Environmental legislation and stakeholders are putting pressure on organizations to change. The role of management is a key factor. The aim of the present work is to determine the key characteristics required of a manager with environmental responsibilities and determine which are the critical aptitudes and attitudes for environmental success through a deep review of the literature. We include three kinds of characteristic: (a) managerial attitude and social influence, (b) individual characteristics (demographic characteristics, capability to perceive strategic opportunities, leadership, individual entrepreneurial ability and international awareness) and (c) organizational characteristics (organizational culture, capability to influence strategy, long-term orientation, organizational structure and demographic characteristics). With this purpose, we have collected and integrated the most relevant contributions of the literature. We have also suggested future research streams: for example, analysis of the interdependences among the diverse dimensions of a manager with environmental responsibilities, analysis of the characteristics typical of external stakeholders that condition the managerial behaviour and other aspects of environmental strategy on which management attitude has an influence.