Socially responsible leaders influence others to sustain and preserve the external environment through a variety of actions that go beyond mandatory environmental controls. Helping build a sustainable environment can involve hundreds of different actions such as making packaging smaller or, when feasible, using energy from solar panels and wind turbines to replace burning of fossil fuels. Many companies sponsor team-building events, in which participants build a playground or refurbish an old house in a declining neighborhood.

Preserving an old building uses less energy than constructing a new one, and it enhances the aesthetics of the environment, as well. For company leadership to better evaluate their sustainability initiatives, it is important to rigorously evaluate the steps, the processes they are using, and the true impact on the environment. As with any corporate social responsibility initiative, critical thinking is required to determine if a given sustainability initiative is doing any good.