Socially Responsible Leadership and Wise Leaders Who are Investing in the Future of Humanity

It’s easy to be outraged at the incompetence and greed apparent in business leadership. Titanic ethical failures like Enron, failures in judgment by General Motors and greed-induced insanity by our major financial institutions have caused millions to suffer. Leadership failure is so bad the Economist magazine reports that only 2% of consumers worldwide trust business leaders to do the right thing if it costs them profits. With business institutions having the most trans-global power on earth, that is breathtakingly bad.

But there is a strong minority of courageous and wise leaders who use their resources for much more than self-interest. More needs to be known about these wise companies who lead their industries, embrace sustainability and are investing in the future of humanity.

Take FedEx and Johnson & Johnson for example. They have partnered with Heart to Heart International, a health-based nonprofit whose main focus is to get life-saving medicine and supplies to victims in crisis. Their work has never been as important as now as they rush to get much needed supplies and medical support to help save Haiti earthquake victims.

Fed Ex and Johnson & Johnson make these efforts possible. Not only has FedEx provided significant financial support and transportation services to Heart to Heart, but they also have created Forward Response Centers—FedEx warehouses full of relief supplies that are ready to go to virtually any disaster zone in the world quickly and efficiently. These centers take up valuable space in FedEx warehouses, but they do it because they understand that business is about more than money. When the tsunami hit Thailand in 2007, FedEx planes were among the first to land medical supplies. These Forward Response Centers have made it possible for Heart to Heart to be among the first responders to the Haiti disaster.

Johnson & Johnson is one of the main generous providers of these supplies which include The Ready Relief Box, otherwise known as the portable pharmacy that contains such items as pain relievers, antibiotics, vitamins, first aid supplies and doctor’s essentials such as a stethoscope and digital thermometer; The Medical Surge Module, which can increase capacity at healthcare facilities by providing enough medical supplies for 2,000 patients; and The Personal Hygiene Kit, which provides hygiene care for up to two weeks and is vital after a disaster to prevent contagious diseases from running rampant.

And wise leadership is not limited to a few visionary corporations. Today the non-profit Grameen Foundation is focusing their efforts on economic recovery—both short- and long-term. In partnership with Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze (a Grameen Foundation microfinance partner in Haiti), the Grameen Foundation will build upon their existing efforts in Haiti of using microfinance and technology to help Haitians, especially women, move themselves out of poverty and build a more self-reliant future. The President of the Grameen Foundation, Alex Counts, states, “Please help us help the nation recover from this recent disaster and try, as hard as it may be to imagine, to help our local partners build a Haiti that is more prosperous than pre-earthquake conditions.”

So what’s going on with these enterprises? What drives their leaders to do what others refuse to do? In my 30 years of working with senior leaders I can only conclude it is, at its core, one thing. Wisdom. Plato defined wisdom as “a knowledge of the Good and courage to act accordingly.” He further described wisdom as the commitment to seek the right balance between “all that exists.” What we today might call sustainability. At the core, wisdom is moral courage. As philosophers from every culture, across time have noted, it is not enough to know what is Good. We must also act on that knowledge. The responsibility of today’s business leaders to act from wisdom is essential for our future. We are all increasingly connected and to act only on self-interest is poisoning the water that our children drink.

Sadly, nearly all leadership failure I have witnessed up close has been the result of many small decisions that compromise the wise choice into simply an expedient one. Too many leaders are driven by fear. Fear of being criticized by the Wall Street money-changers or fear of being second guessed by their own hard driving executive team. Fear makes leaders stupid. The neurobiology of fear literally extinguishes creativity, open-mindedness and moral reasoning. We need leaders who have the everyday courage to act on the “Good” as a way to create more value for all. When I counsel senior leaders I often ask them, “How much good can you do, right now? When I get a response I simply say, “Do that.” You see doing the best thing you can imagine in a sustainable, wise way always creates value that makes you and your enterprise stand apart. So it not only ends up being wise but also smart.

Most of the few great companies that are doing the most to restore environmental balance and benefit humanity don’t toot their horns about it. (Who knew FedEx planes were landing in Haiti full of medicine?) No, that’s not a good thing. In 2003, I founded REALeadership Alliance to do just that; help leaders and companies become clear on the good they can do. The wisdom of courageous leaders needs to shine as a beacon to inspire those who fear to wake up and get busy saving our world. It’s actually just wise business.

So what’s the best thing you can do? Transcend your own fear. We are all leaders. All CEOs of our own lives. Be wise. Stand for something that matters. Speak up every day for the best thing you can imagine. Everyday courage accumulates. Our consistent small acts of integrity change the future. We all need to lead.

Stupidy or Sustainability - Collapse of Systems

Lately I’ve been teaching leaders about sustainability (see The Top 10 Things Every Leader Should Know About Sustainability).  A good working definition of the term is “to act so that what you do today does not diminish others’ chances for achieving equal goals in their future.”  Another way to say it is, “Don’t be a greedy jerk.”  You see it’s really thoughtless greed that threatens our future.  The oldest motive of mankind is, “I’ve got mine…tough luck for you.”  Any way you say it, sustainability is a concept that is based on the ideal that everyone should have a chance for a decent life.  Today that is a big issue.

But it’s actually possible that it’s going to be tough luck for all of us.  Especially for our children.  Of course I understand there are loud critical voices that say any warnings of climate change, water shortages, increasing range fires, and a northward movement of tropical pests and disease as overblown.  They believe our current system of turning everything into money is the greatest ideal of humanity.  They shout that any change to the status quo will cost us jobs, wealth and comfort.  What they don’t account for is that the current banking crisis has cost us more jobs and wealth than any environmental regulations have.  Polluting our air, wasting our water and living with reckless disregard for future consequences is just plain selfish.  Stupid too.

What most of us don’t understand is the process that leads to collapse of systems.  Conditions in nature, in the economy, and in our lives don’t just gradually get worse indefinitely.  More often there is a tipping point when there is a general collapse.  Our job might be bad, but then, boom, we’re fired.  The economy might be fine on the surface, but when the rotting foundation collapses, crash.  We may be feeling a growing distance in our marriage, and then suddenly, “I want a divorce.”

The model of human history and natural systems is that if we abuse people, nature or ourselves long enough something very bad will suddenly happen.  All the big things have long-term warning signs usually ignored and then, wham!  Pearl Harbor, 9/11, The Crash and Recession of 2008, and millions of famine refugees in Africa are all examples of hellacious consequences to ignoring real problems because they require change.  The challenge before all of us is to create a sustainable future.  Not one of vicious scarcity, but one of abundance.  True abundance is one of those ideals none of us should be against.  And sustainable abundance should be mankind’s greatest goal.

Sustainability has many faces.  Environmental sustainability requires we don’t exploit nature’s resources so we don’t create a world that is a hunk of barbecue charcoal for our children.

Social sustainability means that we create a world that offers realistic hope, opportunity and education so that war, terrorism, and drug dealing are not better options than community building.

Economic sustainability means we create economic systems that don’t require insane levels of consumption or routine waves of mass job destruction to give everyone a shot at abundance.

Personal sustainability means that as individuals we live fulfilled lives without skin-wrinkling, brain-deadening stress, fractured relationships, drowning debt and self-destructive health habits.

As you can see, sustainability is holistic.  Everything is connected to everything.  Damn.  It’s hard to think about all the moving parts, but we must.  Our world is not the same as it was 50 years ago.  We need to think differently and act differently now.

And we are.  Change is happening.  It’s happening everywhere.  More people are choosing to buy more sustainable products.  The recession has caused many to strengthen social ties with family and friends.  Most of us are more engaged in at least psychologically hugging trees.  We openly value the environment and criticize people and companies who don’t.  And more of us are reconsidering our lifestyle and “life pace” so that our everyday lives are sustainable and fulfilling.

Change, radical positive change, is happening everywhere. The collective impact of millions of people doing small things is huge.  Let’s keep it rolling.

Another Lesson From Hawaii

As Debbie and I were driving back to our hotel we stopped in the front yard of a Tahitian man married to a local Hawaiian girl. There he had a barbeque set up that looked like sort of a Polynesian tailgate party. He was serving a traditional Hawaiian plate lunch, which is pork, fish, or shrimp, combined with rice, cabbage salad and macaroni salad. He charged 10 dollars a plate and told me he served 50 to 150 lunches a day. He said, “I just serve until I run out of food. There are always people to eat.” He lives a few hundred yards from the beach in a modest, but clean home where he runs his daily tail gate barbeque and provides for his family. Yes, I know in many parts of the country you couldn’t be licensed to do such a thing. But, the point is that if you have a mind to, you can live almost anywhere, and doing almost anything to build a great life. The way my Tahitian friend is Saving the World is that he is absolutely amazingly great at what he does. He also has an enormous smile, a welcoming attitude, and conversation for anybody who comes by. He is not a selfish man either. If anybody is hungry and doesn’t have the money he always has a snack. The point is we don’t need the world to change for our life to. If you can create this kind of life in a place where there are no jobs and no business, only beauty, your best life is still awaiting you.

How Ha is Changing the World

Just around the corner from Ha’s humble home he built a palm tree pavilion on the beach. There is a small wide spot in the road with this beautiful beach, one of the most popular surfing breaks in that part of Maui. He decided to adopt it as his park. Of course, he didn’t ask for permission. He just cleans it every day, built this pavilion, and makes sure that the area is clean and sanitary. He also makes sure that everyone has a place to sit and what they need on the beach. He brings the spirit of aloha wherever he goes and yes, he works for a living as a landscaper. Ha is the epitome of Save the World and Still Be Home for Dinner. By creating his own park, he is making paradise just a little bit sweeter.

What I Learned in Hawaii

The last few days of my trip to Hawaii I spent in Hana, Maui. I learned some very interesting lessons. The first came from meeting Ha, who runs a surfboard rental business on the side of his yard. I was riding a board to surf a break called Rock Piles and he said he’d go out with me. He came out with this gigantic board and his dog Haole Boy. The dog was named this because of his blonde coat. The great thing about Ha was his optimism and he was jammed to the brim with aloha spirit. He lived a simple life as a landscaper, and had a very modest home. He told me his daughter was attending the University of California in Santa Barbara on a Clinton-Gates Scholarship. This semester she was doing her studies in Costa Rica. She wants to really make a difference in the world, you know, Save the World! So here I was on the edge of paradise talking to a man who had lived in a community of less than a thousand people his whole life whose daughter had earned a four-year scholarship and opportunities to connect with some of the world’s most influential people. What a world we live in!

“Is What I’ve Become Largely Because of What Other People Expected Me to Become?”

I had a great compliment from one of my executive clients two nights ago. He was on a business trip cursing me for my new book.He said,

“Normally I read a book like this in a couple of hours. I just digest this kind of stuff, but yours drives me crazy. I have to re-read it, ponder it, and think about it. I’m asking myself questions I haven’t asked myself in decades and some are questions I’ve never asked myself before. Now, I’m wondering if what I’ve become is largely because of what other people expected me to become. I haven’t thought about that, at least not in a long long time. I hate you. Thanks so much for writing your book.”

For me that is just a great payoff. It’s exactly what I was hoping for. People ask me how long it took me to write the book and I say, 60 years. I put everything I’ve learned in it and in the most distinct way possible. Just to get that one response makes me feel like it was worthwhile.

Fastest Growing Companies in America have 7 Things in Common

I’ve been talking to a fascinating author, David Thomson, and his partner Nick Reed. They are very interested in helping get America growing again. David has done some amazing scientific research identifying the fastest growing companies in America. These are the companies that produce the most jobs; always have and always will. It seems that these companies have seven things in common and he has a new book coming out in May about what these seven things are. I’m looking at the list right now and I assure you they are very rare. It’s no wonder companies have a hard time growing and employing people, but it would certainly be wise for those of us who work for companies to work for those whose growth prospects are high for the long term, not just due to some fad success.

A Purpose Beyond Self-Interest

Yesterday, I went all the way to Santa Barbara to meet with the founder and CEO of the World Business Academy, Rinaldo S. Brutoco. We are working together to accelerate a movement towards a new form of business leadership worldwide. He’s been leading this organization since 1986. His experiences have been nothing short of remarkable, and he is on a first name basis with many of our world’s most powerful people. I think we are going to cook up some amazing things!

One thing that Rinaldo and I agreed upon is the kind of leadership we need in the 21st Century is a purpose that is beyond self-interest. All of us are driven by a prime motive; that background music that is constantly guiding us in the decisions we make. If all we are interested in is maximizing our pleasure, security, safety, and well being, we are going to end up exploiting others and the planet. The model that the best possible world comes from human beings being the most selfish is the most wrong-headed notion ever foisted on us. It also robs us from our essential dignity, and our highest creativity.

Maturity of Open Mindedness - War in Afghanistan

I just read a long article about all the deliberations that President Obama took to make the decisions he did about the war in Afghanistan. I was impressed that he invited all sides of the issue to make comments throughout a long period of time. In the end, the article said all of his Chief Advisors said that almost no one held the same exact opinions at the end as they did at the beginning. It shows the maturity of open mindedness. This is one of those situations where no one knows what the outcome will be because the factors that will determine success or failure are beyond knowing at this stage. I am at least encouraged that a lot of thought from a lot of people went into a decision, and the decision was based on deliberation rather than emotion. This is the basis of wisdom. Undoubtedly, it is going to be difficult, but I can hardly ask for more than people to hear all sides of an issue before they make a tough decision. And these days are days of tough decisions.

21st Century Sustainability

Sustainability is a word that vibrates with multiple meaning. There are some who insist it is code for a green company to rip away our comfortable lives and force us into granola-eating consumers. For others it means eliminating waste from the way we make and consume things, reduce toxic pollution, wear clothes made of recycled plastic and drive hybrid cars. But increasingly it means something far more valuable to a new emerging group of business leaders, economists and far-sighted consumers. For them sustainability means a whole new intention of business leadership. When leaders decide they are going to harness the imagination of all their stakeholders to create as much value as they can, the world changes. It’s about time.

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