The Shaping of the Social Sustainability Mindsets of Top Female Leaders

Abstract

This study investigates how the social sustainability mindset of female leaders is shaped through challenging circumstances. This study broadens the literature by including a larger perspective on the social and spiritual dimensions of the leader’s work. Based on in-depth life story interviews with three top female leaders, this study empirically finds that despite resistance and cultural differences, an early discovery of capabilities as well as the social needs of other people was of importance in establishing a social sustainability mindset. Despite setbacks in the form of bullying, suppression, and loss, repetitive work on specific values, such as courage, responsibility, and honesty, as well as an inherent drive to keep a spiritual dimension of conserving resources for future generations, helped the women form their social sustainability mindset and develop moral agency working for realizing good with an emphasis on values such as equality, justice, and peace.