“We employ 250 people and have a network of over 200 suppliers” declared my friend Norman when I asked him how his business was doing. He owns an agro-processing business, now over 30 years old, located in a very depressed and forgotten area of rural Jamaica.
“You must be one of the main employers in the parish” I posited, to which he replied that he was #3 after the government and one other agro-industrial firm.
Many years ago, when Norman was frustrated that his voluntary service in the public arena frustrated him and yielded little in terms of impact, I had advised him to focus on his neck of the woods, that place where he had the power to make a difference, untethered by bureaucracy and political agendas. And he did. So now his business provides livelihood for over 450 people. With an average of 4 dependents, he is impacting 1,800 people in the community. And the ripple effects are enormous – parents can afford to send their children to school, they can build their homes, save, expand their farms, buy and sell and in general create and grow their own wealth. Norman is realising his dream of positively impacting other people’s lives.
Business is often vilified as greed, selfishness and the pursuit of wealth at all costs, including the human. Yet, from my upbringing in a family business, my work over the years consulting with businesses, and reading about business, I am firmly convinced that business can be, and should be a force for good – not just Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the new buzzword, but by its very essence and operations, a force for good for its employees, its customers, suppliers, community, nation and indeed the world.
Business as a force for good requires conscious and deliberate intention. It’s very easy to run your business primarily for your own, or your shareholders’ good. You can do so sustainably and in the long run by focusing on satisfying your customers’ needs. But there comes a point, I hope, when you ask yourself “How can my organization make this world a better place? How can we contribute to a world that is better for our presence?” That’s when you start to explore business as a force for good. Some questions to ask yourself:
- People: How can my business be a force for good for the people who work and provide service and supplies to us? How can we fundamentally, every day, help them to be the best they can be?
- Community: How can my business be a force for good for the community in which we operate or the community which we serve? Are we helping outside of our gates? Are we caring for the people whom we pass every day on our way into our offices or factories?
- Environment: are we a force for good in stewarding our planet? Are we doing whatever we can to minimise our negative impact?
- Are we a force for good in making our society a better place, in improving values and the way we interact with each other?
These are questions to ask as a leader of a business. But they are questions that anyone can ask, and act on. Even if you don’t own the business, but are a leader, answering these questions brings purpose and meaning to work and pride in being associated with your organisation.
I believe that the problems of the world, our nations, communities, are solvable. For example, Oxfam reports that we produce enough food to end world hunger. Indeed, the Journal of Sustainable Agriculture states that we produce enough food for 10 billion people! What we need is the intention and the will to be a force for good. Businesses can be that, and so can each of us.
