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If you’re already part of the WorkforClimate community, then no doubt you will have heard us talk about ‘climate intrapreneurs’. If you’re new here (hi, welcome!), then perhaps you’ve just stumbled across the term on LinkedIn or social media and wondered what it’s all about. To help clear things up we’ve pulled together this handy ‘climate intrapreneur’ explainer.
What is an intrapreneur?
Let’s start at the beginning: intrapreneur isn’t just a climate thing. A portmanteau of ‘internal’ and ‘entrepreneur’, it's used in business to describe employees who work to bring about change or push new ideas. In other words, someone applying entrepreneurial thinking or action within their established workplace. Sounds pretty cool, right?
What does this have to do with climate action?
At WorkforClimate we believe that every job can, and should be a climate job. That doesn’t mean we think that everyone should quit their jobs to apply for sustainability roles. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Companies are a huge contributor to the climate crisis, and rapid corporate transformation is needed if we’re going to create a future that can sustain us. But the sad reality is that most businesses won’t make the change needed without some persuasion, because ultimately this thinking competes with the drive to make short-term profits. So the climate movement desperately needs people actively working on the inside to help shift corporations.
This is where climate intrapreneurs enter the fold: Workers engaging from where they already are to be champions for climate – with entrepreneurial levels of zest and vision – within their workplace.
RELATED: The most powerful climate tool you’ve never considered? Your job
But we already have a sustainability team so problem solved, right?
If your company has a sustainability team, that’s a great start. But history has shown it’s not enough. Too often sustainability teams are siloed away from the rest of the company, meaning every climate measure is largely left up to them alone to implement. If this same approach was taken to any other aspect of the business like, say, maximising profit, it simply wouldn’t work. This is why the model needs to change.
The sustainability team might set the objective, but implementation needs to sit with every other department. That is, all employees – no matter their role – should work hand-in-hand with the sustainability department. Or, to reference another legendary action hero: If the head of sustainability is Batman, then every other employee should see themselves as Robin to that Batman. We call these employees (or ‘Robins’), climate intrapreneurs.
A climate intrapreneur is an employee working to align their organisation with climate goals and create change in the company. Some of them might work in sustainability, but most of them don’t.
What kind of climate intrapreneur are you?
WorkforClimate classifies climate intrapreneurs into four different categories. But keep in mind that rarely does someone’s work fit neatly into one of these. It’s much more likely that a climate intrapreneur is a mixture of each of these.
1.The Practitioner
This person is already directly developing or implementing climate-related changes in the company. Maybe they work on the operations team organising the switch of energy providers, or are established as the go-to sustainability action person.
2. The Influencer
This person isn’t directly involved in action, but is using their power to influence others to act. What might this look like? Someone trying to get their boss to advocate for net zero commitments at senior leadership meetings.
3. The Protector
Someone who has formal power in the organisation, and uses that to help other climate intrapreneurs move things forward. They are a support and safe cover to get things done.
4. The Navigator
Where the protector opens up formal structures in the organisation, the navigator does that through informal channels. So they help build the power of climate intrapreneurs across the organisation through things like searching out other climate-conscious staff to start a sustainability community; helping book in time and facilitate climate-focused town hall meetings; or being a connector and coach for others.
An employee may well identify with a combination of these definitions and their role might evolve over time. Ultimately the role of a climate intrapreneur sits at the intersection of the changes needed in their company, and their skills and resources for influence.
And most importantly, climate intrapreneurs are there to be a facilitator, not an expert, and they don't have to do it alone.
Want to make sustainability a part of your job and start on your journey to becoming a climate intrapreneur? The WorkforClimate Academy gives you the tools and space to take climate action in the workplace, no matter what your job title. Head here to register for the next cohort.
