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Yalmaz Siddiqui, BCom鈥�92, has made a name for himself by championing responsible corporate behaviour. And now he finds himself in Las Vegas, the fabled 鈥淪in City,鈥� a place not exactly renowned for showcasing responsible behaviour of any sort.

Siddiqui, who recently became the new vice president of corporate sustainability for MGM Resorts International (the company鈥檚 famed resort-casinos include the Bellagio, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay), believes that Vegas doesn鈥檛 get the credit it deserves. 鈥淲hen you peel back the layers here a little bit, you might be surprised about how much thought decision makers have put into sustainability,鈥� he says. And now, Siddiqui is one of those decision makers.

On the Las Vegas Strip, spectacularly elaborate fountain shows are the centres of attention. However, Lake Mead, located just outside the city and once the largest reservoir in the United States, experienced a new record low for water levels this year.

Siddiqui is quick to place things in context. 鈥淟as Vegas has some of the world鈥檚 best infrastructure for water use and reclamation,鈥� he says. Unlike other regions that use up Lake Mead鈥檚 water, Las Vegas rapidly returns almost all the water back to the lake. MGM properties also use wells to irrigate desert-friendly, low-water-use plants for their landscaping. In total, around seventy-five per cent of the water used by MGM properties鈥攊ncluding the water seen shooting up from the eight-acre fountain in front of the Bellagio鈥攊s fed back into Lake Mead鈥檚 system.

Siddiqui arrived at MGM after having spent a decade at Office Depot in senior positions related to sustainability. The company made impressive strides during his time there, packaging its products less wastefully, tripling green product sales, and slashing its carbon footprint.听Newsweek听named the company America鈥檚 greenest retailer in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

He says his commitment to sustainability stems from a day spent strolling through the aisles of the McLennan Library while he was studying management at 看片视频. 鈥淚 came across a book that was a little different from the other books in the economics section,鈥� Siddiqui recalls.

That book was E.F. Schumacher鈥檚听Small is Beautiful:听A Study of Economics As If People Mattered, which argues that people make economic decisions not only on financial factors, but also based on their relationships and values. It affected his career path.

鈥淭he career advice that I got [after completing a master鈥檚 degree at Cambridge University] was that we have enough people who have passion for the environment in the environmental movement,鈥� says Siddiqui. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have enough businesspeople or accountants or marketers in the environmental movement. We need those people.鈥�

Siddiqui met with the next generation of 鈥渢hose people鈥� at 看片视频 in mid-March, when he gave a keynote speech at the Desautels Business Conference on Sustainability, spoke to a sustainability strategies class, and gave some career advice over lunch to some students鈥攎ost of whom said they saw a future with 鈥渟ustainability鈥� in their job titles. He warns sustainability proponents not to expect an easy ride in the corporate world. 鈥淵ou have to routinely accept being told 鈥榥o,鈥� since the businesspeople you鈥檙e trying to influence are often skeptical of sustainability programs,鈥� says Siddiqui.

In his conversations with Desautels students, Siddiqui outlined the qualities that were essential for success in his profession. 鈥淭enacity, a willingness to navigate alternative paths to get what you want, and gentle perseverance 鈥� notwithstanding the 鈥榥o鈥檚鈥� you get on the journey.鈥�

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Read the full article:听, August 18, 2016