最近, a speaker at the Aspen Institute 问 his audience of successful business executives a provocative question.
“As we continue to do good,” he said, “can we do less harm?”
It was a line that stuck with me, because it reminded me of a dinner I once had with a successful private equity executive.
During our meeting I 问 “What do you feel good about in your
生活?” He said he was known for the large gifts he makes to universities
but what he feels really good about is his athletic scholarship
程序.
“How many people do you support each year through that 程序?” I
问. “从六点到八点，”他回答. 然后我问:“有多少?
employees do your companies employ?” Around a hundred thousand, was his
回复. I paused for a moment, looked him straight in the eye, and said,
“What you’re telling me is that you feel good about helping six or eight
people outside your company, but the hundred thousand people who work
for you every day, whose livelihoods and happiness depend on the way
they’re treated, they’re simply a means to achieve your wealth?”
At the end of our lengthy conversation he said “Now I get it! I
thought I worked so I could do good, make enough money so I could give
to my church and the causes I care about. 但 如何 I make money is a whole different thing. 你做得很好 而 你做得很好!”
The greatest gift, the greatest charity, the greatest way you will
ever give back to society is being a truly human leader. 这意味着
treating the people under your care with profound respect and dignity
and not as objects for your success and wealth.
A growing number of business leaders are focused on corporate
如今的仁爱. Current times don’t allow for companies to
simply be in business for the sake of making a profit anymore, it must
be a virtuous cycle where all stakeholders benefit: your people, your
股东, your customers and your community
According to a recent Global Corporate Social Responsibility Study,
Cone Communications/Echo Research found that corporate social
责任 —or being active do-gooders in solving the world’s most
pressing social and environmental issues- –is no longer a “nice-to-do”
but rather a “reputational imperative.只有6%的受访者这么认为
believe the singular purpose of business is to make money for
股东. More than eight out of ten consider corporate social
责任 when deciding where to work (81%), what to buy or where
to shop (87%) and which products and services to recommend to others
(85%).
但, like my friend who was proud of his athletic scholarship
程序, might business leaders be more focused on doing good outside of
the workplace 而 overlooking their most important social
责任?
Shouldn’t corporate 责任 begin with the lives who are entrusted to your care every day?
Businesses destroy lives all the time through poor leadership and
work environments where the employees feel overlooked or disregarded.
Those same businesses then turn around and “do good” by supporting
social causes, thanks to the profits realized by those broken souls.
As leaders—as truly human leaders—the greatest act of charity is to
first and foremost care for our people. Corporate social 责任
开始 内部 推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜组织的围墙. 它是这样开始的
ensuring that our team members are offered meaningful work, secure
futures, and environments in which they feel safe and cared for.
At Barry-Wehmiller, we discovered an interesting byproduct of doing so.
Researchers from Georgetown and Washington University in St. 路易
analyzed segments of our workforce to see what effect our culture of
care and compassion had on our team members. 他们的研究表明
in the 70+ percent of our associates who reported feeling like their
lives had been touched by our culture, there was an interesting
corollary: a heightened sense of altruism, or philanthropy. 在其他
words, because they felt cared for and valued in their workspaces, they
were more likely to take the initiative to help others.
Giving the people you lead the kind of work and work environment
they deserve is the greatest act of corporate social 责任.
Like we’ve seen at Barry-Wehmiller, it’s the kind of giving that keeps
给.