You Can Do Anything - What You Were Born to Do

You Can Do Anything by Will Marre

For 30 years I have helped people get clear on their life’s purpose and finding what they were born to do.  I have discovered that it is found at the intersection of people’s Design and Desire.  What are you talented at and what are you passionate about.  (Save the World and Still Be Home for Dinner, Sept. 2009) Recently I’ve come across a stream of literature that states that talent alone is overrated.  It seems that consistent, focused practice develops our latent talents to excel at unexpected things in unexpected ways.  This brings me to Joe Cocker.

For some reason, I’ve always wanted to see Joe Cocker sing live.  I have this mental list of singers and groups I want to hear in person before I have to be pushed into a concert in a wheel chair.  During my college days I saw the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, the Beach Boys, Creedence and many more.  I was even a paid security guard at a Canned Heat concert in 1968 at the Santa Monica Civic.  In my boomer years I’ve managed to see the Eagles, Paul McCartney, Sting and lots of others.  But ever since I heard Joe Cocker’s rendition of “With a Little Help From My Friends” from the 1969 Woodstock Concert, I’ve wanted to hear this weirdly unique rocker for myself.

I was delighted to discover he was coming to Humphries in San Diego in June.  My wife wasn’t.  Not at all.  Not even a little bit.  “Joe Cocker—you’ve got to be joking!” Debbie, who once sang in a band herself said. “I really like music.  I love singing, but that excludes Joe Cocker.”  Finally after days of pouting and begging she gave in.  “But I’m doing this just for you,” she kept reminding me.  We bought tickets at the last minute.  Luckily they were unsold premiere seats released at the last minute at distressed prices.  Ninth row, center.  “Awesome,” I thought.  “Of all the luck,” Debbie said in disgust.

So on a warm June night there we sat, and Joe Cocker’s band came out.  The first thing I noticed was how big a group they were.  Full drum set, another set of Congas, saxophone, a baby grand piano, a Hammond organ, a tiny woman bass player with huge hair, two back up singers and a lead guitarist who was a dead ringer for David Spade.  Then the music started.  It filled the whole star-filled sky to overflowing.  A full, deep wall of sound.  It was rich like a huge chocolate cake of music.  Deb’s eyes opened wide, and she whispered, “Oh.”

Then Joe came out.  He’s a sixty-five year-old Englishman draped in soft, saggy pink British flesh topped with lots of thin wispy grey hair, dressed in black with a well-earned boomer belly protruding over his black and silver belt.  And then there is the voice.  It’s indescribable.  The best I can say is that it is so painfully screechy his vocal cords must be made of titanium.  So there he stood in all his aging glory blaring out the Beatle classic, “Come Together.”

What’s always amazed me about Joe is that he doesn’t really sing.  He emotes a song.  He does a cross of melodious talking punctuated by frequent voice box shredding screams.  And it works.  Really works.  From the first song the crowd of about 1500 of us were up and dancing, clapping, swaying…all the embarrassing stuff ancient concertgoers do.  Debbie soon realized that over the past 40 years she’s heard almost all of Joe’s songs.  That’s because they are nearly all covers, someone else’s hit song.  He doesn’t imitate the original singer.  Instead he is outrageously original.  The way he alternately screams and whispers, “You are so beautiful” can’t help but fill you with surprising emotion.  So Joe rocked all of us for 100 minutes.  He sang every song that he’d sung 10,000 times as if it was his last concert.  Debbie even became a fan even if just for one evening.  His magic was irresistible.

So what’s Joe Cocker got to do with anything? Well, to me, everything.  He is a bigger than life example that we can do anything.  Joe has been a rock star for 40 years.  He used to fill 20,000 seat arenas.  He won a Grammy.  He has sold tens of millions of CDs, and he can’t really sing, he doesn’t write his songs, he moves on stage like he’s being jolted with tiny bits of electricity.  It’s not pretty.  He occasionally freaks out in an awkward spasm of air guitar or air piano.  Not good.  But, and here’s his magic, his biggest musical influence was Ray Charles, and every song Joe sings is an authentic emotional explosion.  He also surrounds himself with talented back-up singers and world-class musicians.  Always.  In his early touring days he had Stevie Winwood and Leon Russell in his band.  And then there is complete and total giving of himself.

You see Joe knows what he’s good at and knows what he isn’t.  And even though he’s not good at writing lots of music or playing instruments or even singing, what he is absolutely amazing at is putting all these ingredients together into a one-of-a-kind sonic boom.  It’s remarkable; Joe Cocker has made a career out of being Joe Cocker and there is no substitute.  Can’t really sing, not very good looking, doesn’t write music or sing original songs, and yet there he is, making other people’s music unmistakably his own.

So what’s the best thing we can do? Consider this.  The people we tend to admire are original and unafraid to be so.  We need to know what we’re good at and surround ourselves with people who are good at what we’re not.  We need to put forth inspired effort.    Most of all we need to be deeply and genuinely authentic.  Authentic in our best self.  Author Matthew Kelly asks us to imagine the best person we can be and then be that person.  It’s really who we are.

So what do you think?  Is there a Joe Cocker in you?  Is being this authentic a risk worth taking?

What Comes Around Goes Around

One of my husband’s favorite television shows is My Name is Earl.  Earl’s new found belief in karma is the backdrop of the show in which Earl tries to set right everything bad he’s done in hopes that by doing good, good will come to him.  While the show is fun and entertaining, I think it makes a good point.  Call it whatever you want—karma, the spirit of the universe, God— I have to agree with Earl.  When we honestly do as much good as we can, it not only benefits those we serve, but the good comes back to us ten fold.  And this rings true in every aspect of our lives, both personally and in business.

So this brings me to my question, why isn’t every company in the world grabbing social responsibility by the horns and incorporating it into their core business model? In Don’t Underestimate Power of Social Responsibility Lisa Hickey asserts that the common phrase, “what goes around comes around” is especially true in business.  She states, “There is a perfect correlation between socially responsible companies and economically viable companies.”

In The Business Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility several benefits to business are discussed such as building a reputation as a responsible business sets you apart, customers are rewarding responsible companies, and reducing waste and emissions saves money.  Additional benefits addressed in the article are as follows:
•    A good reputation makes it easier to recruit employees.
•    Employees stay longer, reducing the costs and disruption of recruitment and retraining.
•    Employees are better motivated and more productive.
•    CSR helps ensure you comply with regulatory requirements.
•    Activities such as involvement with the local community are ideal opportunities to generate positive press coverage.
•    Good relationships with local authorities make doing business easier.
•    Understanding the wider impact of your business can help you think up profitable new products and services.
•    CSR can make you more competitive and reduces the risk of sudden damage to your reputation (and sales). Investors recognize this and are more willing to finance you.

Corporate Social Responsibility also describes six driving factors for CSR: (1) the shrinking role of government, (2) demands for greater disclosure, (3) increased customer interest, (4) growing investor pressure, (5) competitive labor markets, and (6) supplier relations.

Will Marré, acclaimed CSR speaker and advocate, is a passionate voice for the benefits of social responsibility.  In Corporate Social Responsibility and ThoughtRocket.com he’s quoted, “When you combine the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit, the new sources of value and points of differentiation you uncover yields topline growth, fiercely loyal customers, and committed internal and external talent.”  Marré takes it a step further asserting that when CSR is incorporated into the business model it creates the greatest economic opportunity in the history of the world.   He states in Corporate Social Responsibility Gains a Daily Voice on the Web,
“Every problem is an opportunity. In the next decades we will have to re-invent every product we use to be ecologically friendly, energy efficient and recyclable. Just the opportunity to change all the light bulbs in the world has a mind-boggling upside.  The opportunities to lift billions of people from poverty, educate billions to live in the 21st century and unlock the keys to sustainable living and sustainable relationships are endless.”

So, I return to my question: Why isn’t every company in the world embracing their social responsibilities when there is nothing to lose and everything to gain?  Doing good is a virtuous cycle that positively influences everyone and everything it touches.  So let’s take our cues from Earl, and even if our reason for doing good is so that good will come to us, we’ll make the world a better place.

- Jeannie Foy, ThoughtRocket Editor

CSR Will Still Survive the Economy

This past February in my post, CSR Will Survive the Economy, I make a case for CSR initiatives still having a bright future despite the economic downturn.  But as the recession continues and companies struggle through recovery, it makes me wonder…Just how long will the triple bottom line prevail when profit is at the front of everybody’s mind?

In Bonus Rage and its Pitfalls John Robertson discusses how new restrictions for top executives has a downside, social responsibility initiatives in particular taking a big hit.  He contends that in order for companies to operate under the triple bottom line of people, planet, profit, executives need the freedom to exercise judgment.  He states, “If companies were to be more than simply cash registers, executives had to be empowered to make choices. Directors needed to decide how the value being created should be divided up: how much to employees, how much to suppliers, how much to shareholders, how much to deserving community organizations and at what cost to the physical environments in which the company operates.”  He continues, “Unfortunately, this is precisely the discretion being stripped from the repertoire of the modern corporate executive as he is forced to make an unequivocal commitment to financial success.”

Robertson also contends that this won’t get better any time soon with governments looking to maximize the financial returns from their recent equity purchases, executives trying to repay loans as quickly as possible, and employees too scared of losing their job to demand better from their employer.

While Robertson makes a convincing argument, I believe that it’s only an excuse, a reason for leadership to free themselves of any obligation to humanity and the environment.  You see, this viewpoint stems from the idea of corporate social responsibility being solely a cost, rather than an integral, revenue building part of the business model.  Companies and leaders alike that still hold to the belief that CSR is merely writing a check will most likely cut back or quit their CSR practices altogether in the name of financial strife.

On the other hand, however, there are others who will strongly embrace the great opportunities social responsibility presents and come out stronger on the other side of this recession. Will Marré, CEO of REALeadership Alliance, states, “When times are tough it’s hard not to be hijacked by fear. Thinking about how much good we can do becomes downright unnatural when we’re genuinely afraid we won’t have what we need.  But what if we turn that fear upside down?  Imagine that the key to security, prosperity, and happiness comes from doing good.  As much good as possible.”  According to Marré, now is the time to invest in social responsibility.  In fact, he contends that saving the world is the greatest economic opportunity of our time.

I do indeed stand by my original posting…CSR will survive the economy.  We cannot allow our values to be turned on and off depending on the weather of the current situation.  The triple bottom line is a way of doing business, not a fad that has run its course.

Socially Responsible Leadership

It takes strong leaders to transform business and change the world.  But it can be done…and must.

In Five Features of Great Socially Responsible Leadership Mallen Baker gives a great list of strong socially responsible leadership qualities.
1) Being prepared to challenge the logic of your industry.
2) Doing something because it is the right thing to do, and then working out how to make it pay.
3) Understanding that the leaders sets incentives - and sometimes the bottom line is the wrong incentive.
4) Understanding when to follow the rules, and when to use common sense in the face of unintended outcomes.
5) Knowing that just because people around you see you as a leader, it doesn’t mean you’re a good one.

Will Marré also asserts a socially responsible leadership model in his recent article, CSR and the Four Ideals of Socially Responsible Leadership, he calls REALeadership.  The model is based on four principles:
R—Relevant.   A leader’s impact is long.  Their decisions weigh more than others.  So they must be wise enough to constantly see the big picture, to carefully consider the impact of their decisions on employees, customers, suppliers, the environment, the community, and the generations of unborn.
E—Ethical.  To be ethical is to be moral.  The moral standard is do as much good as you can.  Create the Greatest Total Value you can.  For everyone, all the time.  Why else lead?
A—Abundance. Sustainable Abundance requires more than innovation.  It demands invention.  It requires creating something with unique value that genuinely benefits humanity and heals the environment.
L—Legacy. A leader’s legacy is his or her impact on the future.  The world needs saving.  We need new solutions we can implement as fast as possible.

Leadership, especially in today’s world climate, is indeed a great responsibility, but it’s also a great opportunity to do something really amazing.  I think Marré says it best in the conclusion of his article, “If you aren’t going to save the world then get out of the way and make room for someone who is.” Are you up to the challenge?

Corporate Social Opportunity Rules

I’m always talking about changing the view of corporate social responsibility into corporate social opportunity.  How if done right, companies don’t have to choose between profits, people, and the planet.  This is what I mean.

I was reading an interesting article today of an interview with Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor Business Administration, Harvard Business School. She was asked a very good question, “Can one realistically expect values to prevail over profits?”  She answered, “It does not have to be principles over profits. In fact, principles often get you profits.”  She goes on to give an example of Banco Real, a bank in Brazil that has environmental and social responsibility criteria on loan applications.  By so doing, the bank has customers coming back to them with a plea to help them comply and also new customers who, because of this standard, won’t put their money anywhere else.

Another example Kanter cites is P&G and their water purifier called PuR.  At first, the company couldn’t make a profit out of it and many wanted to stop the project.  But instead the company embraced the product’s importance for people who don’t live near clean drinking water and created a non-profit organization to distribute it.  It turns out that after the tsunami, the demand skyrocketed so they not only recovered the cost but even more value came from employee commitment, demonstrating their values to customers, etc.

These two examples are proof that if we truly embrace our social responsibilities and transform them into social opportunities, the rewards will be endless.  The triple bottom line is not too idealistic…it works.

We Can Change the World

I talk a lot about the power individuals have in changing the world, specifically as consumers, and that’s because I truly believe we can each make a difference that matters. And more and more consumers are starting to embrace their role in influencing companies to go green.  Consider these recent findings from “BBMG Conscious Consumer Report: Redefining Value in a New Economy” as reported in BBMG Study Finds ‘Green Trust Gap’:

•    77 % of Americans agree that they “can make a positive difference by purchasing products from socially or environmentally responsible companies.”
•    Nearly seven in ten Americans agree (67%) that “even in tough economic times, it is important to purchase products with social and environmental benefits,” and half (51%) say they are “willing to pay more” for them.
•    Seven in ten consumers (71%) agree that they “avoid purchasing from companies whose practices they disagree with”; and approximately half tell others to shop (55%) or drop (48%) products based on a company’s social and environmental practices.
•    Green factors are very important in purchasing a product: 47% energy efficiency, 32% locally grown or made nearby, 31% all natural, 29% made from recycled materials and 22% USDA, a significant growth over 2007.

These numbers are exciting and suggest a great change that is taking hold.  But at the same time, these numbers are only statistics unless the green revolution becomes personal.  Personal to each one of us.  Personal in a way that makes us change our own behaviors to become part of the solution.  So…what’s one thing you can do this week to make a difference?  What’s one thing you can buy or not buy?  Let’s make it personal and see the world change.

War on Greenwashing

Almost every company wants to go “green” these days, and perhaps even more are claiming to.  The term “greenwashing” comes to mind.  Greenwashing refers to companies masquerading as green companies or spending more money and time advertising being green than actually being green.  Yuck.  I know.

So this brings us to the question, how do we know if a company or product is actually as green as it claims to be? In 10. Ecological Intelligence Bryan Walsh gives the example of buying an organic T shirt.  A conscientious consumer buys an organic T shirt because of course organic is supposed to better, but the label “organic” doesn’t take into account the fact that the amount of organic cotton required for one T shirt is 2,640 gallons of water or that the dye used on the T shirt has harsh chemicals that are now polluting groundwater.  

So what do we do?  Not buy anything? Luckily the answer is no.  Walsh goes on to discuss how we are beginning to more concretely measure one’s carbon, social and biological footprints.  Famed psychologist Daniel Goleman calls it Ecological Intelligence.  According to Walsh a new science called industrial ecology is using a method called life-cycle assessment (LCS) to actually calculate the total impact of products, companies, etc.    

Pretty awesome, huh?  But I have to admit it sounds a little too complicated for my weekly jaunt to the grocery or drug store.  Walsh also discusses a great website Good Guide.  Good Guide is a great, easy to use, consumer web site that rates everyday products from milk to makeup to toys so that we can make more educated consumer decisions.  I highly recommend you check out the site.  It will revolutionize the way you shop.  

Also to help average consumers discern greenwashing Good Housekeeping has adopted a Green seal of approval.  In addition to the requirements for the original Good Housekeeping seal such as quality and safety, the Green seal indicates that a certain product has met criteria such as energy efficiency, packaging reduction and water quality.

Consumers today mean business when it comes to holding companies accountable for their actions and the products they sell.  Consumers today are an overwhelming face for sustainable change.  While it used to be only companies started by dreamy-eyed hippies tried to build green supply chains and invent sustainable products, now the largest companies on the planet are getting serious about detoxing corporate commerce.  Now consumers are getting armed with intelligence to separate the pretenders from the genuine future-friendly products.        

Sustainability and A Launch Pad for Growth

A Sustainable America and a Launch Pad for Growth by Will Marre

When do we realize that the greatest good does not arise from a mythic invisible hand balancing out our short-term selfish acts and unquenchable greed?  That is the wrong-headed story of kings, aristocrats, industrialists and lately Wall Street bankers who have been selling the man-on-the-street America for the past 50 years.  But we all know trickle-down economics doesn’t work very well.  In fact, it’s what brought us to our current catastrophe.  This is what I mean.

A friend of mine is supplying tile and granite for a new 40,000 square foot $20,000,000 mansion.  That is supposed to be good news for all of us because after all my friend has a job as well as all the carpet layers, carpenters and landscapers employed by Mr. Big Bucks to build his industrialized-sized house.  Not only that, when he moves in he’ll hire nannies and servants.  That’s job creation you see.  That’s why whenever anyone brings up taxing the wealthy their front-men scream we’re destroying the economy.  It’s the rich and successful that creates jobs they tell us.  It’s the same argument that whatever is good for the nobleman is good for his peasants that work his farm.  Whatever.  Of course that’s true.  It’s just not relevant.  You see it’s not true enough.  We know that 80% of new jobs are created by entrepreneurs on fire with a new idea and small business owners growing their core business.  Trickle-down doesn’t build broad based wealth or a thriving middle class.  It doesn’t spur entrepreneurialism or new job creation.  Trickle-down stagnates the status quo and creates a nation of servants.  We used to know better.  When I grew up no one had butlers, drivers or nannies.  Our country had different goals.

So what does work?  Well consider the same $20,000,000 loaned out as micro loans among the world’s poor.  Grameen Bank tells us that it takes about $200 in borrowed capital for a dirt-poor entrepreneur to become self-sufficient.  The repayment rate at 8% interest is 98%.  This means $20 million launches 100,000 people into self-reliance who pay back their loans launching another 98,000 entrepreneurs in a virtuous explosion of decent lives.  80% of children of micro-entrepreneurs become literate.  Some become doctors or engineers in a single generation.  As opposed to trickle down economics, it’s called launch-pad economics.  So there you have it.  We can either celebrate the super-consumption of the super wealthy or celebrate the creative capacity of individuals to become self-reliant.

Don’t you think it’s time for a new launch pad in the good ol’ USA today?  Times of high unemployment stimulate lots of entrepreneurism.  If no one will hire you, hire yourself.  But starting a new enterprise takes money.  Money that family and friends don’t have anymore.  We need to free up credit for Main Street instead of pay bonuses to the creeps who sold out our economy for 30 pieces of silver.

How about this:

1.    Break up the Big Banks. Four big banks control 50% of all bank assets in the U.S.  Four CEOs plus a few leaders like the heads of AIG and Wall Street investment banks, less than 10 people, held so much concentrated economic power that all of us have become vulnerable to their greed and misjudgments.  So now we have banks that are too big to trust.  Our society cannot afford to allow the concentration of economic power to create banks and insurance companies that are too big to fail.  Community and regional banks are thriving and more and more are making attractive loans to small and medium sized businesses.  Their balance sheets are strong.  So instead of bailing out the very clowns that have crushed the economy, break up the Citi’s and Bank of America’s into 20 or 25 smaller regional banks that have to live or die based on sound business practices.  Doesn’t this make more sense than flushing more of your and my money down a financial toilet?

We learned this lesson the hard way once.  Teddy Roosevelt ushered in an era of trust busting to end the oil cartel of Standard Oil.  Franklin Roosevelt passed regulations to separate investment banks from commercial banks.  But over the past 30 years our anti-trust laws have withered and unrest rained mergers and acquisitions have led to Frankenstein companies like AIG.  So these monster financial firms allowed by our mad scientist congress have created a horror movie we can’t escape without lots of financial violence.  Let’s get it done.  If not now, when?

2.    Don’t be afraid to invest in our future. Lots of loud voices are trying to scare us that running a deficit that’s the same percentage of our economy as World War II’s will bury our future.  It didn’t then because those dollars were invested in the productive capacity of our nation.  World War II didn’t drive us to the poor house. Just the opposite.  It ignited post-war growth and productivity that launched an economic miracle.  The World Bank has studied what brings debtor nations out of debt over the past 50 years, and guess what?  It’s investments in education, access to health care, access to capital and infrastructure…every time.

So yes.  I believe our current direction is the only direction that will lead us to a sustainable future.  What worries me is the asymmetrical power of the power and greed lobby who are throwing millions at our congressmen to shake and bake instead of provide real leadership. As a nation we voted for change.  Now it’s time to make change happen.  Not some watered-down fake change but real fundamental launch-pad change.  Like change that re-sizes our banks and gives entrepreneurs a chance to get the money we need to create new solutions and new jobs.

So we must decide what we all want.  It’s time to quit flirting with our mutual commitment toward building a sustainable future and start doing it.  It’s time to build a launch pad for the real strength of any thriving society.  It’s time to re-democratize economic and political power so that good ideas can live, great ideas can prosper and no one ever again is too big to fail.

So what do you think?  Do you think Obama’s policies are the best way to re-invent America?  Are they focused enough, efficient enough, tough enough…what would you do?

Most Admired Companies

Last week Fortune Magazine came out with its list of Most Admired Companies. And in my opinion, this is the list that counts.  The judging criteria are innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment, quality of products/services, and global competitiveness. Right on.

The companies that made the top nine on the list are:
1. Apple
2. Berkshire Hathaway
3. Toyota Motor
4. Google
5. Johnson & Johnson
6. Procter & Gamble
7. FedEx
8. Southwest Airlines
9. General Electric

In this day and age no one really cares about who is solely making the most money.  Yes, profits are important, after all a company must be sustaining, but profits are only part of the equation.  No matter how much profit a company can boast, what everyone is paying attention to is who is leading the world to a better future with qualities such as innovation and social responsibility.  And when companies focus on these qualities, profits are sure to follow.  I know.  These companies are not perfect.  But neither am I.  What most of them are doing is facing in the right direction.  These are the companies we want to buy from, work for, and see succeed.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Fad or Here to Stay?

When it comes to CSR, the argument keeps arising, is CSR just a fad or actually here to stay?  Well, let’s see….

In Creating Corporate Social Responsibility That Makes Sense, Michael Laff quotes Peter Hesling, assistant professor of management and organizations at Southern Methodist University:
“[To the question of] whether this is a fad that will fizzle out, I think the answer is no.  I don’t see companies going in reverse.”

In Surprising survivors: Corporate do-gooders in which Lawrence Delevingne discusses how several companies are staying committed to their CSR programs despite the economic turmoil he quotes Bennett Freeman, senior vice president for social research and policy at the Calvert Group, who states, “Corporate responsibility is a nearly recession-proof commitment because it’s become so mainstream.”

In the same article, Delevingne states, “Corporate responsibility’s surprising staying power is illustrated by a recent survey by Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship. It found that half of companies believe corporate citizenship will “become more critical to corporate reputation and business success” and less than ten percent forecast a lesser role.”

In The Washington Post article, Responsibility Is Still Good For Business, Christopher Flavelle states, “However you define CSR, and whether you agree with the financial arguments in favor of it, as a cultural phenomenon the idea seems to have some staying power.”

These are very optimistic approaches, and not everyone agrees.  Also in
In Creating Corporate Social Responsibility That Makes Sense Laff states, “According to a survey on the issue conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, most organizations continue to sponsor community service activities several times each year—a sign that such efforts are more like singular events rather than strategic, long-term initiatives.”

CSR Doesn’t Pay by David Vogel suggests that CSR is not here to stay because it simply does not produce the results we are led to believe.  He states, “The belief that corporate responsibility “pays” is a seductive one: Who would not want to live in a world in which corporate virtue is rewarded and corporate irresponsibility punished? Unfortunately, the evidence for these rewards and punishment is rather weak. There is a “‘market for virtue,” but it is a very limited one. Nor is it growing.”

In CSR: More Than A ‘Management Fad,’ It’s A Movement of History and Pedigree Joe Sibilia discusses an article that appeared in the Financial Times by Stefan Stern that challenges the lasting power of CSR.  He quotes the article: “In the inevitable life cycle of management fads CSR is now heading for the exit. Customers are generally unconvinced by the hype. And “social responsibility” was always too flimsy a concept to gain serious traction with business leaders.

That gives us a clue as to the identity of the next Big Thing in management: sustainability. Unlike CSR, this concept has some meat and commercial potential to it. Innovations that make money while helping to reduce carbon emissions are actually worth pursuing. So here’s one further prediction for next year: the urgent rebranding to be carried out by all those CSR consultancies, which will be replacing the old acronym with the more contemporary ‘sustainability’ label.”

Will Marre, couldn’t agree more.  While CSR efforts should be applauded, the way to make CSR more than a fad is to expand the definition from its traditional meaning associated with writing a check to what he calls, socially strategic enterprise.  In Corporate Social Responsibility Becomes Strategic he states, “The imperative is to recreate your core business model, the way you make money, as a Socially-Strategic Enterprise.  This means your products or services will cause 1) human wellbeing and 2) save our planet.  To make money by saving the future.  This should be our goal.”

So to answer the question, CSR: Fad or Here to Stay?, it seems that the answer is both.  For CSR efforts to truly remain a driving force for the long haul, CSR initiatives need to become more than short-term efforts and become an integral part of the business model.  Furthermore, CSR needs to transform into socially strategic enterprise, making money by saving the future.  Because, let’s face it, for the majority of companies, CSR efforts aren’t going to last unless they are truly sustainable, and that means producing a profit.

As for me, I will continually hold on to the hope that no matter how one defines CSR, it is here to stay because no matter whether it’s popular or not, it will always be the right thing to do.  I have three children, and for their sake, it has to be here to stay because the reality is, the world cannot sustain itself otherwise.

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