Caring for the climate wasn’t something that Gill Mulroe was born into. Growing up on council estate in a West Yorkshire coal mining community in the 1980s, “no-one was talking about it”.
Later, as a single mother of two, Gill took a series of jobs – in a sewing factory, cleaning, in bars and a gym – to make ends meet.
Then, in 2004, chance took her into the waste sector where she was “horrified” by the amount of waste being sent to landfill. An “aha moment” came when her firm was working on a project turning green waste collected from households into a PAS100 compost that could be sold back to the public.
“It was a huge change in my thinking. I began looking deeper into biodiversity and then food distribution and the question of ‘how are we going to feed a growing population?’”
Gill started “a journey of understanding more about sustainability.” She joined the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) and used the new insights to work with clients to reduce waste and manage resources better. Today, Gill is climate commissioner and co-chair of the inclusion and engagement panel at Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission. She holds several Chartered positions: CMgr, Chartered Fellow CIWM and Chartered Environmentalist.
Gill Mulroe CMgr FCMI
Where dyslexia meets sustainability
There were plenty of “potholes” along the way. Undiagnosed dyslexia meant that Gill was labelled “thick” and “lazy” by teachers. She had to work hard “in a world where systems and processes are not made for people like me … at times I have gone to bed and sobbed”. It created a “vault of self-doubt” that was eventually cleared up by a manager “who absolutely believed in me and saw beyond my challenges”.
Alongside the difficulties, Gill has learned to appreciate the “superpowers” that dyslexia provides. These, she says, include having “a sort of sixth sense, an ability to see the bigger picture and identify gaps or opportunities”. This helps her add value as a green leader: “Sustainability can sometimes be looked at through a single lens, and I’m invested in broadening that lens.”
Inclusivity and sustainability
go hand in hand
Gill’s past personal struggles have fed into one of her current priorities: building diversity and inclusion into her leadership practice. “My passion is to implement more ways to work together to improve and deliver inclusive plans that shine a light on, and link, climate change to equity, diversity and inclusion. A lot of this comes from my own challenges as someone with dyslexia. Inclusion is the golden thread that runs through this piece. Being not just a green leader but an inclusive leader is the key to unlocking change and opportunity.”
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Everyone can be a green leader
Every job can be a green job, Gill believes, and the same goes for green leadership. “Reaching sustainability goals and adapting to climate change needs to be a mainstream part of leadership. Doing that requires large-scale cultural change within our businesses and organisations to recognise that ‘business as usual’ is a dead end.”
Of course some organisations are further down that road than others. “So the task of green leaders within organisations right now is to get them to raise their game – make a public commitment and embed climate at the heart of decision making.”
To counter the “overwhelm” that many can feel when contemplating climate action, Gill urges people to make climate pledges. Schemes such as the Yorkshire & Humber Climate Action Pledge encourage organisations to sign up to action – on nature as well as climate. This type of public commitment to change can give everyone – from managers to the shop floor – the courage to make the case for change.
Gill has concluded that “you can’t be a leader – or a green leader – by yourself. It takes sharing your views on climate, understanding other leaders’ views on climate and understanding collectively that climate leadership is shared across the team.
“It is not just my problem as a manager: we are all part of this. We will all collectively lead by supporting others through climate change, helping them understand green skills and how they can also be a green leader.”
Six qualities of a Green Leader
- Inclusion – Reach out to others within your organisation and outside. To become a really inclusive organisation, have a session with your teams to ask them which net-zero goals you should be achieving, how you should get there, and what your priorities should be.
- Support – Create safe spaces within an organisation so that employees to speak up about their fears and concerns about climate change and inequality. Share their ideas on changes that can be made relating to these issues.
- Generosity – Share your individual skills and knowledge through mentoring. This is a great way to help someone shift their behaviours towards a net-zero mindset. If you are in a larger business, share your CSR resources in the community to help smaller businesses without big budgets manage their own climate issues.
- Empathy – Don’t be judgmental. Celebrate diversity and other people’s views. It is those thoughts and ideas that may bring solutions to our challenges and support us in the future.
- Curiosity – I am a big believer in continuous professional development. Climate literacy can be part of this process; start by understanding the climate emergency and your organisation’s role in change. A training course in ESG or sustainability will also really help to shape your corporate social responsibility programme.
- Authenticity – Being an authentic leader means it’s OK to say that you are challenged by something. People want to hear from humans, so be human! Be vulnerable, share your lived experience – this will open doors.
Caitlin Mackesy Davies is an editor and writer looking for ways to advance a Just Transition and find collaborative solutions to tackling climate change through her work and volunteering. Alongside journalism, she’s communications officer at Repowering London.