Businesses should exist for reasons beyond just making a profit. “We need red blood cells to live (the same way a business needs profits to live), but the purpose of life is more than to make red blood cells (the same way the purpose of business is more than simply to generate profits).” – R. Edward Freedman, University of Virginia Darden School of Business professor.
Knowing WHY your business exists, provides you with a compass to find and stay focused on achieving your True North (Higher Purpose). Profit is a means to the end of purpose for conscious businesses.
“When you tug at a single thing in nature, you find it attached to the rest of the world.” – John Muir, Pioneering naturalist.
Such is the case with business, which operates from an ecosystem of your employees, customers, suppliers, investors, society, and environment…sometimes this even includes your competition.
Conscious businesses value and care for EVERYONE in their ecosystem, motivating their stakeholders by creating “win-win-win” outcomes for all who are impacted by their business.
Conscious businesses cannot exist without Conscious Leaders. Conscious Leaders focus on “we,” rather than “me.”
They inspire positive transformation and bring out the best in those around them.
They keep the business focused on its Higher Purpose, and support the people within the organization to create value for all of the organization’s stakeholders.
They recognize the integral role of culture and purposefully cultivate a Conscious Culture of trust and care.
Culture is the embodied values, principles and practices underlying the social fabric of a business, signaling “how” business is done.
The culture of your business is its heartbeat. Without a healthy one, the business will ultimately fail.
A Conscious Culture fosters love and care and builds trust between a company’s team members and its other stakeholders.
Conscious Culture also includes accountability, transparency, integrity, loyalty, egalitarianism, fairness, and personal growth, acting as an energizing and unifying force that truly brings a conscious business to life.
VCFD 2019