Stefan Einhorn: “Focus on social sustainability is needed if humanity is to survive”

If you ask Professor Stefan Einhorn, chairman of the Centre for Social Sustainability at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, the great challenge ahead is that humanity should not only live, but survive. His solution is simple but challenging—more goodness, wisdom, and concern.

The conversation begins in a major key: both unprecedented and improbable. According to Stefan Einhorn, professor and chairman of the Centre for Social Sustainability at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, the fact that we have succeeded with this complexity is the strongest argument for believing in God, even if coincidence can also explain such an ingenious and well-functioning world.

"I really don't know if there is a God, I'm agnostic, but I can't ignore the fact that man is an incredible being. It amazes me that we humans are so complex, and groups of people are even more complex, and entire societies, and the whole earth. "Well done," I say to us, says Stefan Einhorn, and turns into a minor key:

"Humanity is balancing on a knife's edge to an incredibly bright future and that we will have time to destroy everything before we get there – that's my big concern. In the last 100 years, we have created the conditions to destroy the whole world, so in order for us to survive, we must catch up with wisdom. We have to move through time until we become aware that you cannot build weapons of mass destruction, ruin our environment and start wars," says Stefan Einhorn.

Social sustainability is therefore not a kind of goodwill that is exercised with the left hand, but a prerequisite for the survival of all humanity.  the three legs of the UN Declaration on Sustainability.

A generally accepted definition of the term is "physical, mental and social well-being, which enables a good everyday life and a meaningful life", but there is no getting away from the fact that social sustainability is a broad and somewhat fuzzy concept. Stefan Einhorn even calls it "fluffy" and admits that he has mixed feelings about it.

"My leadership philosophy is that the most Successful managers are the ones who do others successful. They stop thinking on themselves, their ego, and their prestige."

Stefan Einhorn

"Everyone knows what you mean, but there is no strict and clear definition, so you have to decide for yourself what is central. A common definition includes concepts such as equality, trust, democracy, equality, the opportunity to develop and the equal value of all people. As I see it, it is about relationships between people and our opportunities to function as individuals, as a group and as a society.

Stefan Einhorn also wants to include the concepts of goodness and wisdom, two necessary aspects for a sustainable society that are not always highlighted in social sustainability.

"People talk about goodness today, but no one talks about wisdom – in a world without wisdom, no one survives. You can be intelligent and mean, but not wise and mean. In order for us to function as individuals, at the group level and in society, compassion, goodness, trust and wisdom are required."

Stefan Einhorn also points out that we must become aware of our entire personality and of our dark sides:

"We stumble over our own bad qualities. It is important, not least for managers, to develop an insight into their dark sides so that they can do something about them. Among the black sides of man he counts "the new deadly sins": falsehood, hatred, ruthlessness, bullying, prejudice, intolerance, xenophobia and greed.

"We live in a society of trust, and if trust doesn't work, that society will collapse," says Stefan Einhorn. When it comes to social sustainability linked to working life, the responsibility lies primarily with the managers, who have a great influence not only on how productive and well-functioning the business is, but also on how the employees feel.

"Studies show that if employees are treated well, not only their well-being increases, but also their productivity. There are many managers lacking there. Many employees do not feel seen, listened to or respected," says Stefan Einhorn.

Few management training courses are scientifically evaluated, nor is it enough to send managers on leadership training courses that make them "less bad" leaders. You also have to send them on training courses that make them "good" leaders.

"I think you need to focus more on the dark qualities of the leaders. If you are not aware of your bad qualities, you have no opportunity to influence them. Many are stuck in prestige thinking. It is a disease in working life and prestigious managers are life-threatening; They look after their ego rather than that the employees are doing well and that the business is working well. My leadership philosophy is that the most successful managers are those who make others successful. They stop thinking about themselves, their egos and their prestige," says Stefan Einhorn.

The same applies when building strong and sustainable teams as a leader – not focusing on yourself, but focusing on the team and making sure that it strives towards a common goal.

"It is an advantage to have different qualities and competences in a team. Not everyone can be the driver, because then the ship will tip over and everyone will be careful, and then you will get nowhere. If everyone thinks the same way, then it will go to hell.

Despite the dark streaks in our world, Stefan Einhorn chooses to see life from the bright side:

"What I see is much more goodness and goodwill than evil. There are a few who want other people badly and on the news we only hear things like someone being knocked down in the subway, but when did you hear that there were millions of people travelling on public transport every day without killing each other?

The fact that it is the evil actions that are in focus may be because our brain is programmed to detect and focus on dangers. From an evolutionary perspective, we would not have survived as a species without that contingency mechanism.

To create a better world, we all need to take greater responsibility for social sustainability.

"All people should strive to contribute to a better world. We have a responsibility not only for ourselves and our family, friends, relatives, co-workers, but for all people. We carry responsibility for the whole world on our shoulders. That's how I think you should think. If you share that burden, it's not as heavy," concludes Stefan Einhorn.