Patterns in professional roles: sustainability narratives

This paper explores patterns in professional narratives over a period of six years. The purpose of this study was to explore patterns in narratives of change agents and discuss how narratives of sustainability develop over time. Narrative inquiry plays a role in bringing about inclusive environments by talking and writing about experience. In this study, stories were examined for insight into social organization within the workplace, and what motivates and sustains professional identity. Over the period of time narratives were collected for this study, there was an increase in the themes associated with sustainability leadership for the participants who were in senior and middle management roles. The senior management group shared a greater number of narratives associated with sustainability leadership than the middle management participants. Further consideration is given to how the workplace culture impacts on shared narratives.