Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Responsible Leadership 2010 Is Launched - Your Invitation to Be Involved
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The 1st Responsible Leadership Newsletter has been released - view it here:
http://eepurl.com/Vq4oThursday, August 12, 2010
An interview with Leanne Faulkner - Founder of Billie Goat Soap about Responsible Leadership in a growing business
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with Leanne Faulkner – Founder and Director of Billie Goat Soap.
As a parent, Leanne has had great success as a start-up.
Her son suffered significant skin irritation problems. After trying all the products Leanne could find, she tried with creating her own soap using natural products including fresh goats milk.
The results were fantastic and the rest is history - Leanne left her job in corporate HR and Billie Goat Soap has been growing ever since. Check out the video below...
However, the reason we had a chat was not to discuss her success as a startup (and now limited unlisted company).
What was my main interest was Leanne’s approach to responsible leadership and Leanne went on to explain the 7 areas where she believes responsible leadership has been an instrumental element of her business development.
The discussion that ensued was very interesting with implications for businesses of all sizes and I will summarise it here...
Area 1 – Consumers
Leanne believes at the commencement of any business the initial and enduring responsibility must be to customers – who build a belief in your product.
Your business needs to maintain the responsibility of providing what customers expect from your product or service – each and every time. Delivery of consistent high quality is of utmost importance.
In accordance with this belief, Leanne has developed products that only use the best quality Australian goats milk available for production.
Another area has been to make sure that their supply chains and distribution are in place to make sure they can provide delivery to customers nationwide so they can maintain the use of their products once they have tested and become accustomed to their products and their benefits.
Now these are in place – they are considering line extensions and adding depth to their range.
Area 2 - Retailers
In association with the responsibility to customers explained above, it is highly important to maintain responsibility to their distribution channels – their direct client – the retailers.
They must be kept up to date on marketing activities and as the brand gains strength work directly with their retailers to help them build their business – through education and training of their staff.
To this end, they have developed their Billie Goat Baahh series of monthly webinars that are archived online in their retailers section of their website to provide product knowledge and retail sales skills.
Digital communications are seen as very important – given the flexibility they offer for people to access them at their own time and as new staff come on board with the retailers.
This is also complemented with face to face training with casual staff who keep their retailers in the loop with developments and education to help them sell the Billie Goat range.
Area #3 – The Environment
Leanne and the Billie Goat Soap staff see themselves as part of a much bigger puzzle that incorporates our environment and life within our planet.
Packaging is of course presentable – though also recyclable.
The beauty industry predominantly uses palm oil as a major component of soaps. This is mainly because it is one of the cheapest components.
From the massive growth in development of palm oil plantations there is considerable consumer backlash as these plantations are irradicating and replacing rainforests and the environment of creatures like the orangutans – regarded as one of humans closely related species.
Billie Goat Soap use as little palm oil as they can. Though some is needed to make the soap hard.
Sustainable palm oil plantations are an alternative – though much more expensive and if Billie Goat Soap only used palm oil from sustainable plantations for their best selling ranges – they would be priced out of the market – which would be highly irresponsible from a business perspective (see below).
So, instead they let their end customers make the choice and have introduced a new range that uses sustainable palm oil. It comes at a premium price – though then it will be up to customers to decide which they prefer and production will develop accordingly.
Leanne and her staff also support a variety of charities and not for profit community projects – including the Australian Orangutan project.
Also when visitors come to inspect their production and facilities – they are encouraged to support the charities of their choice and make donations and this has worked very well.
The result is staff are much more engaged with Billie Goat Soap as an employer (see below) as they see the positive impact they are making on the environment.
Area #4 - Employees
Coming from an HR background – support of her employees is obviously very close to Leanne’s heart.
Leanne cares about what people do in their workplace and understands that people with families need flexibility at work.
All staff receive the usual annual leave entitlements.
Additionally they get 2 extra days a year fully paid to use as family days (any time within gazetted school holiday periods). Even if they don’t have direct family they can use them to meet with extended family, nieces and nephews, etc.
Also, if their birthday occurs on a work day – they get the day off work as a birthday present.
They also get more than the standard amount of compassionate leave
And every month they have a Bleet and Eat get together of all staff where the full business is overviewed from the previous month including marketing, investment, sales and expenses – a fully transparent business that also asks for contributions from everyone to encourage engagement and creative / innovative ideas.
Staff parties and morning teas are also a common occurrence.
Everyone also comes to work knowing that Billie Goat Soap is a compassionate business that cares about the environment and community and this correspondingly improves staff morale and engagement in their responsible practices.
Area #5 - Suppliers
Leanne believes it is important suppliers are kept in the loop with activities. So they are informed of things like future orders to help with maintenance of supply relative to expected demand.
It is also important to them that they use local suppliers as much as possible, such as their olive oil from Cowra (olive oil makes up 50% of their bars), local goats milk and honey from Ipswich.
Area #6 - Shareholders
It is of course important to be responsible about providing a return on investment to shareholders. Though it is also very important to keep shareholders informed about the business – to ensure accountability.
There will of course be ups and downs with business – though monthly updates – particularly using environmentally friendly digital newsletters is invaluable here.
Area #7 - Self and Family
Leanne admits this is the area where she probably falls down most as she continues to have a very hands on approach in these early stages of their business.
Most importantly as a responsibility to herself and her families sanity, Leanne understands that it is important to understand business and roll with the punches and elations that come along.
We need a healthy attitude to business – taking the good with the bad – and every tough time is followed by a period of celebration
So always be responsible to family and your self included.
I left Leanne with agreement of her thoughts on where responsibility lies in a small business like hers. There are always going to be good and bad times – live with them with the knowledge better times will follow the bad.
It is also a common theme that education and communication are highly important across the whole process of business – from staff to direct clients to the end consumer of your products.
Digital communications are also a very effective form of engagement – from clients to shareholders – when complemented with direct communications the engagement that results develops a confidence that is admired across many service and product brands.
Leanne also sees the benefits of communicating and selling directly to end consumers and the benefits of latest digital communications technologies and social networks in achieving that will be an integral part of their communications into the future.
This is a view shared by Bob Bloom – one of the worlds leaders in PR and author of the new book ‘The New Experts’ that talks about the power of consumers in the modern age of digital communications…
View the interview I did with him here
If you would like a personal introduction to Leanne and the Billie Goat Soap team – Contact Us.
This interview was conducted by Grant Crossley – Director and Founder of Total Executive.
View a story done on Billy Goat Soap on A Current Affair here:
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Source: http://www.totalexec.com.au
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Leadership means Responsibility - Stanford University
ICT for a Low-Carbon World: Activism, Innovation, Cooperation
Companies operating in the information, communications, and technology sector have a unique opportunity to trigger significant environmental benefits, not only by upgrading their operations but also by developing greener products and services for their clients. If the sector seizes this opportunity, it can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by an amount equivalent to five times the carbon footprint of the ICT sector itself, with significant economic upside. So far, however, the ICT sector has largely failed to achieve meaningful consensus on how best to address its myriad challenges. Continuing with this fragmented approach could harm the sector’s prospects for a compelling and beneficial contribution to the environmental agenda, and could even limit growth. Worse, it could leave ICT companies in the position of reacting individually, and defensively, to patchwork regulatory measures imposed by governments.
To rise to the occasion, ICT companies will need to overcome several challenges, most notably the lack of a metric that can quantify their overall environmental efforts on behalf of clients. To date, there are many ways to measure the results of internal initiatives, but none that evaluates the net effect of ICT products and solutions leveraged specifically to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions for their customers. ICT companies will also need to take internal measures—such as designating champions for sustainability, setting aside budgetary resources, and devoting more R&D assets to green innovation—and reach outside their organizations by collaborating more with academic institutions and regulators.
Download the paper here
Source:
Directors Report - The History and Future of Change - Social Innovation ((Tags:Responsible Leadership,Responsibility,Leadership,Change,Social Innovation,Innovation,Creativity,Creative Leadership,Ethical Leadership,Future,Knowledge,Digital Communicati
Source http://www.totalexec.com.au
I begin our first Directors report with two broad sweeping statements:
- The History of Change is Social Innovation
- The Future of Change is Social Innovation
To understand these two comments that underpin the existence of Total Executive and the knowledge portal we provide executives and their staff, we must first provide a couple definitions;
Innovation - The commercialisation of an idea/invention(1)
Social Innovation - Innovation developed through collaboration with community/society(2)
These definitions are considerably simplified from the definitions provided by Wikepedia below. However, I believe it is important to simplify the definitions right down to theire core - so their full impact on change can be understood.
Let's first take the impact of innovation on change...
If Innovation is the commercialisation of an idea or invention, then this means the idea or invention may have existed for years, even decades.
However, it is not until someone comes along and commercialises the idea or invention - ie use it to create something that produces a return of value (not necessarily a $value/profit it could be of community value), that the act of innovation has been achieved.
Thereby, the idea or invention may have existed for years, though it is only at the point of commercialisation - ie innovation - whereby 'change begins'.
Now let's consider the impact of social innovation on change...
If social innovation is innovation developed through collaboration with community/society, this implies that the act of commercialisation has involved more than one person.
Therefore, a social innovation must have a much more significant impact on change, than an innovation alone - as the number of people involved is considerably more.
It is therefore, given the definitions above, that I believe the history and future of change will continue to rely on Social Innovation.
With this in mind, Total Executive has been created.
Our knowledge bank provide resources to aid discussion and argument on the cornerposts of our portal:
- Leadership
- Sustainability (All levels - not purely 'Green')
- Responsibility and CSR
- Technology and Communications
These are underpinned with the belief that knowledge, coaching and mentoring via the fantastic minds we have within our executive community will produce social innovations that will help with the changes our planet will require into the future.
We bring you our first newsletter in April 2010.
We look forward to hearing how you are fostering and developing relationships across sectors into the future.
References:
1) Wikipedia define Innovation as:
Innovation is a new way of doing something or "new stuff that is made useful".[1] It may refer to an incremental emergent or radical and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes, or organizations. Following Schumpeter (1934), contributors to the scholarly literature on innovation typically distinguish between invention, an idea made manifest, and innovation, ideas applied successfully in practice. In many fields, such as the arts, economics and government policy, something new must be substantially different to be innovative. In economics the change must increase value, customer value, or producer value. The goal of innovation is positive change, to make someone or something better. Innovation leading to increased productivity is the fundamental source of increasing wealth in an economy.
Innovation is an important topic in the study of economics, business, entrepreneurship, design, technology, sociology, and engineering. Colloquially, the word "innovation" is often synonymous with the output of the process. However, economists tend to focus on the process itself, from the origination of an idea to its transformation into something useful, to its implementation; and on the system within which the process of innovation unfolds. Since innovation is also considered a major driver of the economy, especially when it leads to new product categories or increasing productivity, the factors that lead to innovation are also considered to be critical to policy makers. In particular, followers of innovation economics stress using public policy to spur innovation and growth.
Those who are directly responsible for application of the innovation are often called pioneers in their field, whether they are individuals or organisations.
2) Wikipedia define Social Innovation as:
Social innovation refers to new strategies, concepts, ideas and organizations that meet social needs of all kinds - from working conditions and education to community development and health - and that extend and strengthen civil society.
Over the years, the term has developed several overlapping meanings. It can be used to refer to social processes of innovation, such as open source methods and techniques. Alternatively it refers to innovations which have a social purpose - like microcredit or distance learning. The concept can also be related to social entrepreneurship (entrepreneurship isn't always or even usually innovative, but it can be a means of innovation) and it also overlaps with innovation in public policy and governance. Social innovation can take place within government, within companies, or within the nonprofit sector (also known as the third sector), but is increasingly seen to happen most effectively in the space between the three sectors. Recent research has focused on the different types of platforms needed to facilitate such cross-sector collaborative social innovation.[1]
History
Social innovation was discussed in the writings of figures such as Peter Drucker and Michael Young (founder of the Open University and dozens of other organizations) in the 1960s.[2]. It also appeared in the work of French writers in the 1970s, for example Pierre Rosanvallon, Jacques Fournier, and Jacques Attali [3]. However, the themes and concepts in social innovation have existed long before that. Benjamin Franklin, for example, talked about social innovation in terms of small modifications within the social organisation of communities [4] that could help to solve everyday problems. Many radical 19th century reformers like Robert Owen, founder of the cooperative movement, promoted innovation in the social field and all of the great sociologists including Karl Marx, Max Weber and Émile Durkheim focused much of their attention to broader processes of social change. However, more detailed theories of social innovation only became prominent in the 20th century. Joseph Schumpeter, for example, addressed the process of innovation more directly with his theories of creative destruction and his definition of entrepreneurs as people who combined existing elements in new ways. In the 1980s and after, writers on technological change increasingly addressed the importance of social factors in affecting technology diffusion[5]
Recent developments
The idea of social innovation has become much more prominent with ongoing research, blogs and websites (such as the social innovation exchange) [6], and a proliferation of organisations working on the boundaries of research and practical action. Several currents have converged in this area, including:
- new thinking about innovation in public services, pioneered particularly in some of the Scandinavian and Asian countries. Governments are increasingly recognising that innovation isn't just about hardware: it is just as much about healthcare, schooling and democracy. [7] [8]
- growing interest in social entrepreneurship.[9]
- business, which is increasingly interested in innovation in services.[10]
- new methods of innovation inspired by the open source field.[11]
- linking social innovation to theory and research in complex adaptive systems to understand its dynamics.[12]
- collaborative approaches to social innovation, particularly in the public sector.[13] [14]
A recent overview of the field highlighted the growing interest of public policy makers in supporting social innovation in these different sectors, notably in the UK, Australia, China and Denmark.[15] A focus of much recent work has been on how innovations spread [16] and on what makes some localities particularly innovative.[17]
History of Social Innovation and territorial development
There is another extensive literature on social innovation in relation to territorial (or regional) development, which covers: first, innovation in the social economy, i.e. strategies for satisfaction of human needs; and second, innovation in the sense of transforming and/or sustaining social relations, especially the governance relations at the regional and local level. A combination of both the modes provides a comprehensive approach to innovation in social and economic dynamics within territories. In Europe, from the late 1980s, research on social innovation from a territorial perspective was initiated by Jean-Louis Laville[18] and Frank Moulaert[19] and has been going on since then. In Canada CRISES initiated this type of research. The first large scale research project to work on territorial innovation analysis was SINGOCOM Social Innovation, Governance, and Community Building a European Commission Framework 5 project (2002-2004), that offered wide ranging discussions on Alternative Models for Local Innovation (ALMOLIN).
Some noted scholars
- Akhtar Hameed Khan
- Jean-Louis Laville
- Frank Moulaert
- Geoff Mulgan
- Michael D. Mumford
See also
References
- ^ Nambisan, S. "Platforms for Collaboration", Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2009.
- ^ see for example Gavron, Dench e ds Young at 80, Carcanet Press, London, 1995 for a comprehensive overview of one of the world's most successful social innovators
- ^ Chambon, J.-L, David, A. and Devevey, J.-M (1982), Les Innovations Sociales, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris
- ^ Mumford, M.D. (2002) Social Innovation: Ten Cases from Benjamin Franklin, Creativity Research Journal, 14(2), 253-266
- ^ notably in the writings of Christopher Freeman, Carlotta Perez, Ian Miles and others
- ^ www.socialinnovationexchange.org
- ^ Innovation in the Public Sector an overview of thinking about innovation in the public sector, published by the UK government's Strategy Unit in 2003
- ^ Ready or Not? published by The Young Foundation in 2007 about the need for public sector organisations to innovate
- ^ see for example Nichols; Social Entrepreneurship, Oxford University Press 2007
- ^ design companies article by Forbes magazine about how companies are innovating in the way they offer services
- ^ Innovation in open source article by harvard business school about innovation in open source
- ^ Westley,Zimmerman and Patton; Getting to Maybe;Toronto, Random House 2006
- ^ Nambisan, S. "Transforming Government through Collaborative Innovation", IBM Center for the Business of Government, April 2008
- ^ James A. Phills Jr., Kriss Deiglmeier, & Dale T. Miller "Rediscovering Social Innovation", Stanford Social Innovation Review Fall 2008.
- ^ Mulgan, Ali, Tucker; Social innovation: what it is, why it matters, how it can be accelerated, published by Said Business School, Oxford, 2007
- ^ various studies by Greg Dees and others and the study published by NESTA In and out of sync: growing social innovations, London 2007
- ^ Transfomers published by NESTA, London, 2008
- ^ Laville, J.-L. (Ed.) (1994) L’économie solidaire, une perspective internationale, Desclée de Brouwer, Paris
- ^ Moulaert, F. and Sekia, F. (2003) Territorial Innovation Models: a Critical Survey, Regional Studies, 37(3), 289-302
Our First MEFIT Training Video
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Grant Crossley interviews Megan Motto CEO – Consult Australia for Total Executive ((Tags:All industries,Consult Australia,Interview,Leadership,Management,Megan Motto,Mentoring,Mind set,Performance,Productivity,Success,Work/Life Balance,Responsible Le
“You are a successful leader if your staff/students achieve more than yourself…”
So begins the interview with Megan Motto – CEO of Consult Australia – previously known as Association of Consulting Engineers Australia
Megan is a vibrant CEO, who has developed a successful team, whilst maintaining flexibilities within her workplace.
It is also interesting to note that Megan has experience in the field of teaching/education which are now attributed to many of the qualities brought to Megan's leadership of Consult Australia.
Regarding the core methodology behind success, Megan explains, "You have to not be afraid to give kudos to staff instead of yourself... it is not about driving an ego based business."
It is also not about working harder and longer for most businesses these days which focus on services, but working smarter.
"We shouldn't be looking at when people clock in and out. Visibility management is much better replaced by encouraging outcomes through productivity and performance. It is about unveiling new things cognitively," Megan explains.
"When it comes to management, it is not for example about a manager increasing the businesses database by 10%, whilst at the same time nobody likes them and morale is low. Whilst measurable KPI's are important, managers need to have holistic performance based conversations and these are often the hardest conversations to commence."
"What we find in management are the best results come from mentoring staff, from encouraging the positive ways staff approach challenges. By discussing how improvements in behaviour and finesse are the characteristics that lead to improved performance by the individual and thereby the company they represent."
Skills can be learnt and the best method of doing this is by mentoring. Megan has a variety of mentors. A combination of both men and women - probably more men than women given where Megan works. Though Megan believes successful leadership has nothing to do with the leaders gender - she has seen both good and bad across leaders from both sexes.
The unfortunate view observed by Megan is - from experience, less than half of leaders Megan has met follow the leadership systems outlined above. Productivity in Australia is not at the high level we deserve when compared with other OECD countries. [Australia are currently #13 as per table below]
As globalisation continues across the planet, our need to maintain global competitiveness increases, so we will need to continuously work towards improving the productivity and performance of our people. This will happen to some extent through improvements in technology and communications. Though these are broadly available. The key to Australia's success is the development of the performance of our people, through rewarding leadership and management that encourages staff to perform at their best whilst developing skills.
I left Megan to head off to SBS where they had a discussion on Insight about juggling work and family responsibilities, the future of maternity/paternity leave in Australia, its impact on families, businesses and as a political issue leading up to the next election. Watching last night it was interesting to hear Megans views. As the last speaker of the night, Megan explained what happened when she returned to work after her first child was born.
Megan took maternity leave to enjoy life and quality time with her son when he was born. On return to work...
People asked, 'Where's your son?'
I said, "well he's clearly not here," looking around, "he's at home."
The second question-
'Is your Mum looking after him?'
Answer:
"No, he's at home with my husband."
The 3rd question-
'Oh, is your mother-in-law coming over to look after him?'
Isn't it funny how often people make assumptions based on their expectations of others and their line of questioning reflects those assumptions...
The general view of the level of men's capability caring for infants is clearly exposed in the questioning above.
Have you been thinking about what assumptions you have made about your staff - before having discussions and asking the right questions to find the honest reality behind their capabilities and where their skills can be enhanced to improve their performance?
Monday, August 9, 2010
Leadership and the Eye for Innovation
Here is an interesting video about innovation in leadership for executives to consider
Source:
Total Executive
Currently complimentary membership to Total Executive is available for 2010/2011 Saving $495:00.
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INSEAD Social Innovation Centre - A very interesting interview following the INSEAD Leadership Summit ((Tags:All industries,Business Performance,Communication,Community,Future,Innovation,Interview,Leadership,Performance,Responsibility,Social Innovati
This is an interesting vodcast about the importance of social innovation in leadership for executives...
Source:
Total Executive
Currently complimentary membership to Total Executive is available for 2010/2011 Saving $495:00.
Learn about Leadership Sustainability Responsibility Technology Communication Creativity Coaching Training and Education from our network of leaders and executives
Directors interview on 'Responsible Leadership' with Robert H. Bloom - retired CEO of Publicis Worldwide and author of The Inside Advantage and soon to be released The New Experts ((Tags:Book Review,Change,Community,Digital Communication,Directors Re
Yesterday I interviewed Robert 'Bob' Bloom. You may know Bob as the now retired CEO of Publicis Worldwide which was built to a $4.6billion+ business under Bob's leadership.
Currently Bob is at his Italian home and doing some traveling in Europe before his return to the publication launch of his new book ' The New Experts' in the US on September 7th.
I read Bob's book and found it an interesting read that ties in very much with the services Total Executive offer in the digital communications arena. Though let me provide the review below as what I found highly engaging in my conversation with Bob was the subject of 'Responsible Leadership' - highly relevant with Total Exec's July newsletter that will go out this week.
Enjoying life in Italy Bob has been reminded that we are all mortal and just as flawed as every one else. He believes it makes you more sensitive living in other cultures - not just traveling through - actually living in them - in some ways especially for Americans who as the worlds economic leaders can see thngs from a little - self centred perspective.
Italy is a contrast in every way to New York and as Bob looked up at the full moon in Italy last night (as I did on the southern beaches of Sydney) Bob was reminded of the special elements of being human under a cloudless sky - an experience he doesn't endure regularly in New York.
So comes our conversation to responsible leadership - a discussion that commences with remiss at the epidemic of irresponsible leadership - both in business and in government with leaders who continue to refuse to not accept responsibility.
Americans saw it clearly in the Bush era and alas the Obama era is not proving to be the 'era of change' American's (and the world) looked forward to.
Now Zimbabwe has diamonds they are generating global interest - but the inaction on human rights has been a huge turn off for the majority of people on the planet.
This turn-off and disinterest causes so many more problems and when we have additional concerns like the gulf oil spill and Afghanistan - well in some ways you can understand why people shirk responsibility.
Profitability through Responsibility- Total Executive News now available with info on improving Leadership Performance & Profit ((Tags:All Industries,Change,Communication,Digital Communication,Directors Report,Education,Executive Coaching,Executive E
The Total Executive July Newsletter has been released with a focus on:
- Responsible Leadership
- Digital Communication
- Online Education
- Sustainable Business Leadership
- Business Performance & Profit
- Executive Education & Coaching
- Technology & Communication (ICT)
The image below shows an introduction:
Download the newsletter quickly here for links to leading articles from our international database of knowledge for executives and their staff...
Total Executive July Newsletter
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Register now and...
Currently complimentary membership to Total Executive is available for 2010/2011 Saving $495:00.
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'Swap A Book - For Students' is LAUNCHED
Swap A Book - For Students
Swap A Book for Students is a community project developed by Total Executive to help support students and the education facilities that improve the knowledge of our future generations.
The concept is simple...
You have a book I haven't read and I have a book you haven't read. We both recommend these books to each other.
Instead of buying the same new book each to read ourselves... We 'Swap A Book'.
Now since we are both saving the cost of buying these books - both of us pledge to contribute an amount to the education facility of our choice:
- It could be a local infants, primary or secondary school
- Maybe you select a Tafe or University
- Maybe it is a community education facility...
Whatever your selection, we are sure that your contribution will be appreciated.
[NB: Consider asking for a receipt if you are eligible for a tax deduction for your contribution. In this way, you may be able to contribute more since the government will be giving you some money back].
The whole concept is based on a system of honesty and giving - only as much as you can afford.
At the same time we all are learning - as we read more books!
Total Executive believe that the most valuable investment we can make is supporting the education and development of our future generations. That is why we have developed 'Swap A Book' as the first community project we support.
If you represent an education facility that would like to be involved in 'Swap A Book - For Students', please provide details in the form here so we can promote your involvement
If you have a story about how you have had success using 'Swap A Book', please let us know using the form here and your story could feature in our 'Community Projects Blog' - that is syndicated across a variety of media, including many social media platforms.
If you represent a business, organisation, association or other facility and believe there are ways we can collaborate with 'Swap A Book - For Students', please contact us using the form here
Source:
Total Executive
Currently complimentary membership to Total Executive is available for 2010/2011 Saving $495:00.
Learn about Leadership Sustainability Responsibility Technology Communication Creativity Coaching Training and Education from our network of leaders and executives
Leaders Who are Turning the Tide to Health and Sustainability
Even though they were a wildly diverse group, the stories they told had common threads. Radical transparency, disruptive innovation and policy alignment were reccurring themes at the Turning the Tide conference last week near San Francisco, a forum that strives to connect human health and environmental health issues while exploring bold steps to affect societal change.
The speakers were accomplished leaders from five fields: Integrative medicine, business, sustainable communities, environmental conservation and the media, and the conference provided an expansive view of how those sectors influence one another.
Healthcare
Driving disruptive innovation in healthcare is Andrew Weil, a pioneer in integrative medicine among Western-trained physicians and founding director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. Weil has trained over 700 practicing physicians through a fellowship program, and his philosophy places emphasis on the body's self-healing capacity, mental and spiritual health and its relation to the physical, the restoration of the patient-doctor healing relationship and a broad array of therapeutic options.
Weil is developing and implementing integrative medicine programs for "family practice" medical residencies with the intent of having the programs eventually included in all residencies. Ultimately, his goal is to have integrative medicine taught as part of the medical school curriculum, changing the current emphasis from "disease-management" to a wellness and prevention model.
Weil, along with other featured physicians including Dean Ornish, founder of the Preventative Medicine Research Institute, echoed this need to revamp the health care system. The panelists explored how public policy has unwittingly helped to spur the increase of cheap and unhealthy food reliant on the fat-sugar-salt trifecta by subsidizing the corn and soybeans, used to make high fructose corn syrup and refined soy bean oils that are key culprits in the obesity and food-related health epidemics. Solutions emphasized by the panelists included the need for governmental policies that support and incentivize the growth and production of healthy food, not make it less competitive.
But there are far more than policy-related hurdles to healthy food and lifestyles. The physicians at Turning the Tide described how medical schools do not teach nutrition in a substantive way; how most hospitals do not actively promote healthy lifestyles -- 47 percent of U.S. hospitals have fast food outlets on their premises! -- insurance companies don't reimburse doctors for wellness consultations, but do for disease treatments; and even how a significant percentage of hospital revenue is derived from technology-centered procedures for cardiovascular disease, so that changing treatment patterns means reconfiguring the business model.
The brightest spot on the horizon is the fact that people who have access corporate wellness programs have lower medical costs. Because most large corporations are self-insured, they find plenty of incentives to encourage healthier lifestyles among their employees.
Food and Radical Transparency
The physicians discussed the theme of radical transparency in food labeling and the possibility of a food rating system to shape food choices. But it was another speaker, former advertising executive Alex Bogusky, who spoke of how start-up company GoodGuide is the embodiment of this concept.
GoodGuide is led by a team of Ph.D's from MIT and the University of California and other professionals who had worked at data-driven companies like Google and Amazon. The site rates packaged food items, household cleaners, personal care products and toys on a 10-point scale for their impact on personal health, the environment and society. The depth, breadth and accessibility of the data are unprecedented; it is offered free online and on mobile devices, enabling shoppers to make sustainable purchasing decisions from the supermarket aisles.
The GoodGuide example shows how radical transparency can affect not only food choices but the business sector at large through a feedback loop of informed consumers steering companies toward healthful products and strategies by their purchases. But because this data-rich model may not appeal to everyone, disruptive innovation and public policy need to evolve in tandem.
Green Buildings
The CEO of Serious Materials, Kevin Surace, reminded the audience that building operations and material manufacturing are responsible for 52 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. He also highlighted the little-discussed fact that 80 percent of all building materials come from China, where production costs are cheaper due to the lower environmental, health and human rights standards.
Surace offered the recent episode of toxic drywall from China that found its way into Florida homes as a perfect example of the sector's systemic problems and the need for policy to promote or require sustainable manufacturing in the U.S.
Surace believes the U.S. building industry is ripe for change in part because the current, government-backed Energy Star labels do not require high enough efficiency standards -- much higher levels of efficiency are possible with current technologies, Surace told the crowd. Serious Materials won the bid to replace the 6,500 existing dual-pane windows in the Empire State Building with super-insulating ones by reprocessing the glass onsite; this will result in a three-year payback, even though Surace was repeatedly told it was impossible.
Another example of Serious Materials' disruptive innovation is its 2009 purchase of a unionized manufacturing company from which the owners walked away; Surace uses the facility to produce energy-efficient windows, and his efforts at creating green jobs in a tough economy have been acknowledged by President Obama.
Greening the Commons
Speakers at Turning the Tide also represented environmental conservation of the oceans, rivers, and other shared open spaces (also called "the commons"), detailing how they physically engaged with what they intended to protect. For two of the speakers, radical transparency took the shape of documentary photographs or films of their efforts.
Bryant Austin made it his life's work to produce high-resolution, life-size photographs of whales that are currently being hunted in huge numbers, mostly by Japan and Norway. His photographs (a small example is posted at right; for many more visit StudioCosmos.com) are the most detailed of any taken to date and required him swimming just five feet from the whales.
Martin Strel brings attention to ecological crises by swimming the world's dirtiest rivers in their entirety. His last feat was swimming the full length of the Amazon River to bring awareness to deforestation and pollution; the documentary entitled "Big River Man" records his journey. He has also swum the Yangze, Mississippi and Danube Rivers.
Alice Waters, co-founder of Chez Panisse and vice president of Slow Food International, has created sustainable communities around healthy food. A tireless advocate of locally-grown organic produce, neighborhood gardens and healthful eating habits, she believes that children should receive "edible education" from K to 12, as the Berkeley school system has adopted.
Waters hopes public policy will support "edible education" programs nationwide to help address the high rate of lifestyle-induced disease among children. The Yale Sustainability Food Project started out as a way to provide organic, locally grown produce to her daughter's dining facility at Yale University. The endeavor quickly grew and it now manages an organic farm which provides food to dining programs across the Yale campus and supports other research and educational efforts.
Human health and environmental health are inextricably intertwined and so the solutions to the critical issues need to be connected as well. Promoting radical transparency, disruptive innovation and public policy alignment across sectors are steps in that direction.
Kathy O. Brozek is a management consultant and writer working with organizations that have a social mission, including firms focused on socially responsible investing. Previously, she held both finance and marketing positions in the financial services industry.
Photo CC-licensed by Flickr user (matt).
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Fundraising by the Generations - New Study
We find this research very interesting...
Charities, NFP's and many more can learn from this research...
A landmark research study into the charitable giving behaviours and attitudes of Gen Y, Gen X, Boomer and Mature donors from Convio, Edge Research and Sea Change Strategies calls for a shift in marketing models to embrace online marketing.
Convio says the results of a first-of-its-kind national research study into the charitable giving behaviours and attitudes across generations will change the way Not for Profits approach the art and science of fundraising.
Convio says the biggest finding is that while direct mail will remain viable, it will not be the dominant channel for soliciting and collecting gifts that it is today. While 77 percent of Matures rely on direct mail as their primary giving channel, only 54 percent of Boomers, 43 percent of Gen X and 26 percent of Gen Y report giving through the channel.
Vinay Bhagat, chief strategy officer for Convio says the majority of Not for Profit marketing spend and tactics today are focused on mature donors, as they remain the mainstay of today’s charitable giving.
He says this research and the decline in donor acquisition rates indicate that the marketing model needs to shift to attract the next generation of donors while supporting continued direct mail success.
The research says Charities need to move away from a solely direct response focus to a multi-channel approach with a heavier emphasis on online marketing, emerging channels such as mobile and social media, and empowering supporters to market and fundraise with and for the organisation. Online marketing programs that have mostly operated as a silo must be integrated with traditional campaigns.
The study surveyed 1,526 donors to NFP organisations in the past 12 months to learn how different generations learn about, engage with and donate to charitable organisations. With Boomers and Gen X consisting of 60 percent of the donor population and taking a more prominent role in supporting charity, the study suggests that peers will play a bigger role in influencing donations, and that technology is driving greater expectations of engagement through multiple channels, including online, face-to-face and mobile.
Boomers and Gen X report a variety of channels such as e-commerce, online giving, event fundraising, tributes, monthly debit programs and even mobile/text donations as viable channels. Gen X and Gen Y are also more likely to participate in third-party/vendor programs where a portion of the proceeds from their consumer purchase goes to charity (programs like the Gap Red Campaign) at 25 percent and 27 percent respectively, compared to 17 percent for Boomers and 12 percent for Matures.
Mark Rovner, principal of Sea Change Strategies says the research indicates that future fundraising will move from a direct mail-focused environment to one that is multi-focal and requires strong collaboration across departments and channels.
He says the next generation is telling us that moments of awareness, persuasion and action may each be happening via different communications channels. In an industry where direct mail has been the workhorse of NFP fundraising, they are facing a future where no one channel is likely to dominate.
Donating goods or items is the number one form of support across generations (Gen Y - 55 percent, Gen X - 67 percent, Boomers - 66 percent, and Matures - 68 percent). Fifty-two (52) percent of all respondents reported making a donation when checking out at a retail store such as a grocery store. While small spontaneous gifts were cross-generational, Matures report that they have well-established commitments to charities, actively budget for their giving, and are reluctant to add new charities to those they support.
For the next generation donors, Boomers and Gen X giving is more spontaneous and based on who asks them to donate. They are more likely to support a charity when friends or family ask versus an appeal directly from the charity.
Pam Loeb, principal for Edge Research who conducted the study says that with changes in technology, the economy, and demographic make-up of donors, organisations are trying to cut through the clutter and make the right investments for their future success.
Download the paper here
Original Source
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Demystifying Green IT: Seeding Advantage
As public and private organisations around the world seek to limit their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental impacts, information technology (IT) stands to make a significant contribution. Addressing the direct environmental by-products of IT use is one way that green IT solutions can help organizations reduce these emissions and address sustainability concerns. But an even bigger opportunity lies in helping other industries in their response to climate change. IT solutions can eliminate or otherwise redirect business activities that generate emissions.
The need for increased efficiency and automation is spurring demand for IT equipment and services. As IT procurement officials and other IT practitioners seek to fill this demand, employing green IT strategies will help move their organizations that much farther down the path to realizing their objectives for environmental responsibility and sustainability.
Download the full paper here
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Batting off Half Cocked
Today The Hon Julia Gillard announced that Australia are now 'Moving Forward' - heading toward another federal election.
Does that come with a handshake and a punch as per this old image of her?
We would have no problem with this if we had policy to elect on.
However both major parties do not have a confirmed policy on:
- Climate Change
- Education
- Health
- Taxes for the mining sector
- and much more
So the public have 5 weeks to absorb all the new policy and make a decision on which party takes office.
Also, any of the new people to the electoral roll have very limited time to enrol.
So at the end of the day the decision looks like being on personality rather than policy detail.
But isn't that always the case? Isn't that what leadership is about - "Folow me at your profit or peril!"
Another leader who seems to have batted off half cocked today is Jobs from Apple - within one paragraph admitting that things are not right - agreeing with the customer; then saying he believed that everything was blown out of proportion - arguing with the customer...
Then offering everyone a rubber band solution...
These PR responses to policy announcement are quickly being acknowledged as 'Pathetic'
Previously people would use comments like 'Moving Foward' 25 times to ensure the media heard it
Now, everyone interested are watching and responding on Twitter - from wherever their mobile is with them.
The future will resolve who purveys the best result on both of these platforms -politics & technology
Though one thing is for sure - the tweeters are going to have a ball...
And for those not listening to the tweets - this is the basis of any PR breakdown still relying only on traditional systems...
A fun time ahead...
Refer to this article:
Australian Brand Sites Losing to The Social Web
For additional reading I refer you to an article written when the Hon. Kevin Rudd was ousted:
Leadership Turmoil in The Magical Land of Oz
So, are they 'Batting off Half Cocked' or 'Leading with Authority?'
We look forward to comment...
Social Innovation - How Stanford are seeing a growth of interest by students in how to 'Do Good' whilst 'Doing Well' ((Tags:All industries,Business Performance,Change,Education,HR,Interview,Knowledge,Leadership,Responsibility,Responsible Leadership,S
Here is an eye opener for executives on management and engagement of staff - particularly younger generations
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Total Executive Marketing & Sales Newsletter #1 released ((Tags:Leadership,Newsletter,Executive,Executive Coaching,Executive Leadership Coaching,Responsible Leadership,Knowledge,Success,Performance,Profitability,Profit,Productivity,Sales,Marketing,Ch
The Total Executive Marketing & Sales Newsletter #1 has been released.
Click on it here: http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=f41e43969ffbb091706cb54aa&id=549e2ad76b It has Interviews, Tips and Knowledge about:- Marketing
- Sales
- Leadership
- Coaching
- Strategy
- and more...
Total Executive June News - How to Achieve Digital Profitability- Complimentary with your 2010/2011 TE Membership ((Tags:Leadership,Executive,Responsibility,Responsible Leadership,Knowledge,Sustainability,Technology,Charity,Communication,Digital Comm
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Patrick Awuah: Educating a new generation of African leaders
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The Transformation of Africa requires Enlightened Leaders. Enlightened Leaders require a unique style of education.
This is a informative vodcast with ideas and solutions
Digital Issue of Fast Thinking Magazine - Sustainable Cities and Companies issue
'Swap A Book - For Students' is LAUNCHED
Total Executive
Swap A Book - For StudentsSwap A Book for Students is a community project developed by Total Executive to help support students and the education facilities that improve the knowledge of our future generations.
The concept is simple...
You have a book I haven't read and I have a book you haven't read. We both recommend these books to each other.
Instead of buying the same new book each to read ourselves... We 'Swap A Book'.
Now since we are both saving the cost of buying these books - both of us pledge to contribute an amount to the education facility of our choice:
- It could be a local infants, primary or secondary school
- Maybe you select a Tafe or University
- Maybe it is a community education facility...
Whatever your selection, we are sure that your contribution will be appreciated.
[NB: Consider asking for a receipt if you are eligible for a tax deduction for your contribution. In this way, you may be able to contribute more since the government will be giving you some money back].
The whole concept is based on a system of honesty and giving - only as much as you can afford.
At the same time we all are learning - as we read more books!
Total Executive believe that the most valuable investment we can make is supporting the education and development of our future generations. That is why we have developed 'Swap A Book' as the first community project we support.
If you represent an education facility that would like to be involved in 'Swap A Book - For Students', please provide details in the form here so we can promote your involvement
If you have a story about how you have had success using 'Swap A Book', please let us know using the form here and your story could feature in our 'Community Projects Blog' - that is syndicated across a variety of media, including many social media platforms.
If you represent a business, organisation, association or other facility and believe there are ways we can collaborate with 'Swap A Book - For Students', please contact us using the form here
TotalEXEC Views is Launched
'Total Executive Views' is the section of our TotalEXEC portal where we display articles, news, reviews and interviews that have received interest by executives and their staff.
Subjects covered revolve around the cornerposts of our portal:
- Leadership
- Sustainability (All levels - not purely 'Green')
- Responsibility and CSR
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Most articles have first been trialled for review in social media locations.
A lot of these articles have featured in our newsletters and digital publications.
Some of them are sourced from other publishers - relevant accreditation is provided.
To search for related articles, it is easiest to click on the tags below each article.
We look forward to your contributions to these articles.
All the best
The TotalEXEC team
Humanities more than just a word
Simon Haines | April 29, 2009
Article from: The Australian
JOHN Armstrong ("Transform into friends of society", HES, November26, 2008) says the humanities in Australia need to "transform themselves into friends of society" and to be "in the service of life", not just ofacademics.
A return to "core concerns" with notions such as civilisation would dissolve that false dichotomy of value, between the intrinsic or noble and the instrumental or practical, that bedevils university and government resourcing of the sector.
If such "important things buried within the disciplines" could re-emerge, our "economic anxieties would recede".
Like Armstrong, I went along hopefully to the speech by federal Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Minister Kim Carr on why the humanities matter for innovation and was not disappointed by his reference to the"intrinsic value" of works such as PeterTemple's Broken Shore and John Bell's latest Hamlet.
True, an intrinsic property is inward or essential, while value is conferred from outside, so the phrase is uneasy. Actually the dichotomy of value that concerns Armstrong is already buried in the 14th-century origins of the word, lying in conceptions of esteem on the one hand and of measurable worth on the other. But I took the minister to mean that such works of art are ends in themselves, rather like Kantian persons.
Reading them is therefore, in Armstrong's terms, a civilising activity. No problem there.
My main worry about the speech was from an advocacy point of view: its use of the word humanities. Carr is not alone in running the term together with creative arts and social sciences. I suspect many vice-chancellors, let alone premiers and other funding agents, have trouble distinguishing them.
But this is half our trouble and it goes to the heart of the dichotomy.
Our two sets of humanities and social sciences colleagues can tap into much more intuitive public senses of value than we can: one utilitarian, quasi-scientific, instrumental, Australian Research Council-friendly; the other deriving from still-powerful romantic notions of genius, of an unmeasurable, spontaneous, quasi-religious wellspring of creative vitality.
But what about the humanities, somewhere in the middle, in some no-man's-land between the creative and the scientific?
It turns out that even the Australian Academy of the Humanities hasn't so far produced a working definition of the humanities, although it is working on one now.
And it's in good company: the mighty National Endowment for the Humanities in the US doesn't have one either. (The ARC? Don't talk to me about the ARC.) Instead, conscious of variety and evolution, they have discipline lists. These usually include history, philosophy and (studies of) literature as the perennial central three (some remaining trace of the medieval trivium here), together with classics, linguistics, religion, archeology, and the history and theory of music and art. So maybe the humanities is just whatever all those people and their assorted humanistic fellow-travellers collectively do?
To return to Armstrong: Are there any core concerns here? We badly need to be able to articulate some. If we, of all people, can't say or show what they are, how can we expect any kind of public or private recognition?
The Germans have a word for it, of course, as Armstrong doesn't need me to tell him.
Even though the Geisteswissenschaften overlap significantly with our social sciences, we could usefully profess ourselves as scholarly custodians and promulgators of the knowledge or knowing activity of geist, the human spirit, human being in general.
For some more materialist types that's all a bit Hegelian, but presumably better than friends of civilisation, which would put them in mind of the worst excesses of Kenneth Clark, or Alec Hope's "chatter of learned fools". Yet the first humanists, in the Renaissance, thought of themselves as scholars of classical civilisation, as opposed to theology and divinity. Hegel's trick was to merge the two: knowledge of civilisation is knowledge of spirit.
Still too, well, German? What about turning to language itself (and an Italian)?
In an unpublished paper, Defining the Humanities, Anna Wierzbicka reminds us of Giambattista Vico's "fundamental distinction between studying things and studying people", his "New Science" being a precursor of Geisteswissenschaften and the humanities.
Crucially, it includes the study of ourselves as people, not as things. This is knowledge "from within", as Isaiah Berlin put it, knowledge of ourselves as made by ourselves.
Vico, a post-Renaissance humanist as much as a pre-romantic historicist, saw this kind of knowledge as an essential counterbalance to Cartesian and other scientific models of knowledge. He thought this self-making knowledge was gained specifically in language, and that language was itself fundamentally poetic and metaphorical - and hence also evaluative, estimative - before it was conceptual or logical. (Though the old struggle between metaphor and concept goes back to Plato and is itself deeply constitutive of human being in language.)
So can we venture a definition of the core humanities as qualitative rather than quantitative ("What sort of thing is this?", not "How do I measure this?"), evaluative rather than empirical ("Was this a good life/society", not "What happened in this life/society?"), seeking understanding rather thaninformation ("How was it to be this person?", not "who was this person?"), linguistic rather than symbolic, imaginative rather than scientific - but still methodical, scholarly and interpretative, still philosophical and historical, rather than artistic, creative or performative?
Yes, I know, a performance of Hamlet is also an interpretation; but I'm getting at the way Armstrong read an extract from Tolstoy in his second piece, or Carr used Temple and Shakespeare at the Press Club, or Iain McCalman used Joyce's Ulysses in an earlier landmark speech at the same venue. They were all working in the humanities as they did that, not the creative arts or social sciences: seeking a reflective and evaluative, a philosophical and historical, understanding of human being as constituted in language.
And why shouldn't we take this show on the road, as Armstrong suggests? Why leave it all to Carr? The audiences may well be receptive, not philistine. Clare Morgan and Ted Buswick, of the Boston Consulting Group in Britain and the US, have devised Poetry in the Boardroom, an exercise in which a poem is chosen by senior executives together with a literature professor as the focus for a boardroom discussion about complex decision-making, risk, leadership and power.
Evaluating a complex poem turns out to be a superb model for complex judgment.
The Lowy Institute for International Policy has encouraged speakers with humanities backgrounds to address its largely business and public service lunchtime audiences on issues such as the link between good manners and politics or between Milton's Satan and the received model of a terrorist.
The school of humanities at the Australian National University, with the Centre for Human Values at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, recently held a symposium on Measuring Thought in the Humanities (one outcome was Wierzbicka's paper).
Two of the best contributions came from IBM executives, who saw humanities people, able to combine analysis with imagination, as integral to the company's flexibility. Which raises another point about outreach: never underestimate our undergraduates. If you teach 100 a semester, you can reach 5000 minds in an average career, far more directly (as Socrates saw) than in your writing. Some of those are going to be in influential positions in society, but all of them could have richer lives as a result of what you are teaching.
Spread the word, I think Armstrong is saying; remember why this career chose you.
But remember, too, that if you mainly want to make society suspicious of itself, of its values, if you see that as your proper stance, then ultimately you must live with its reciprocating suspicion of you.
If on the other hand you mainly want to help it understand itself and its virtues and vices confidently, as a self-making community of value, as, indeed, a civilisation, then it still may not pay you much but at least it will recognise that you have some value, too.
Simon Haines is professor of English and deputy director of the Research Centre for Human Values at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Formerly he was head of the school of humanities at the Australian National University.
Source: The Australian