The role of leadership values and communication in the process of change towards sustainability: a qualitative research paper

This article aims to explore which leadership values mediate the process of influencing employees to accept change toward different sustainability practices and the role of communication in moderating this process. To answer these questions, 25 leaders from eight sustainable organisations working in different industries in the UK were interviewed. It was found that leadership values have both mediating and moderating roles. The mediating values are sustainability-related. The moderating values are classified into two sets. The first set of values helps in increasing employees' trust in the leaders and building close relationships with them making it easier for leaders to instil sustainability-related values in employees. The second set of moderating values helps in sustaining employees' sustainability-related practices. Moreover, it was found that communication has a moderating effect by further helping to build close relationships between leaders and employees, building employees' trust in leaders, and keeping employees involved.