Would You Sack Luis Suarez?

What would you do if an employee bit one of your competitors?

I know this doesn’t happen often, and in most cases the answer is to show that employee the door, quickly. What if that employee was one of most talented in your industry? Should that make a difference? What if that employee also demonstrated public indicators of emotional or mental instability?

The Liverpool FC v Chelsea FC game yesterday was supposed to be a stage for a returning and much loved ex-manager and a platform to show support for a recently departed campaigner for justice following the Hillsborough disaster, but midway through the second half the next day’s headlines were decided beyond all doubt.

Why Luis Suarez sank his teeth into Branislav Ivanovic is a mystery. No real warning signs of prior animosity during the game leading to an innocuous tussle, then a bolt from the blue vampire-like thrust toward the Chelsea defender. Nobody saw it coming, but then again you wouldn’t, and the referee didn’t either.

So, what happens next?

CSR = Your Better (Small) Business

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out Vodafone’s ‘Your Better Business’ website, which describes itself as

“an open exchange of ideas and opinions that can help shape the future of business. It’s also a platform where the brightest business brains will contribute and share information on the latest best practice models, give expert business advice and talk about the role technology is playing. ”

Here’s a short extract and a link (below text or image top right) to an article I  wrote on real world CSR for small business…

“In an increasingly connected world, where political upheaval and environmental challenges are gathering pace, there’s pressure on business to adapt.

As a result, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming more and more relevant – even critical – to the success of businesses of all sizes. The problem is, it’s commonly misunderstood, and its power underestimated. So dismiss it at your peril.

Definitely worth further investigation via the Your Better Business website and via Twitter at @betterexchange

Charities Need to Increase Overheads

Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is wrong

If you work in social enterprise or a charitable organisation make sure you find 18 minutes and 55 seconds to watch the video below.

I’ve seen the link to this video enthusiastically being bounced around the social media world for a few days and I finally managed to squeeze in a watch over lunch today.

I’ll let Dan do the talking first and add a few thoughts after you’ve heard what he has to say…

He’s absolutely on the money and he knows what he’s talking about. Too many in the social world are too disconnected from the strengths of the private sector.

I also understand that even given an acceptance of his ethos the next massive barrier is the delivery quality of this more aggressive approach to fundraising and marketing. Increased overheads can only be justified by operational results, and social impact over any agreed time period.

The big challenge is to encourage a significantly stronger entrepreneurial approach to social impact and mitigate the unease created by the increased blurring of the boundaries between private sector methodologies and social sector aspirations.

What will the Amazon of the social impact world look like?

Check out Dan Pallota’s webpage / Twitter profile @DanPallota for more information

VfL Wolfsburg Score Football CSR Winner

It may have taken a while but VfL Wolfsburg are the winners!

Back in October 2010 I wrote a post called Not a Premier League CSR Report about the state of non-financial reporting in football, especially in the UK. At the end of the post I urged / hoped / challenged / pleaded with the industry to step up to the penalty spot by producing a credible report. VfL Wolfsburg have scored first.

The post was spurred at the time by a couple of so-called CSR reports by Manchester City and Aston Villa (and an earlier attempt by Chelsea). Manchester City’s in particular was much more of an interactive animation experiment by a communications team than a genuine report with little credible detail.

The German based team playing in the Bundesliga recently kicked out their ‘Moving Together’ sustainability report, and it was GRI certified (Level B)! I should also point out that a couple of other teams (SC Corinthians Paulista and Djurgarden Fotboll)  have also produced GRI based reports, but neither of these was certified externally.

I applaud all three teams for taking what was a bold step, and especially Wolfsburg for going into extra time and opting for external verification. In an industry dominated by a culture of defensiveness (no pun intended this time) it was a brave decision to be a pioneer for openness. I wonder if Wolfsburg’s approach is linked to their parent organisation Volkswagen?

Congratulations to all involved at Wolfsburg, and very worthy recommendations to SC Corinthians Paulista and Djurgarden Fotboll.

Now, who will be the first to score an ‘A’ rating from GRI?

Sandy Creates US Climate Hope?

As I watch the revealing impact of the storm in the US and the power of nature wreaking havoc on the financial heartland of the US I wonder if we are witnessing the pivotal moment in the US climate change debate?

We cannot not underestimate the impact of an again vulnerable New York,  to overcome stubborn political denial and corporate lobbying. From a detached, long distance perspective I get an uneasy feeling of similarity to watching the initial aftermath of the atrocities of 9/11 as terrorism succeeded in passing the previously impermeable American defences. Their response then was a robust, to say the least, retaliation on those responsible, but who can be blamed for extreme weather in the case of Sandy and what realistic actions can be taken before the next storm? And there will be a next storm, and another.

Sandy has in one weather event demonstrated tangibly that nature inevitably, albeit at a distance for the most part, directs financial institutions,  not the other way around. As extreme weather becomes increasingly regular and grows in intensity as climate models predict, will this week like none before ignite the fuse of US coherent action beyond political differences? I’m an optimist, we have to be. This, like never before in history is an opportunity for a true leader to step forward.

It will be interesting to watch the remainder of both Barack Obama’s and Mitt Romney’s campaigns and assess where climate now stands in their sales pitches to American voters. Could the storm ravaged surroundings of Wall Street be the setting for a renewed response to climate change and the unexpected vote winner of both the US public and financial community?

 

Yes we can repair this world

Barack Obama (at 12 minutes in the video below).

 

What Do Premier League Football And Apple Have In Common?

New report says UK football CSR is maturing but needs to train harder and play as a team.

The defences are well and truly warmed up at Cupertino at the moment ahead of the iPhone 5 launch event next week but Daniel Agger isn’t part of the team.

Both brands have an almost religious like appeal to their audiences. Huge queues for product, tattoos and media saturation are just a couple of examples of the more obvious cultural similarities.

Both brands also have long journeys ahead of them on the CSR road and neither showing signs of ticking the leadership box any time soon.

I’ve just finished reading “It’s Not Just A Game: Community Work In The UK Football Industry And Approaches To Corporate Social Responsibility” by Heledd Jenkins and Laura James from the ESRC Centre at BRASS.

If you are into football, sport and all things CSR / sustainability go and take a read. It’s a comprehensive, intelligent and open report that provides a useful stick in the ground for the current state of social responsibility in UK football.

In short, all the clubs deliver effective community work locally with some reaching further afield across international boundaries, many through independent Community Trust models, but fall short on embedded strategic approaches, innovation, leadership and transparency.

Genuine Leadership Comes From MERIT*

The world needs leaders, and more than ever leaders with a strong moral compass.

You may remember my post about 2012  To Be  Big Year For Somebody, if not Your Big Year is a global competition aimed at identifying and nurturing the young  leaders of the future from across the globe through a year of travel and meeting current world leaders. Year one was big. Year two was bigger, and next year will see something new and even bigger.

Here is last year’s Your Big Year winner, the amazing Charles Batte, to set the scene…

 

The evolution is called World MERIT* (the asterisk is part of the brand!) and takes the concept well beyond that of Your Big Year.

The huge challenges of our tomorrows require a new breed of leader today. We have all been let down by those in historic positions of power across business and society that now require inspiration from those who are genuinely and tangibly connected to grassroots communities. Your Big Year began to unearth countless potential talented people from diverse backgrounds but could never nurture more than the overall individual winners. That needed to change.

So without further ado, relax and enjoy…

 

Trust me, this is going to be BIG. World MERIT* will officially launch later this year, and this is just the tip of the iceberg with a revolution being nurtured in parallel behind the WM* scenes.

I’ve agreed to help Chris Arnold (@MERITChris) and his team spread the message to the corporate world to help identify those looking to find potential World MERIT* candidates in their own organisations. So if you want more information about engaging your company send me message and I’ll connect you to Chris.

Watch this space…

A Bright Future for Small Business CSR

           

A new dawn approaches.

It is  six and a half years since an idea became a company and Coethica entered the world. The early road was shrouded in mist with never-ending alternate junctions and diversions. Coethica was a response to Corporate Social Responsibility being, well, very corporate. Too corporate and not enough entrepreneurial. With a useful address book, a few awards,  a stubbornness and a ‘plan’, we were setting off to make work a better place to live.

Like any entrepreneur will tell you each day is a test of priorities and Olympic plate-spinning challenges. In many cases days are filled with fire fighting the almost pitiful burden of red-tape and planning is a very reactive pastime. My particular journey had a bewildering array of none business related potholes for the first leg of the travels that kept the project in first gear. The second leg was dominated by our experiment with social media, which is pretty much public record, all great fun, full of reward and learning.

The third leg began only recently as the potholes and distractions cleared,  and for a while and an absent friend called space was an initially unrecognised surprise visitor. Wow – years had passed, including my son’s whole lifetime, and Coethica had grown like awakening from a dream with no time having ever passed. The ability to think creatively without a list of attention stealing demands soon became tolerable.

To be specific, and to garner your support, here is the current position…

Dell’s Social Innovation for Greater Good

As the world of responsible business continues to mature with increasing numbers of elements reinforcing their position within mainstream management practice, we see those organisations leading from the front pushing innovation as the future focus of development.

It is scarcely a  secret that I have the attention span of a goldfish when it come to the statistical detail in many projects and I am not by any means the stereotypical  ’completer finisher’ profile type. Give me a problem requiring a solution and I’ll bombard you with variations on ways to overcome / circumnavigate the strangest of obstacles, and often with absurdly creative suggestions. I was probably an eccentric inventor or mad scientist in a previous life.

Over the past few years I’ve been fortunate to be invited to help out as a judge / mentor / adviser on a number of social innovation related initiatives including Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, Societe Generale’s Cititzen Act, Smaller Earth’s Your Big Year and Justmeans’ Social Innovation Awards. On each occasion I jumped at the chance to be immersed by waves of fresh ideas to make the world a better place.

By combining social benefit, competition, social media, corporate scale brand audiences and by proferring access to intellectual property companies such as those mentioned, and many more, demonstrate business can be a lasting force for good. The experience that the participants learn from can often be life changing. Exposure to such grand possibility allows individuals to adventure beyond their home town comfort zones and play their role as genuine global citizens.

Recently I’ve been watching Dell’s Social Innovation Challenge play out and I should reach out to some connections at Dell to find out more to spread the word about their future leaders early ideas to make the world a better place. Check out the 205 semi-finalists here to vote for your favourite and watch the introductory video a few questions down the page.

Apple’s Ethical Watershed?

A window of opportunity and an open letter to CEO Tim Cook.

Is it me or is the current focus on Apple’s supply chain a different tune than we’ve heard before?

For years now many from responsible business community have rumbled in frustration at Apple’s lack of commitment and often blatant avoidance of sustainability issues.  Most of these professionals have ironically also either converted to Apple Macbooks / iPhones / iPad or continued their use throughout the regular ethical issues arising. I go to a few industry conferences and they’re often more like a Halloween orchard with the amount of glowing Apple logos on show.

Let’s be honest Apple products look damn good, mostly do the job you’d expect and you can’t argue with the almost religion-like power of the brand they’ve created under the stewardship of the recently departed Steve Jobs. For full disclosure I was once an Apple fan, during my days producing copious amounts writing, media materials and marketing documents at Everton FC, before I knew better about the details of the business operation and products themselves.  I adored their fanatical ethos about providing the most simple, usable interface which is pure beauty at times, especially compared to Windows Vista and earlier incarnations. I had the usual file format sharing problems but that was nearly ten years ago and much has changed.

I am beginning to sense the sustainability sharks circling.