Anderson: "The Green Business Pioneer"

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericagies/2011/08/10/interface-founder-ray-anderson-leaves-legacy-of-sustainability-success/

Until reading this article in Forbes I didn’t know who Ray Anderson was or what his company, Interface, did. Ray Anderson passed away this August, and he was the founder of Interface. He founded the company in 1973 and the company brought a “European style of carpet tiles—which could be easily replaced if part of the carpet became stained or worn—to the U.S.”

WHAT MADE HIM A LEADER?
He is a “green business pioneer.” He saw a need for change in his company, industry, and the world he lived in and he acted on it. Carpet is usually made with fossil fuels and represents a large amount of waste in the country. If people needed new carpet they would rip the entire carpet out, throw it in a dumpster, and get new carpet. These carpet tiles were different. They did not have the fossil fuel, harmful waste, and you could replace one tile instead of the entire thing. Let’s face it why didn’t companies recycle or “go green” back in 1973? Well, from what I have learned it was more expensive. Costs went up across the board and people did not see the impact industries were having on the planet we live. A green product was seen as a risk. Why not take the easy way out and profit off of a cheaper product? Ray Anderson did not care about that risk. Instead, he cared about the world and environment that his grandchildren would live in. Therefore, Anderson influenced his followers (company) to achieve a common goal. His goal is to achieve a zero environmental footprint by 2020.
Anderson and his company “went green” in 1994. He has since generated many short-term wins for his team. The article goes on to say his team has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 82%, cut waste by 66%, and invented and patented new machines, materials, and manufactured processes which increased sales by 66%, doubled earnings, and raised profit margins.

IS ANDERSON MANAGING OR LEADING?
He is leading. Instead of looking for order and stability he sought out adaptive and constructive change. “At Interface, an important step was opening up the culture to tolerate failure, to encourage experimentation.” Anderson aligns people and empowers them to try new things to find better ways to achieve their goal. He created a vision not only for his company but for others’ to follow in his footsteps. His vision is to eliminate any negative impact his company might have on the environment.
Bennis and Nanus said, “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing.” Isn’t that what Anderson did?

WAS HE BORN THAT WAY?
The author of the article heard him speak at a conference and said “his grandfatherly demeanor, southern drawl, and sheer niceness were somehow electrifying, and he held the packed crowd rapt.” According to the Trait Approach he was born with these traits which make him a leader. From what we know already he was intelligent, determined, sociable, and had integrity. The trait theory would say it is Anderson and his personality that are central to his leadership.

OR DOES THE SKILLS APPROACH MAKE MORE SENSE?
Maybe he has these traits but didn’t he learn from others? Anderson was changed by Paul Hawken’s book The Ecology of Commerce so I think the Skills Model is better suited. He has individual attributes which include those personality traits and what he has learned from experiences and reading—crystallized cognitive ability. He has the competencies of the model. He read the book and was faced with a large, ill-defined problem—where to start with environmental change. He defined the problem, formulated a new understanding, and generated solutions. Performance outcomes are evident given the statistics but maybe the judge of his leadership outcomes will be the answer to the question—WILL HIS LEGACY LIVE ON?