Can Social Responsibility Save Us?
April 3, 2009 by Will Marre
Just One More Thing for All Our Future
Social responsibility is a hot topic these days. But are we serious about it? In popular thinking it vaguely refers to playing nice and supporting worthy causes whenever we can. It’s a justified expense. Business leaders promote social responsibility as having a brand “halo” effect that produces warm and fuzzy feelings about their company. After all, it’s supposed to help corporate reputations or soften up regulators. Social responsibility with a megaphone is called cause marketing. That’s when companies raise money for charity when you buy their products. Project Red supported by companies as diverse as Starbucks and Hallmark have raised $100 million for aids treatment in Africa. Nike’s Live Strong campaign has raised $70 million selling yellow wristbands with Lance Armstrong. That’s all good as far as it goes.
In March, I spoke at the American Marketing Association Cause Conference and I challenged non-profit and business leaders to break free of the heavy gravity of this kind of trickle-down good works. Borrowing from Gandhi’s insight I asked them to go beyond supporting good causes to “be the cause.” Saving our future is not going to happen by sprinkling left over marketing dollars on the less fortunate. No. What’s needed is a radical paradigm shift on why we get up in the morning.
The most fundamental human question is “Are we willing to embrace the responsibility of a stranger’s well being?” Sure it’s natural for us to help our children or our closest friends. Clans and tribes have been doing this forever. The elevated nature of civilization is based on the ideal to transcend our DNA and extend moral empathy to all other humans. The essential challenge of corporate social responsibility is not whether a company recycles or eliminates its carbon footprint. It’s not whether it makes or sells organic razz-a-ma-tazz; rather, it comes down to how much empathy its leaders have for their employees and their customers. Do they treat either the way they would want to be treated?
Modern business is great at turning resources into money. And human resources are most often reduced to bio-widgets who can be overworked or laid off whenever leaders fail. The great failure of modern business as a social institution is that it monetizes everything. Therefore people are not assets but expenses and the human casualties of this viewpoint are staggering. In this Great Recession up to 50 million people around the world are expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year. The fastest growing households in the U.S. are those where no one has a job. Why? How? It’s all due to massive leadership failure. Not only dishonesty but also incompetence. But all of that is changing. Hopefully just in time.
According to research reported in Understanding the New Leadership Model a new generation of leaders are changing things. It turns out that leaders under 40 have a very different central driving motivation than boomer leaders. You see boomers tend to be driven by personal success and personal power. That means every decision tends to be weighed on a scale that measures how the decision might magnify personal wealth or power. A second driving boomer motive is success or goal achievement. The payoff here is increased recognition, influence and confidence. Money, power, and fame sound like the motives that have created today’s world. The new emerging generation of leaders has a different top-of-mind motive. It’s called social motivation. It focuses on helping others, fairness, merit and eliminating conflict. Psychologists call this a shift from self-interest to humanitarian drive. That’s the good news.
The challenge is that most large organizations struggle with humanitarian motives. This tends to drive off talented, high performing young leaders who seek high-purpose companies or start their own. This is a growing problem for large enterprises that are top heavy with obsolete leaders pushing irrelevant ideas in a world dying to be reinvented.
The world is convulsing before our eyes. The old ways will not lead to a future of sustainable abundance. Yet that is the only world that will thrive. Now is the time to re-invent ourselves as leaders of the future. We need to do it right where we stand. If we are surrounded by people who are afraid to rock the boat, it’s time for us to rock. How?
Just do one more thing for humanity every day. Speak up when you are afraid. Make one more call, have one more conversation, create one more idea, send one more email…just do one more thing every single day than you would have otherwise done and see where you stand in six months. You’ll be a leader the world needs. Just one more thing…for all our future.
So do you think I am too idealistic? Do you see this humanitarian trend in younger leaders? Do you think business can be harnessed to create good?
Always a great read Will. If I may…
Leader or not, the ultimate quest of any human is happiness. Introduce me to one leader today who has put forth a quest to help others through charitable offerings of time, money, and/or mind, who hasn’t found happiness in doing so. Not easy to find.
However, show me a leader today who has put forth a primary quest to acquire money and material excess, who hasn’t found happiness. They are everywhere.
Us “up and comers” have watched and learned.
And while we may seem less self-serving, we’re still looking out for ourselves…we are just chasing a new “dream” to reach our happiness. One that is more about giving than getting. And that is by being socially responsible. Its a win-win!
The idea of buying a product because it supports some cause has never appealed to me. Glad to see you mention it, Will. It is not that those millions raised did not help causes; it is the motive behind it -is it one to help charities or to promote your product in its guise- that has bothered me. Thanks for encouraging us to continue thinking and questioning.
Kate,
One minor detail, happiness is not “out there” it is “in there” in all of us. However, if you and the multitudes of searchers for happiness want to keep looking “out there” be my guest but you’ll save a lot of time and effort if you look inside yourself. You’ll also discover that nothing out there will make you happy if you are not already happy. Money, material things, and other people will never make anyone happy if they are not already happy with and within themselves. Good luck in your search, but look closer to home and then you’ll have a lot more energy to do good in the world by being the happiness you have discovered within yourself.
Can Social Responsibility Save Us? It begs the question – Do we need saving? Is there a “general” saving option? Old oriental proverb “Life is an illusion – it is how YOU choose to perceive it”. As Steve said – look all you want but the saving is both individual and internal. Lipstick on a pig doesn’t change the essential nature of a pig. I am designing my organization to be surrounded by individuals that can, and do, think for themselves, accept responsiblity for their actions, praise the success of others and help when the other is down. For me there are four rules for personal success 1) be willing to be wrong 2) be willing not to know 3) be willing to say you are sorry and 4) tell the truth. I cannot legislate this into my associates. Everyone is on their own personal path toward finding their purpose and happiness within. All I can do is provide an encouraging environment where the above “4″ are the order of the day – not the exception. After years of personal struggle to find completeness (in my life) I decided that completeness (and the joy associated) would find me when I decided to be surprised when disappointed – not expect it. I made the remark to someone recently and they asked me “How is that working for you?” Actually, very well. I find that most folks enjoy living up to what they are capable of, not hanging with folks that are only after the low hanging fruit. To the question of being saved – I don’t think we need to look for it rather, we need to come to understand ourselves rejoicing and learning in the process. Also sharing, and a good Bordeaux, work to be high on one’s list.
Ed,
Where have you been hiding? I applaud the depth of your comments and your personal and business approach. I do believe you’ve discovered that famous path less traveled and it seems to be making all the difference.
Whether a leader or a manager, we cannot live other people’s lives for them, we all choose our own path daily through our many individual decisions. Being a model (and walking your own talk) is all that is required of a leader. But oh how many so-called leaders don’t get it and can’t do it.
Life IS how you choose to perceive it and again it goes back to our choices and our positionalities. All events are neutral, it is our thinking that makes them positive or negative, good or bad, etc. And Truth is the foundation of all because it just is and cannot be proven or challenged.
Here is a thought I try to keep in mind every day: I want to get the highest and best possible use and effect and result from every effort and action I ever expend in my life, my business or my job, from this point forward. A toast to you Ed and certainly with a Bordeaux which I personally perceive as being very good.
Very insightful as always…
I believe that everything I do, either intended or not, impacts the life of everything on this planet. Everyday I am living my mission and continuing to develop the leader inside of me. I feel that it is not only the CEO’s of corporate America but the leaders within ourselves that must make a shift.
To be congruent with our words and actions, live with a high degree of compassion, accountable for our actions intended or not. To have compassion in every aspect of our lives… and to embrace, that what I do in my life effects the lives of everyone.
My Son, Elias is very compassionate and powerful. I am looking forward to seeing the continued impact that he has on the world.
I truly love to focus on the following quotes-
The best way to find yourself is to loose yourself in the service of others- Mahatma Gandhi.
Be the change you wish to see in the world- Mahatma Gandhi
As Will put it at the AMA, “The Dinosaurs are going out of business.”
I am in the process of starting a new community venture and looking forward to the results.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Tim Ney
Actually, I have not been in hiding but rather sometimes I feel as though I am but a breeze in a storm – so I keep to my selected adventures. Just earlier today I was having a very spirited discussion with a wonderful friend who is VERY Christian. I have told him that I too consider myself Christian (in a sort of global sense) but, as I have a strong belief in reincarnation, many consider me not to be a practicing Christian. Irrespective that is background on that discussion which centered on the topic of mentoring. I asked him if he had the opportunity to mentor a 13/14 year old boy or girl (for a total of 6 mos) could / would he bring them a full range of spiritual beliefs and trust them to see their lives through their enlightenment but without his judgment? He thought not as he saw it as his “duty” to bring them what he considered to be “the” truth – certainly with the other spiritual considerations but only as another thought – not a real educated choice once one is aware etc. etc. Tangentially, my conundrum is the structuring of my organization populated with a full range of individual experiences, educations and ages. How do I encourage them to work together to present our product / service offerings to a 40+ and simultaneously to a 3+ and a 20+ age group of both sexes? Setting aside the 3+s > 10+ group as our message is essentially directed to their parents (adult guides) but the 20+ personalities seem generally so flash and dash while simultaneously multi-tasking and the 40+ are more singularly focused, settled and largely having a less adventurous spirit. I seem to be constantly working to slow one group while encouraging the other to get off of the dime. The 20+s aren’t wrong for their perspectives nor are the 40+s but they need to grow individually and then together as a cohesive group. I struggle with straddling and balancing the respective positions. Any thoughts?
Ed,
Thanks for your comment. Recently I have been studying the psychology of Full Engagement which can be translated roughly as being “All In, All The Time”. The biggest factor in sustaining Full Engagement according to many studies is the connection we make between our values, our ultimate sense of purpose and our work. If we are aware that our work enables us to express our deepest values we are likely to be more creative, more energetic and more successful no matter what our age. The challenge is that in our modern society people are easily distracted from their inner voice thus work is simply reduced to labor.
I am inspired by the words of race car driver Mario Andretti “If everything seems under control you are not going fast enough”.
I strongly disagree with the idea that younger leaders are more socially benevolent, and unselfishly motivated, in fact I see the totally opposite. I see people in their youth in this new generation as the most selfish, lazy, gime- gime of all.
Will -
While I somewhat disagree with being inspired by Mario’s statement (it is my experience that 33 mph into a 33 mph corner represents control and 34 mph can represent youthful enthusiasm and, if fortunate, can lead to the development of experience). I am guided by Sir Stirling Moss’s famous comment on the theme ~ “Momentum is Tranquility”. The dichotomy is the correlation between an ocean wave crashing (tranquility) and a big V8 running at speed (momentum) – both forces, each requires both faith and a certain guidance (either physical or spiritual) both inner driven.
And regarding Oliver’s thoughts. It is easy to generalize in an effort to find order and predictability. However, individuality is largely self defining. Range is what gives us humanity – personal self esteem releases us from judgments.
Having been out of town for a week, I am only now seeing this post on social responsibility and the subsequent commentary. I have two comments of my own:
First, there is a way, I believe, to bridge the philosophical gap that seems to exist between the boomers and the younger generation. It involves teaching the current management layer how to effectively work with, and engage, those affectionately known as the Millenial Generation or Gen Y. In the process, the Gen Y’ers find they are able to work within existing, well- established organizations and contribute to the whole; and those in management find a way to inspire and get the most from those who will step into the soon-to-be-retired shoes of present management.
I am aware of leadership training programs that concentrate on that very issue. They have successfully brought the two factions together. The businesses have learned how to engage and motivate Gen Y, and Gen Y’ers have found jobs that make sense to them. It’s a Win-Win.
Second, with the apparent breakdown of the old financial way of being, those with attention and intention will find that there is great prosperity available to businesses that make a shift to take four factors (instead of the classic one factor) into consideration when doing business. Instead of having Profit be the key (and often the ONLY) consideration, the successful business of the future will consider the following factors equally: Profit (the shareholders), People (employees and customers – a business’s greatest resources), the Planet (considering the earth as a constituent in all processes, products, programs, planning and descision-making) and Community (that is, those affected by the proximity of the business will be “stakeholders” in the business’s success by having something to gain and to give as a result of its existence).
Within that framework, the enlightened way of being with one another, as outlined in Ed’s first comment, then insures success.
Business is not going away, but how we conduct it must evolve.