Capitalism Even My Mother Could Love

At age 32, when I announced on a phone call to my mother that I was starting a business, the line seemed to go dead. My mother, whom I love deeply, is not someone you would call business-friendly.

As a retired California social worker and occasional head of her local Democratic Party, she distrusts big business. She isn’t alone. Business in America, according to the book I’m about to review, has an approval rating of around 19 percent, two points above Congress. My father, on the other hand, a retired CPA and mall developer, admires business. When I was still in high school I remember him telling me, “Profit is one of the most beautiful words in the English language.” He regularly complained about anti-business prejudice in the media and academia.

As I was setting off to graduate school in sociology, he told me to enjoy myself, “but don’t believe everything your professors tell you.” My parents divorced when I was six. My mother had hoped I would become a doctor or teacher, as was customary on her side of the family. My father had already abandoned hope that his journalist/consultant/analyst son would ever become an entrepreneur, and so was delightfully surprised when I made the same phone call to him. He called me his “late-blooming son.” As a product of both my parents, I set out in business somewhat conflicted. Serving customers felt natural and good, but to survive in business, would I have to be ruthless? With degrees in biology and sociology, my education was devoid of business courses of any kind. Did I miss out on learning how to be hard-nosed?

‘Give capitalism a chance’

In the early months of Levenger, working out of our townhouse in Boston, Lori and I had plenty of days with no sales, and one day I shall always remember, with just one sizable return – that is, a negative-sales day. Was it too late to become a doctor, I wondered? Yet in our fledgling business I did feel I had finally found my calling. (I discovered this with the help of another book called Minding the Store by Stanley Marcus, who taught me that being a merchant could be a noble thing.) After a dicey first two years of taking no salaries, success came dramatically to our company.

During those early years of success, I would hear business executives speak at charity events about the importance of “giving back” to their communities. I chafed at this. It implied that business was taking and that we business people, like criminals, had a debt to repay. Yet I watched our own business employ people, help them grow in their careers, make our suppliers happy, keep our accountants busy, and give our customers something that, judging by the many heartfelt letters we received, they had been yearning for. How could this be a bad thing?

One day a promising young customer service rep at Levenger who was about to graduate from college came to see me. She told me she was quitting Levenger to work for a nonprofit, because she wanted to do good in the world. I said I was sorry to lose her but understood that people must follow their hearts. I suggested that it was also possible to do good in the world while working for a company. I even gave her some examples. But she wasn’t buying it. As we parted, I said with a smile that I hoped she would “give capitalism a chance.” She laughed, as did I, but she left the company anyway.

From profits to purpose

If the new book Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business succeeds in changing the world the way the authors hope, my remark about “giving capitalism a chance” will no longer be a joke. Because future young people graduating from college will just assume capitalism can do good in the world. They won’t think they have to join a nonprofit to follow their hearts. They will understand that a “for-profit” company can just as easily be described as a “for-purpose” company, and that profits are one way, and sometimes the best way, to sustain noble work. At present, though, that future seems far off.

That’s why John Mackey, the co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, and Raj Sisodia, a professor of marketing at Bentley University, wrote this new testament of business. They named it after the movement they helped found, Conscious Capitalism. Its credo begins with this sentence: “We believe that business is good because it creates value, it is ethical because it is based on voluntary exchange, it is noble because it can elevate our existence, and it is heroic because it lifts people out of poverty and creates prosperity.”

Part of the problem, explain the authors, is an image problem. Corporate malfeasance, real and fictional, gets lots of play in the news and movies, while the goodness of business does not. But most of the problem is more invidious. The noble purpose of business has been hijacked. And this hijacking is not the work of cynical professors and journalists, but of business people themselves who willingly share the myopic belief that business is, first, foremost and finally, about profits. The economist Milton Friedman, in his widely cited 1970s essay on social responsibility, claimed that profit was the only social responsibility businesses had. Too many people have interpreted his advice too narrowly, to everyone’s detriment. Mackey and Sisodia convincingly demonstrate that it simply isn’t true.

Businesses that focus first on purpose, and then expand their view widely to benefit all stakeholders—rather than just narrowly serving shareholders—are better businesses, and better by all financial measures. Unfortunately, write the authors, capitalism “developed in a stunted way, missing the more human half of its identity.”

The 70% solution

One of the most serious consequences of this dwarfed manifestation of business is that the average engagement of workers in the United States hovers around 30 percent. Some 7 out of 10 workers just aren’t that into their jobs. Think of the opportunities for everyone if those ratios were reversed. It is the job of business leaders to help engage that lost 70 percent, and to help employees realize that in their hands – and hearts – lies the basis for the positive transformation of societies and communities. The authors of Conscious Capitalism ask us to imagine a business “built on love and care rather than stress and fear,” a business where staff members are able to “craft a purposeful life while earning a living,” and where employees can experience “the joy of service, of enriching the lives of others.” Even if you aren’t a doctor or a teacher.

Conscious Capitalism: from good to great

It’s a different way of thinking about business. Instead of viewing situations as tradeoffs (high wages leads to lower profits), the authors advise that we think in terms of mutual wins: living wages lead to happier staff members, which creates happier customers, which generates higher sales, which results in satisfied shareholders. Conscious Capitalism is a good book. It’s well-researched, well-written and has already received favorable reviews in major publications. But what is exciting is its potential to become a great book – the kind that triggers a fundamental and pervasive change in attitudes. Could Conscious Capitalism do for business what Silent Spring did for the environment? The widespread view of capitalism as some sort of necessary evil is a kind of DDT to human potential. Breaking into an enlightened conception of capitalism could liberate human potential, leading to new levels of innovation and personal fulfillment. But as powerful as Conscious Capitalism can be, it is not an elixir for business success.

The most enlightened capitalists must also go through the hard work of developing an effective corporate strategy – that long and difficult process of examining options and selecting the very few to pursue. Then comes execution, a topic that rightfully has filled volumes of business books and launched the careers of untold numbers of business consultants. Just as essential, in order for Conscious Capitalism to be sustained, it must be embraced by the current generation of young people starting businesses today. Only if they take it up – which they will do in their own ways – does the movement have a chance to change the world. There are promising signs.

Tearing down the Ivy Curtain

More colleges are focusing not only on entrepreneurism, but on social entrepreneurism. Students will do their own mashups to create businesses that feel like nonprofits, and nonprofits that are run like businesses. I’m hopeful that students will tear down the Ivy Curtain that for my generation separated the so-called impractical liberal arts from majors like business and accounting. I’m hopeful that we’ll see more business students with their heads in the clouds, and art-history majors who like accounting. My own sons, college classes of 2010 and 2013, are reading Conscious Capitalism, so we can discuss it as a family. Already they’ve let me know it seems rather obvious to them. And maybe that’s our best hope – that young people setting off in business today will just assume capitalism can do good in the world. “Like, duh, Dad.” I hope so. And I hope when they call my mother to tell them about their businesses, the conversation will be anything but silent. Now to you, dear reader: Does Conscious Capitalism make sense to you? I’d love to hear. Just leave a comment below!

 

Capitalism Even My Mother Could Love

At age 32, when I announced on a phone call to my mother that I was starting a business, the line seemed to go dead. My mother, whom I love deeply, is not someone you would call business-friendly.

As a retired California social worker and occasional head of her local Democratic Party, she distrusts big business. She isn’t alone. Business in America, according to the book I’m about to review, has an approval rating of around 19 percent, two points above Congress. My father, on the other hand, a retired CPA and mall developer, admires business. When I was still in high school I remember him telling me, “Profit is one of the most beautiful words in the English language.” He regularly complained about anti-business prejudice in the media and academia.

As I was setting off to graduate school in sociology, he told me to enjoy myself, “but don’t believe everything your professors tell you.” My parents divorced when I was six. My mother had hoped I would become a doctor or teacher, as was customary on her side of the family. My father had already abandoned hope that his journalist/consultant/analyst son would ever become an entrepreneur, and so was delightfully surprised when I made the same phone call to him. He called me his “late-blooming son.” As a product of both my parents, I set out in business somewhat conflicted. Serving customers felt natural and good, but to survive in business, would I have to be ruthless? With degrees in biology and sociology, my education was devoid of business courses of any kind. Did I miss out on learning how to be hard-nosed?

‘Give capitalism a chance’

In the early months of Levenger, working out of our townhouse in Boston, Lori and I had plenty of days with no sales, and one day I shall always remember, with just one sizable return – that is, a negative-sales day. Was it too late to become a doctor, I wondered? Yet in our fledgling business I did feel I had finally found my calling. (I discovered this with the help of another book called Minding the Store by Stanley Marcus, who taught me that being a merchant could be a noble thing.) After a dicey first two years of taking no salaries, success came dramatically to our company.

During those early years of success, I would hear business executives speak at charity events about the importance of “giving back” to their communities. I chafed at this. It implied that business was taking and that we business people, like criminals, had a debt to repay. Yet I watched our own business employ people, help them grow in their careers, make our suppliers happy, keep our accountants busy, and give our customers something that, judging by the many heartfelt letters we received, they had been yearning for. How could this be a bad thing?

One day a promising young customer service rep at Levenger who was about to graduate from college came to see me. She told me she was quitting Levenger to work for a nonprofit, because she wanted to do good in the world. I said I was sorry to lose her but understood that people must follow their hearts. I suggested that it was also possible to do good in the world while working for a company. I even gave her some examples. But she wasn’t buying it. As we parted, I said with a smile that I hoped she would “give capitalism a chance.” She laughed, as did I, but she left the company anyway.

From profits to purpose

If the new book Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business succeeds in changing the world the way the authors hope, my remark about “giving capitalism a chance” will no longer be a joke. Because future young people graduating from college will just assume capitalism can do good in the world. They won’t think they have to join a nonprofit to follow their hearts. They will understand that a “for-profit” company can just as easily be described as a “for-purpose” company, and that profits are one way, and sometimes the best way, to sustain noble work. At present, though, that future seems far off.

That’s why John Mackey, the co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, and Raj Sisodia, a professor of marketing at Bentley University, wrote this new testament of business. They named it after the movement they helped found, Conscious Capitalism. Its credo begins with this sentence: “We believe that business is good because it creates value, it is ethical because it is based on voluntary exchange, it is noble because it can elevate our existence, and it is heroic because it lifts people out of poverty and creates prosperity.”

Part of the problem, explain the authors, is an image problem. Corporate malfeasance, real and fictional, gets lots of play in the news and movies, while the goodness of business does not. But most of the problem is more invidious. The noble purpose of business has been hijacked. And this hijacking is not the work of cynical professors and journalists, but of business people themselves who willingly share the myopic belief that business is, first, foremost and finally, about profits. The economist Milton Friedman, in his widely cited 1970s essay on social responsibility, claimed that profit was the only social responsibility businesses had. Too many people have interpreted his advice too narrowly, to everyone’s detriment. Mackey and Sisodia convincingly demonstrate that it simply isn’t true.

Businesses that focus first on purpose, and then expand their view widely to benefit all stakeholders—rather than just narrowly serving shareholders—are better businesses, and better by all financial measures. Unfortunately, write the authors, capitalism “developed in a stunted way, missing the more human half of its identity.”

The 70% solution

One of the most serious consequences of this dwarfed manifestation of business is that the average engagement of workers in the United States hovers around 30 percent. Some 7 out of 10 workers just aren’t that into their jobs. Think of the opportunities for everyone if those ratios were reversed. It is the job of business leaders to help engage that lost 70 percent, and to help employees realize that in their hands – and hearts – lies the basis for the positive transformation of societies and communities. The authors of Conscious Capitalism ask us to imagine a business “built on love and care rather than stress and fear,” a business where staff members are able to “craft a purposeful life while earning a living,” and where employees can experience “the joy of service, of enriching the lives of others.” Even if you aren’t a doctor or a teacher.

Conscious Capitalism: from good to great

It’s a different way of thinking about business. Instead of viewing situations as tradeoffs (high wages leads to lower profits), the authors advise that we think in terms of mutual wins: living wages lead to happier staff members, which creates happier customers, which generates higher sales, which results in satisfied shareholders. Conscious Capitalism is a good book. It’s well-researched, well-written and has already received favorable reviews in major publications. But what is exciting is its potential to become a great book – the kind that triggers a fundamental and pervasive change in attitudes. Could Conscious Capitalism do for business what Silent Spring did for the environment? The widespread view of capitalism as some sort of necessary evil is a kind of DDT to human potential. Breaking into an enlightened conception of capitalism could liberate human potential, leading to new levels of innovation and personal fulfillment. But as powerful as Conscious Capitalism can be, it is not an elixir for business success.

The most enlightened capitalists must also go through the hard work of developing an effective corporate strategy – that long and difficult process of examining options and selecting the very few to pursue. Then comes execution, a topic that rightfully has filled volumes of business books and launched the careers of untold numbers of business consultants. Just as essential, in order for Conscious Capitalism to be sustained, it must be embraced by the current generation of young people starting businesses today. Only if they take it up – which they will do in their own ways – does the movement have a chance to change the world. There are promising signs.

Tearing down the Ivy Curtain

More colleges are focusing not only on entrepreneurism, but on social entrepreneurism. Students will do their own mashups to create businesses that feel like nonprofits, and nonprofits that are run like businesses. I’m hopeful that students will tear down the Ivy Curtain that for my generation separated the so-called impractical liberal arts from majors like business and accounting. I’m hopeful that we’ll see more business students with their heads in the clouds, and art-history majors who like accounting. My own sons, college classes of 2010 and 2013, are reading Conscious Capitalism, so we can discuss it as a family. Already they’ve let me know it seems rather obvious to them. And maybe that’s our best hope – that young people setting off in business today will just assume capitalism can do good in the world. “Like, duh, Dad.” I hope so. And I hope when they call my mother to tell them about their businesses, the conversation will be anything but silent. Now to you, dear reader: Does Conscious Capitalism make sense to you? I’d love to hear. Just leave a comment below!

 

7 Ways to Read More of What Can Help You Lead

When I ask friends if they’ve read anything good lately, I usually get a pained expression and a comment like, “Oh, man, I wish I had more time to read!”

Given the pressures of business and family, along with the urgent reading we must do during the course of a day, it’s difficult to find the time to read books that may make us better leaders and potentially even change our lives.

Yet it’s not as difficult as you might think to be a real reader. As the CEO of a company that caters to readers, I’ve had the opportunity to ask hundreds of busy people over the years what tips they have for actually getting those life-changing books into their lives and running on their fuel. Here are seven proven techniques particularly relevant to busy CEOs:

1. Be willing to give up on a book.

Practice the 50-page rule: if a book hasn’t grabbed you by page 50, give it the heave-ho. There are lots more books on the shelf, virtual and otherwise, beckoning. In my experience, the more seasoned the readers, the more likely they are to practice this rule, and thereby find more books suited to them.

2. Read with family members.

Right now my wife, Lori, and our two sons are reading Conscious Capitalism so that we can discuss it as a family. Reading with family members is like having a built-in book club, with a bonus: you get to spend more time with your family.

3. Read with colleagues.

Ask the colleagues you respect what they’re reading and why. Reading the same book at the same time as a colleague means you can compare notes as you go, gain more from your reading, and strengthen bonds of friendship. Try it with a forum member, or your whole forum as an exercise.

4. Read with your ears. In recent years audiobooks have become a powerhouse format, with many truly great narrators and thousands of captivating books that will keep you glued in your car after you’ve reached your destination. Don’t be snagged by the fading prejudice that listening is cheating and not real reading. Remember that all stories and learning used to be oral and that reading, especially silent reading to one’s self, is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Ironically, digital files on your smartphone have unleashed the power of oral storytelling to millions of learners. I find that audiobooks are particularly well suited to narratives like biographies and histories, which can be some of the best business books of all. Check out AudioFile Magazine for the latest releases, along with informed reviews. Visit Audible and iTunes to browse thousands of audiobooks you can download.

5. See your way into books. Today the power of video magnifies the benefits of reading. I loved Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Jump start your reading by watching her TED video, which 3.5 million introverts have already quietly done.

See or hear the brilliant Steven Pinker explain his masterpiece, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, as he presents his Long Now Foundation SALT talk in San Francisco. Before reading Sherry Turkle’s rewarding book Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other, watch her uplifting interview with Stephen Colbert. Thinking about reading Warren Buffett’s newest? Start with six minutes of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

6. Build your Library of Candidates.

More than a list of what you might like to read, a Library of Candidates is a repository for the books themselves. Having the actual print book ensures that you’ll choose new books from an enriched assortment you’ve already vetted, and increases the likelihood you’ll love your next book. I devote physical bookcases to my Library of Candidates, and do the same with a virtual library of e-book downloads.

7. Build on your success. As in business, so with reading: success breeds success. Once you’re reading a book that you can’t put down, you’ll want to repeat that exhilaration. Don’t worry about not having read all the classics (no one has) or this or that “indispensable” book. Try, instead, to always be reading a book you love. Do that and you’ll be living your own well-read life, which is the only one worth living.

Are you ready to get more books in your life and more life from your books? Try at least one of these techniques in the next two weeks and see how you do. Then, share the results with us below.

 

7 Ways to Read More of What Can Help You Lead

When I ask friends if they’ve read anything good lately, I usually get a pained expression and a comment like, “Oh, man, I wish I had more time to read!”

Given the pressures of business and family, along with the urgent reading we must do during the course of a day, it’s difficult to find the time to read books that may make us better leaders and potentially even change our lives.

Yet it’s not as difficult as you might think to be a real reader. As the CEO of a company that caters to readers, I’ve had the opportunity to ask hundreds of busy people over the years what tips they have for actually getting those life-changing books into their lives and running on their fuel. Here are seven proven techniques particularly relevant to busy CEOs:

1. Be willing to give up on a book.

Practice the 50-page rule: if a book hasn’t grabbed you by page 50, give it the heave-ho. There are lots more books on the shelf, virtual and otherwise, beckoning. In my experience, the more seasoned the readers, the more likely they are to practice this rule, and thereby find more books suited to them.

2. Read with family members.

Right now my wife, Lori, and our two sons are reading Conscious Capitalism so that we can discuss it as a family. Reading with family members is like having a built-in book club, with a bonus: you get to spend more time with your family.

3. Read with colleagues.

Ask the colleagues you respect what they’re reading and why. Reading the same book at the same time as a colleague means you can compare notes as you go, gain more from your reading, and strengthen bonds of friendship. Try it with a forum member, or your whole forum as an exercise.

4. Read with your ears. In recent years audiobooks have become a powerhouse format, with many truly great narrators and thousands of captivating books that will keep you glued in your car after you’ve reached your destination. Don’t be snagged by the fading prejudice that listening is cheating and not real reading. Remember that all stories and learning used to be oral and that reading, especially silent reading to one’s self, is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Ironically, digital files on your smartphone have unleashed the power of oral storytelling to millions of learners. I find that audiobooks are particularly well suited to narratives like biographies and histories, which can be some of the best business books of all. Check out AudioFile Magazine for the latest releases, along with informed reviews. Visit Audible and iTunes to browse thousands of audiobooks you can download.

5. See your way into books. Today the power of video magnifies the benefits of reading. I loved Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Jump start your reading by watching her TED video, which 3.5 million introverts have already quietly done.

See or hear the brilliant Steven Pinker explain his masterpiece, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, as he presents his Long Now Foundation SALT talk in San Francisco. Before reading Sherry Turkle’s rewarding book Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other, watch her uplifting interview with Stephen Colbert. Thinking about reading Warren Buffett’s newest? Start with six minutes of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

6. Build your Library of Candidates.

More than a list of what you might like to read, a Library of Candidates is a repository for the books themselves. Having the actual print book ensures that you’ll choose new books from an enriched assortment you’ve already vetted, and increases the likelihood you’ll love your next book. I devote physical bookcases to my Library of Candidates, and do the same with a virtual library of e-book downloads.

7. Build on your success. As in business, so with reading: success breeds success. Once you’re reading a book that you can’t put down, you’ll want to repeat that exhilaration. Don’t worry about not having read all the classics (no one has) or this or that “indispensable” book. Try, instead, to always be reading a book you love. Do that and you’ll be living your own well-read life, which is the only one worth living.

Are you ready to get more books in your life and more life from your books? Try at least one of these techniques in the next two weeks and see how you do. Then, share the results with us below.

 

Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

by John Mackey & Raj Sisodia

The shift in management paradigm is as transformational as the shift from the medieval view that the sun revolves around the earth to the view that earth and the other planets revolve around the sun. It is a fundamental transition in world-view. Once you make this shift, everything is different.  

~ From a book review by Steve Denning, Forbes.com

Do you notice anything different about your business over the past decade? How about anything different about business in general? Or about the way you approach business? Given your role as a Real Leader, you may already be aware of the fundamental shift Denning refers to in his review of Conscious Capitalism. This shift reflects rapidly expanding expectations for the role of business in society, and the increasing desire among entrepreneurs and business leaders to make a difference through business.

How do we make sense of this sea change? Where do we find a body of best practices case studies for leading businesses in this new imperative? And where do we connect with peers and role models who share this vision?

Conscious Capitalism is an idea, a movement, an approach to conducting business, and an organization dedicated to advancing all of these. Conscious Capitalism builds on the foundations of capitalism – voluntary exchange, entrepreneurship, competition, freedom to trade and the rule of law.

These are essential to a healthy functioning economy, as are other elements of Conscious Capitalism including trust, compassion, collaboration and value creation. Conscious Capitalism comes to life as it is applied to business. Its four core principles support leaders to create value for all.

These principles are higher purpose, stakeholder orientation, conscious leadership, and conscious culture. While capitalism has proven to be the most successful form of human social cooperation and value creation ever known, there is room for improvement.

Collectively, we recognize some of the unintended consequences of our activity in and through business and our economy (e.g. ecosystem pollution, suppression of the human spirit and ineffective activation of human potential, financial instability, etc.), and realize that there are better, more effective, more productive ways to orient and conduct ourselves in business, to the benefit of all, including financial stakeholders in our businesses.

Conscious Capitalism reflects our inherent drive to improve our individual and collective condition and to elevate humanity.

https://notablemagazine.com/watch-minecraft-earths-mobs-in-the-park/

Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

by John Mackey & Raj Sisodia

The shift in management paradigm is as transformational as the shift from the medieval view that the sun revolves around the earth to the view that earth and the other planets revolve around the sun. It is a fundamental transition in world-view. Once you make this shift, everything is different.  

~ From a book review by Steve Denning, Forbes.com

Do you notice anything different about your business over the past decade? How about anything different about business in general? Or about the way you approach business? Given your role as a Real Leader, you may already be aware of the fundamental shift Denning refers to in his review of Conscious Capitalism. This shift reflects rapidly expanding expectations for the role of business in society, and the increasing desire among entrepreneurs and business leaders to make a difference through business.

How do we make sense of this sea change? Where do we find a body of best practices case studies for leading businesses in this new imperative? And where do we connect with peers and role models who share this vision?

Conscious Capitalism is an idea, a movement, an approach to conducting business, and an organization dedicated to advancing all of these. Conscious Capitalism builds on the foundations of capitalism – voluntary exchange, entrepreneurship, competition, freedom to trade and the rule of law.

These are essential to a healthy functioning economy, as are other elements of Conscious Capitalism including trust, compassion, collaboration and value creation. Conscious Capitalism comes to life as it is applied to business. Its four core principles support leaders to create value for all.

These principles are higher purpose, stakeholder orientation, conscious leadership, and conscious culture. While capitalism has proven to be the most successful form of human social cooperation and value creation ever known, there is room for improvement.

Collectively, we recognize some of the unintended consequences of our activity in and through business and our economy (e.g. ecosystem pollution, suppression of the human spirit and ineffective activation of human potential, financial instability, etc.), and realize that there are better, more effective, more productive ways to orient and conduct ourselves in business, to the benefit of all, including financial stakeholders in our businesses.

Conscious Capitalism reflects our inherent drive to improve our individual and collective condition and to elevate humanity.

https://notablemagazine.com/watch-minecraft-earths-mobs-in-the-park/

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