It’s a really strange phenomenon. It’s a little bit freaky. When businesses get conscious, they are more profitable. And they do this by being unrelentingly, consciously purposeful. By adding real value for no expected return. Real value for the people who work for the business, real value for families and communities, and real value for all of their stakeholders. And this is the strange bit – like a boomerang it all returns ten-fold.
In September 2008 I was in London – the markets crashed and the world changed inextricably forever. Never again shall we view conspicuous consumption as aspirational, never again shall we buy brands unconsciously. We want to know we are spending our money where people are as important as profit.
I am so inspired by Gina Hayden’s keynote this evening on Conscious Capitalism at smartLab – thank you Gina, you have managed to distill, analyse and make sense of all that matters to all of us right now – and I suspect forever more. We know that capitalism will never be the same again and I won’t begin to regurgitate your message – rather to point the reader in your direction.
I also know that it takes an outside-in approach. And first we have start with inside-out. That is, know thyself… then get thyself out of the way and begin to think outside-in. Once you truly know yourself and are able to manage yourself despite how you think or feel about things, only then can you have the freedom to think outside-in. And the research shows that the most successful people in life have this perspective. They lead with their passions, come from a context of curiosity and are able to put themselves in their stakeholders’ shoes, which determines what they do.
And it all begins with purpose. What is it that you really want, what drives you, what are your true passions?
I do hope you enjoy this animate from Dan Pink and the RSA as much as I do – says it all in terms of what truly motivates us.
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