Matt Elliott
CEO & Founder, Blue Lakes Ideas
Sustainability isn’t just about the planet. It’s about the places we call home — our communities, neighborhoods, and cities.
It’s also about building the kinds of businesses that help those communities thrive.
That’s the intersection where the Power of &™ lives — the belief that we can build enterprises that are both profitable and sustainable, resilient and responsible, driven and human. Because the truth is, we can’t have sustainable communities without sustainable businesses.
The Hard Reality
In my past role as Bank of America’s sustainability executive for commercial banking, I led the engagement of more than 25,000 companies on the business case for sustainability, and one theme came through clearly:
Most leaders want to do the right thing. But they see sustainability and profitability as a trade-off — because in the short run, it often is.
Reducing waste, reengineering supply chains, and building transparency take time, investment and patience.
But here’s what I’ve seen again and again: When companies take the risk — when they “find the &” — they end up stronger, more innovative, and more profitable.
That’s the Power of &™ in action: expanding our definition of success to include a shared definition of winning — one that benefits customers, employees, communities, and shareholders alike—while also pushing us toward an aspirational future — one that requires us to evolve, innovate, and adapt faster than ever.
A Real-World Example
A privately held U.S. manufacturer — one you’d recognize if you’ve ever used duct or masking tape — faced rising pressure from its largest customers to become more sustainable.
At first, it seemed like a compliance exercise. Then it became a catalyst.
They started by reducing waste and improving energy efficiency in their plants — lowering both emissions and costs.
As they shared positive results with employees and their community, they noticed turnover dropping, recruiting getting easier, and morale improving. Sustainability was now solving their biggest challenge: attracting and retaining the best people.
Then, when they began telling that story — sometimes leading with it — customers responded. Sustainability became not just a cost reducer, but a growth engine.
That’s what sustainable and profitable looks like. It’s not a theory. It’s a mindset — one that turns tension into innovation.
Leadership Matters
Doing this work requires more than a strategy. It takes leadership — the kind that can hold opposing truths without flinching. These leaders learn to lead themselves and their teams through the accelerating chaos we’re all experiencing.
The best sustainability leaders share three traits:
1. They articulate a clear vision. They paint a picture of what the world could look like — not just what needs to be fixed. They redefine success to include both profit and resilience.
2. They lead through the tension. They don’t pick sides between shareholders and stakeholders, growth and stewardship, short-term and long-term. They hold the “and” long enough for the solution to emerge. In other words, they’re more focused on getting it right, rather than being right.
3. They resist the need for certainty. They know progress requires iteration. They test, learn, share and adapt — confident that learning is the real measure of momentum.
That’s how chaos is tamed.
Detroit: A Case Study in Leadership & Renewal
You don’t have to look far to see this mindset in action.
Right here in Detroit, Mayor Mike Duggan has shown what it looks like to lead through the Power of &™.
He inherited a city defined by extremes — immense promise and immense challenge. Instead of choosing between them, his leadership addressed both.
● Detroit rebuilt its downtown and invested in neighborhood revitalization.
● Detroit has attracted major development and focused on delivering basic services.
● Detroit has become a destination for global investors and created space for small local entrepreneurs.
And all of it with eye on equity.
That’s not easy work. It takes patience, a tough skin, and a deep understanding that long-term success requires constant balancing — not quick fixes.
Detroit is still writing its story, but it’s a model for how business and community interests can converge when leadership holds the tension long enough for trust and innovation to take root.
Taming Chaos: How Leaders Make It Work
Finding that “&” isn’t easy. It takes clarity, connection and courage — especially when the world feels like it’s moving faster than we can handle.
That’s where the Taming Chaos™ framework comes in. It’s a simple, human-centered way to lead through complexity:
1. Pause and Reflect. Step back long enough to see the system clearly and define shared success.
2. Find the &. Replace false choices with integrated solutions that serve multiple stakeholders. Develop a theory of change.
3. Test and Learn. Test the theory by starting small, experimenting, sharing results and scaling what works.
That’s how leaders turn good intentions into measurable results — in business, sustainability, and in the community.
Why It Matters Now
Sustainability is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s a survival skill — for companies, communities, and cities alike.
In a world of volatility and climate pressure, sustainability means resilience. It means creating systems that can absorb shocks, adapt, and still serve people well.
Businesses and leaders that master that balance — purpose and profit, people and performance — outperform their peers over time.
That’s not theory. It’s data, from Jim Collins’ research on great and enduring companies and from Daniel Kahneman’s work on long-term decision quality.
The Inevitable &
Here’s the truth: We’ll need more than $200 trillion in new investment to decarbonize the global economy.
Capital on that scale will only mobilize if sustainability and profitability move together.
We can’t have a sustainable future without a prosperous one. We can’t decarbonize without capital. We can’t rebuild communities without strong businesses to anchor them.
That’s not idealism — that’s arithmetic.
The Power of &™ isn’t just a philosophy. It’s a practical path forward — for companies, cities, and communities working to tame the chaos of our time.
That’s the Power of &™.