Un articol despre un alt fel de a face afaceri. Dear Reader, We are used to binary thinking: good or bad, profit or philanthropy, environment or business, rational or new agey, short term or long term... Have you ever considered that reality is constantly showing us that binary thinking is not a good approach, as we are faced with “both-ands that challenge our way of thinking? This month we share with you a very innovative approach to business - called Conscious Capitalism, where the environment is as strong a stakeholder as the shareholders. And the employees. And the community. And the vendors. And yes, the clients too. All in all, the model works. Enjoy the discovery and be inspired. Stop and Reflect Issue # 163 March 2014 Conscious leaders creating a new model of business By Isabel Rimanoczy “What do Starbucks, Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines, Amazon, UPS, Whole Foods Market and Costco have in common?”, asks Anthony J. Sadar in his column of March 2013 in the Washington Times. The answer is that they all practice “conscious capitalism.” “Conscious capitalism is an evolving paradigm for business that simultaneously creates multiple kinds of value and well-being for all stakeholders: financial, intellectual, physical, ecological, social, cultural, emotional, ethical and even spiritual. This new operating system for business is in far greater harmony with the ethos of our times and the essence of our evolving beings,” indicate John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, and Raj Sisodia, marketing professor at Bentley University, in their 2014 book, “Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business.” This model of business is different from the traditional concept of doing well by doing good. It is a different concept of business, one that is more conscious of its higher purpose, and one where leaders and employees consider their impact on the world, address the question of ‘why do we exist as a business’ and seek ways to create more value for all stakeholders. Conscious Capitalism, the authors state, is founded on four interconnected tenets: Higher purpose The authors indicate that the Higher Purpose, refers to the reason why the company exists. It goes beyond generating profits and creating value for the shareholders. The question to ask is “If our business had a higher purpose, what would it be?” For them, identifying this higher purpose will open the conversation about core values, and becomes the most extraordinary engagement process among all stakeholders, and they write, “It catalyzes creativity, innovation, and organizational commitment”. Stakeholder integration Stakeholders are all the entities that impact or are impacted by the business. In Conscious Capitalism, they are the employees, the vendors and suppliers, the clients, the shareholders, the community, the environment. To these I would also add, the next generations. Business leaders would do well, it seems to me, to screen their next decision or proposed solution through some key filters: How will our decision impact employees? Vendors? Shareholders? Nature and our biosphere? Our grandchildren? Communities across the globe? Because if these stakeholders are impacted, we have a responsibility towards them when we make our decisions. And immediately the focus turns from the danger of doing harm, to acting in a way that is helping life flourish. Isn’t that a better mission to have? Conscious leaders I have, for the past ten years, been researching business leaders who champion initiatives that make a positive difference in the community and the environment. After an in-depth study of exemplary leaders, I was able to identify a core set of components that seemed to make up what I called the ‘sustainability mindset’. These components included possessing a systems perspective to understand the world and analyze problems, a participatory and collaborative approach to solutions, creative thinking to imagine what had never been done before, and a strong ‘being’ orientation, by which I mean introspective habits leading to increased self-awareness and a search for purpose. Conscious leaders, as described by Mackey and Sisodia, are motivated by the firm’s higher purpose, they want to create value for all stakeholders, look for creative ways to find solutions that work for all, in addition to having a systems, an emotional, and a spiritual intelligence. They easily see the interconnectedness and transcend the limitations of the analytical mind. In my study, this was called “engaging the wisdom of the right brain hemisphere”. Conscious culture and management The leaders in my study felt the need to step out of a ‘business as usual’ approach and share with others in their organization what they saw, what they knew, how they viewed the problems, and their urgency to act in a different way. They had the courage to challenge conformity, even though they had no answers, only uncertainties. Yet they knew they had to do it. They felt with intensity the need for a calling, a mission, a personal responsibility towards their grandchildren or the next generations; to them it represented a moral duty and was a matter of honesty within themselves. They also experienced the urge to engage others, because big challenges required collective imagination, and collaborative action. For Mackey and Sisodia, when a corporation starts a conversation about higher purpose, commitment ensues, and a more conscious culture evolves. While harm is mostly not done intentionally, once we begin a journey of paying attention to what we are doing and its potential impacts, once we awaken to consequences we have not intended, we become increasingly more conscious. And when consciousness spreads throughout the organization, people become mutual supporters of more authentic behaviors in themselves. Importantly, others may see consequences where I didn’t see them. We all learn. The management of this type of corporations is consistent with these values – and operates in a decentralized way, with an empowered workforce that is used to collaborate. The culture described by the authors in Whole Foods Market, but also in other corporations falling under the new concept of conscious business, is characterized by trust, accountability, transparency, integrity, egalitarianism, fairness, personal growth, and yes – love and care. As the co-CEO Mackey explains, “this new model of business is in harmony with the ethos of our times and the essence of our evolving beings.” Times for heroic leadership? Although all of the leaders in my study implemented initiatives that transformed their organizations in some ways, making them more environmentally and socially conscious, one thing stood out: all the changes started with themselves. For each there was a gradual process of personal transformation, during which they began to reflect on what had been their contribution to the big problems of our planet, what they could do to make a difference, and how they could slow down if not eliminate their unintentional contribution to the situation. “I had to do something”, was a phrase I repeatedly heard. As I have brought these topics to the attention of business school students, I find that the new generation is ready to question their own values and beliefs, to identify the inconsistency between what they value and how they act, and ready to find ways to close the gap. Authenticity becomes more important than having all the answers. It seems the attitudes and behaviors of the leaders I studied are finding resonance among the younger business people. Perhaps they are excited by what one might term heroic leadership? This form of leadership may not depend on the ‘great man’ exemplar of the past. It may relate to having the courage to ask new questions, and to invent new solutions, inviting others to join in the co-creation of the planet we want to live in. Mackey and Sisodia have a similar dream: “We need to address key environmental issues creatively and in an integrated way. While global warming or climate change gets a lot of attention, we have collectively focused on it so strongly in recent years that it has taken attention away from other important environmental challenges. These include critical concerns such as freshwater availability, air purity, seafood sustainability, environmental livestock impacts and welfare, deforestation, and desertification.” They envision a trend where more and more organizations will incorporate the principles and practices of “Conscious Capitalism.” Which may not be a bad business idea after all, given the fact that data indicates that, in the long run, conscious businesses outperform traditionally run companies by a wide margin. “Over a fifteen-year period a representative sample of conscious firms outperformed the stock market by a ratio of 10.5:1, delivering more than 1,600 % total return while the market was up just over 150% for the same period.” If making life on the planet sustainable for all is not a good enough a motivation, perhaps the numbers might convince. We want to hear from you! How would you like to shape a workplace like that? Click here to leave a comment LIM News is published by LIM LLC Editor: Isabel Rimanoczy Editing Support: Tony Pearson E-mail: [email protected] LIMglobal.net ARL - Action Reflection Learning ®and Earning While Learning are registered trademarks, owned by LIM LLC. Copyright © 2012 LIMLLC. All rights reserved.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 07:03:43 +0000
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