Leadership for a Sustainable Future: Insights from Civil Engineering and Architectural Professionals

Abstract

This study explores the extent to which civil engineers and architects in Spain perceive sustainable leadership practices in their organizations. The main aim is to understand how leadership approaches in the built environment sector can be aligned with long-term, ethical, and stakeholder-focused principles. A total of 200 middle and senior managers participated in a survey that used a Likert-scale questionnaire that was designed to assess key elements of sustainable leadership; the various responses were analyzed in order to determine the prevalence of Honeybee-type (sustainable) versus Locust-type (short-term, exploitative) leadership traits. The findings showed that while participants generally endorse sustainable leadership values, especially regarding environmental responsibility and employee well-being, many organizations still exhibit practices associated with short-term priorities, fragmented communication, and resistance to innovation. A hybrid leadership approach seems to be quite common, considering that it combines sustainable intentions with structural or cultural barriers that limit full implementation. This study contributes to the sustainable leadership literature by providing sector-specific insights from civil engineering and architecture; it also suggests the need for organizational strategies that might strengthen internal communication, prioritize workforce development and facilitate a cultural shift toward sustainability. All the findings have serious practical implications for leadership development and for human resource practices in high-pressure technical fields.