Business
Leadership for a Sustainable Future
As a business owner or manager, you no doubt rely on
common
sense for your success. You treat your customers and employees well,
offer high-quality products and services, and keep costs in line. But
there's another level of business sense that, although not yet the
norm, becomes more important every day.
UnCommon Sense
will help you design more efficient operations that reduce waste and
pollutants, decrease water and energy
consumption, and expand purchases of local and nontoxic products. We
will introduce you to concepts of social cohesion for the workplace and
explore how your business may enhance community progress. You will
receive ongoing guidance in all these areas as you
initiate, manage and track
the changes within your company. Each business that completes the
program will be profiled in a sustainability report to be published
yearly by YBP. This report will quantify how our collective business
efforts are improving the region’s economy, communities and
environment.
THE
PROGRAM
UnCommon Sense
is a two-year
leadership program that is helping businesses become more sustainable
in all aspects of their operations. Responsible businesses in our
region are recognizing that a healthy environment and strong
communities are vital to their longterm prosperity. By adopting
sustainable practices, each business can help preserve the
region’s social and natural assets, strengthen the local
economy,
and enhance the growth potential of its own business in the process.
The program encourages its participants to incorporate
environmentally-sound and community-friendly practices that make
long-term business sense for a variety of enterprises within the
Greater Yellowstone area.
YOUR LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT
UnCommon Sense is much more than a manager or employee training program
in sustainability. Each business is expected to apply what they have
learned back at the workplace and to measure and report their
accomplishments over a two-year period. Many businesses become leaders
within their industry sector and have impact well beyond their own
establishment. To “graduate” from UnCommon Sense,
participants prepare a written summary of their improvements and
operational results, and make a multi-media presentation to YBP and
their peers.
To be successful, businesses need to identify two individuals who can
attend workshops, sit in on conference calls, and implement action
plans between workshops. This will ensure that vacations, work
pressures and unexpected events will not preclude full participation in
the program. Most businesses find that their representatives need an
internal working group back at the business to carry out the action
steps and make long-term operational changes.
TO APPLY:
Please describe your interest in
sustainability by
completing the application form and answering three
questions ( Apply
online here).
Submit your completed registration application to the YBP office no
later than March 1, 2008. A team member will be available to
consult
with your business should you have more questions about the program.
The number of businesses accepted for this third class of UnCommon
Sense may be limited to ensure a quality experience for all
participants. The first workshop is set for April 24-26, 2008 in West
Yellowstone, MT.
PROGRAM FEES AND LOGISTICS:
$1,200 OVER TWO YEARS (payable in two
annual
installments) Interested businesses should become YBP members before
they apply for UnCommon Sense. Fees cover all instruction and materials
for seven modules taught over the course of four workshops plus
graduation recognitions at the fifth session. Workshop meals are
covered for two persons per business. Monthly conference calls and
ongoing support from YBP staff and learning team advisors also are
included.
Please budget adequate funds for
travel and lodging so
representatives can attend workshops that will rotate around the
Greater Yellowstone region. Allocate sufficient staff time to allow for
completion of pre-assignments such as facility audits, waste
inventories and employee surveys. UnCommon Sense has been a
transformational experience for the first class of participating
businesses, and their success is a reflection of the time and resources
committed to the program.
THE PROGRAM FORMAT:
UnCommon Sense integrates education and peer-support
by requiring businesses to attend five group workshops over a two-year
period and
participate in monthly teleconferences. Each training module explains
how to
conduct self audits, make operational improvements and measure and
communicate
results. In addition, participants are assigned to a
“learning team” led by an
experienced advisor who serves as a resource and coach.
Module 1: Leading the Way
How do we initiate and manage organizational change?
Module 2: Waste-Stream
Management
How do we effectively reduce waste, appropriately segregate our waste
stream and cost-effectively transfer our waste to its next destination?
Module 3: Resource
Conservation – Water & Energy Efficiencies
How do we maximize the operating efficiency of our facilities and
advance the sustainable, “green” building movement?
Module 4: Responsible
Purchasing
What contents are in the products we use to operate our business, and
where do they originate? Why should we care?
Module 5: Social
& Community Investment
How can we build social structures to strengthen our businesses and
manage our operations to enhance the social fabric of our communities?
Module 6: Transportation
Efficiencies
How do we move ourselves and our goods? How do our customers access our
business?
Module 7: Offset Programs
After efficiency improvements, what operational impacts remain, and
what additional mitigation measures exist?
Program Review and
Graduation
Businesses report on their individual and collective progress;
participants receive certificate of program completion.