Business Leadership and the Community

by Mark Evenden @ Developing People Limited

Over the years I have read many articles that have been written encouraging business leaders to pay more attention to ‘the 3P’s’ in their organisations.

In other words putting

PEOPLE before
PRODUCT (or service) before
PROFIT (or performance).

However, I think that Archbishop Desmond Tutu has now added another dimension to this expression when he addressed a round table discussion at Saïd Business School’s annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship earlier this month. He told the audience that all business leaders’ actions have moral implications, ‘right and wrong matter, we are thinking beings, we are physical beings and ultimately we are moral beings’. His message was that business leaders should not pretend their activities take place in some kind of vacuum, that business leaders’ actions affect society and therefore they should think about the bigger picture. The Archbishops’ message was clear, ‘whatever contributes to the wellbeing of society in a positive way must have important repercussions for business. If you have a community that is prosperous healthy and happy, shouldn’t that automatically mean that it will be good for business?’

Certainly the opposite is true. I have worked in a several communities that have seen their heart ripped from them with the closure of a major employer. In the 1980’s I worked for the NCB and saw many communities suffer at the loss of their pit that employed, grandfathers, fathers and sons, and provided business for other local industries too.

Ultimately, businesses can’t just be about profit for profit’s sake as this is not going to make a sustainable world. They must also understand their interaction with the local community, and be more socially responsible if they want to be sustainable.

And if business leaders need convincing, one of the clearest benefits of an organisation’s charitable and community work is staff engagement. When I worked at Ladybird Books we ran a number of initiatives that ranged from raising funds and supporting local charities, giving books to schools and providing managers to mentor students on the Young Enterprise Scheme. Staff surveys showed that the support the business gave to the community was a big contributing factor towards how employees felt about Ladybird. This had a wider impact locally as Ladybird was seen as a trusted, fair and admired employer but others.

Ultimately, I therefore agree with Archbishop Desmond Tutus’ sentiments that if as a business leader you encourage predatory behaviour you might succeed in the short term but in the longer term, you are likely to increase resentment against you and those who are associated with you, which is not sustainable.

So perhaps the expression I opened with should be modified to include

PEOPLE and COMMUNITIES before
PRODUCT (or service) before
PROFIT (or performance)