Sustainability in day-to-day management - duty or madness?

(Foto: stock.adobe.com/Jon Anders Wiken)

Be honest: if you run an owner-managed company, you already have your hands full. Serving customers. Securing orders. Managing employees. Perhaps you also have to take on tasks for the missing staff during the vacation period and expertly hang up the racks in the loading station. And in the evening? A well-earned rest, putting your feet up, putting the kids to bed, a nice date with your loved one? Nope, far from it! Answering emails from the tax consultant, the bank and the guild. And then the politicians come along with a bureaucratic club that takes your breath away: Supply Chain Responsibility Act, CSRD, energy audit, emissions trading, climate protection law.

Honestly, which owner is supposed to be able to see through all of this - let alone implement everything properly and in a breathtakingly short time?

Many entrepreneurs simply swim through it. Others hope that the wave won't catch them. The fact is that many have one foot in prison and the other in insolvency. Not because they are bad entrepreneurs. But because the bureaucratic hurdles are almost impossible to overcome financially and in terms of personnel. And unfortunately, the crystal ball doesn't show me exactly what's in store for you in the coming months!

Why sustainability is still a must

As unfair as it sounds: Sustainability is no longer a "nice-to-have", it's a hard duty.

  • Laws are pressing: The Supply Chain Act applies to companies with 1,000 or more employees. But even smaller companies are being forced by customers to disclose risks.
  • Reporting obligations are rolling in: The CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - an EU directive) also covers medium-sized companies - at the latest via their role as a supplier.
  • Rising costs: Energy, materials,CO2 prices- if you don't start efficiency programs, you pay the price.

And yet: sustainability is also a survival strategy. Those who build up structures gain the trust of customers, banks and employees - and save themselves expensive panic firefighting later on.

The management task in the legal jungle

The biggest hurdle is not (only) the law. It is the immense pressure on the entrepreneur themselves: The uneasy feeling in your stomach every morning because it is clear that the next BaFin report or the next audit cannot be managed in terms of time or money. What can help?

  • Creating clarity: Which duties are really urgent, what is just noise?
  • Involve the team: Don't do everything yourself. Anyone who thinks they can do everything best on their own will go under.
  • Get external help: Sustainability has long been an area of expertise for specialists. Bring in expertise before the supervisory authority comes knocking.

How managers can remain mentally stable

Many entrepreneurs have long since reached their limits. But mental stability doesn't come about by itself - it comes about when you keep your eyes focused on the goal.

A study by the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (Tübingen, 2009) shows: If you don't have a clear goal in mind, you move in circles. And this is exactly what happens in day-to-day management: without a long-term vision, you and your team lose your bearings, spin in a hamster wheel and are swallowed up by day-to-day business.

Laughter and a certain spice of (gallows) humor also help to strengthen your own resilience

That's why we need company designers who think outside the box. Who keep an eye on the big picture. As captains, they know where the ship is heading - even when the seas are stormy and threatening.

And this clarity also requires brief islands of calm: a ten-minute break, a conscious breath, a step outside. Or - my Viennese tip - a Melange with a slice of Sacher cake and whipped cream (but only now and again as a ritual to celebrate a success). It's more than just a treat: it's a clear signal to your nervous system to slow down, treat yourself to something good, take a deep breath and get back on track.

By the way: laughter and a certain spice of (gallows) humor also help to strengthen your own resilience.

Conclusion

The laws remain. Bureaucracy is not getting any less.

You have two options:

  • You keep swimming through it, risking penalties, chaos and burnout.
  • Or you can build up structures step by step, delegate tasks and create routines that clear your head.

This is exactly where I am happy to support you. As a psychological consultant and management coach, I can help you to stay clear in this madness, provide orientation and guide your team safely through the flood of bureaucracy. Let's talk. In a confidential 1:1 meeting, we'll find out how you can get out of the fear trap and the almost inevitable hamster wheel and into confident leadership that will carry you through stormy times.

 

Manuela Schmied-Wolfsbauer completed her master's degree in social management at Danube University Krems and has been entrusted with various management tasks since her 20s. Before becoming a self-employed management coach, she worked for UTIKAL Automation GmbH & Co KG as an authorized signatory and commercial manager.

 

  • Issue: Januar
  • Year: 2020
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Eugen G. Leuze Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
Karlstraße 4
88348 Bad Saulgau
GERMANY

Phone.: +49 7581 4801-0
Fax: +49 7581 4801-10
EMail: info@leuze-verlag.de

 

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