The Meaning, Experiences and Sensemaking of Sustainability Leadership Among Philippine Government Executives

Date of Award

5-1-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership Studies, major in Organization Development

First Advisor

Ma. Assunta C. Cuyegkeng, PhD

Abstract

Sustainability leadership is at the very core of sustainability transformations, and good governance is central to achieving sustainability. But there are limited studies on how government leaders understand and experience SL, and how it makes sense to them in the context of their work. IPA was thus used to access SL as a lived experience of ten Philippine government executives from agencies central to achieving the country’s sustainable development goals. Four superordinate themes emerged, namely, mixed notions of sustainability and SL, diversified SL experiences and challenges, SL enablers and making sense of SL experiences. The study showed there was no shared cognitive framework of sustainability and SL, and no convergent SL experiences among the respondents , who vacillated between colloquial notions of sustainability as a sustained condition and SL as ensuring continuity; or sustainability as a multidimensional and intergenerational development paradigm requiring SL that harmonizes economic, social and ecological goals. But the government executives who did embrace the latter notion were aided by SL enablers, and made sense of their SL experiences as being part of their personal and spiritual journeys. Recommendations include highlighting the public value of sustainability and SL for the government sustainability leader, and infusing public management education programs with SL approaches with ample experimentation on the use of a phenomenological approach in place of the traditional way of “teaching about” leadership. Key words: sustainability, sustainability leadership, government executive

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