentum for sustainability has never been greater, which means that the opportunity to protect our companies from risks and build long-term resilience has also never been greater. So, as we build long-term sustainability into our business, we’ve also got to build it into our team and our careers.
As always, our team here at Schneider is with you, and as a resource for you. We’re walking this path of sustainability ourselves right alongside you. And together, we’re doing great things with even greater successes on the horizon.
If we can serve you and help to deliver you greater peace of mind and resilience, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Just please, be patient if you happen to get an “out of office working on personal sustainability” response from me in the next few days 😊
My best,
Steve
Steve Wilhite is the President of Schneider Electric's Sustainability Business. Steve joined Schneider Electric in 2011 through its acquisition of Summit Energy where he had been CEO and President since 2001. Since that time, his team has become the largest energy buyer in the world managing more than $30 billion in energy spend for 4,500+ clients across more than 100 countries.
