Although Dan has a longer history in his organization than the typical employee in a company, longevity has less to do with his success than the vital qualities of personal commitment, a penchant for education, a collaborative approach, and sheer enthusiasm. The green programs that gain traction, when compared to the ones that produce lackluster results, are created through one person or team exhibiting these traits. Let's take a closer look at these qualities in terms of Dan's experience:

1. Personal Commitment. As the Director of Environmental Studies, Dan demonstrates knowledge of ecology and conservation on a daily basis. He also walks his own talk by living a green lifestyle. Nobody is suspicious of his motives.
2. Education. Conservatives don't want to be sold to, but they do want to be informed. What tends to hold people back, even CEOs, from jumping into new territory are concerns that they can't quite articulate. People need to develop a comfort level with green ideas. For the Headmaster, Dan created a "green print" plan, prioritizing and budgeting every element of his strategy. Dan engages the students through his environmental science classes, the administration through practical modifications for a greener campus, the parents through newsletters, and the community through free events such as movie festivals featuring eco-oriented documentaries.
3. Collaboration. Dan is just one guy. As with any organization, there exists at St. Mark's a number of spheres of influence: students, parents, administrators, and board members. By working with these groups to address their specific concerns or interests, Dan is not pushing an agenda but providing a service. He's garnering buy-in throughout the process by asking influential people to help support these programs.
4. Enthusiasm. Dan has fun. He likes people and seeks to understand them. Dan's persistence is tempered by his enthusiasm, so that even when he urges people to make green changes, he does so without annoying them. Enthusiasm is the antidote to burnout for anyone steering a green initiative inside a change-resistant culture.

Having the right people in place is half the battle. The other half involves strategy. To drive progress in a conservative culture, you must demonstrate the following:

1. Top-level support. While a progressive culture will take grass roots efforts seriously, a conservative culture is more likely to follow the direction of top-level leadership. When the St. Mark's Board of Trustees decided that building its new facilities to LEED standards was the right thing to do, the school's green program finally got some teeth. Sustainability went from being "Dan's project" to becoming a core value of the organization.
2. Management-level and administrative support. A major stumbling block in organizations that fulfill the first prerequisite is failure to engage other rungs of employees. Engaging stakeholders requires a sincere statement backed by action on the part of the leader, as well as education and incentives to motivate staff that may be reticent to support "progressive" ideas.
3. Minimal risk. Any initiative perceived as a risk to the brand will not gain support.
4. A clear path. Conservative cultures are not innovative by nature. By sharing case studies of similar companies' sustainability initiatives, change agents can offer a concrete path to follow. Reputable third-party certifications like Energy Star also offer a step-by-step plan as well as promotional materials and opportunities for recognition.
5. Bottom-line value. The numbers have to demonstrate a relatively short payback period with a clear ROI.
6. Political awareness. Know the culture. I had to learn this lesson the hard way. Sometimes you can have everything else in place and the plan can still fall flat. Never underestimate the importance of hierarchy in the planning stage. Know your audience. If you don't engage the right people early on, they will not appreciate the value of a sustainability plan that may require funds or behavioral changes, even if the numbers work on paper.

As specialized as the sustainability field is becoming, the gulf between where the experts are heading and where everyone else still remains continues to widen. In trying to solve complex problems, we create solutions that make sustainability ever more confusing for conservative cultures to embrace. Already they must wade through scores of certifications and requirements that can resemble regulations to the less informed. The result is stagnation, frustration, and inertia.

In order to get green off the ground within a change-resistant culture, try going back to basics. Even a program as simple as the three R's: reduce, reuse and recycle, can be effective. Companies that put into place a simple but measurable program may see enough positive evidence to inspire more strategic actions down the road. Slow and steady wins the race.

Conservation is still a conservative value, so why the pushback from conservative cultures? The reality is that most companies, like people, don't make decisions according to their values as much as their circumstances, especially in uncertain times. In this case, sustainability enthusiasts might dispense with idealism and try Dan's pragmatic approach, which he succinctly summarizes in the words of Harry Truman, "It's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit."

Anna Clark is president of EarthPeople, a consulting firm that helps companies of all sizes create and execute green strategies to reduce costs and bolster their brand. For more information, visit EarthPeopleCo.com.