Pursuing triple bottom line sustainability through conscious corporate governance

The role of leaders in the pursuit of business sustainability has grown in relevance since the reported corporate scandals and the global financial crisis of 2008. This study suggests that conscious leadership, which differs from current leadership styles, is needed in order to achieve business sustainability. Using a sample of 371 directors and senior managers from 167 JSE-listed and 54 unlisted companies, the study investigated the role of conscious leadership in the achievement of sustainable business practices. Regression analyses and Pearson correlation coefficients, as well as Cohen’s d effect sizes, were calculated in order to analyse the data.The empirical results revealed that the respondents regarded conscious leadership as an important part of corporate governance, which led the present study to coin the phrase “conscious corporate governance”. The results also showed that conscious corporate governance is positively related to healthy employee relations, and to the achievement of equal opportunities and workforce diversity, but that this kind of governance is negatively related to company profitability. The study explores the implications of these results.