Online Teleseminar Series on Conscious Business: "Waking up the Workplace"

If you have enjoyed my earlier post on Conscious Business, or wonder how business can be a force for positive global transformation, then this free online teleseminar series might be for you. The "Waking up the Workplace" seminars kicked off recently and still goes until 23 June 2011. From their website:

“What would happen if we saw the business of work, not just as a means for trade and profit, but as a vehicle for actualizing our deeper human potentials in a conscious and creative transformation?”

Join the conversation and explore answers to the following questions:

• How can we design the workplace as a vehicle for transformation?
• How can business include our human passions and purpose and yet retain its practical productivity?
• What are the most powerful and cutting edge tools available to transform business?
• What kind of workplace do we need to truly address the problems of the 21^st century?

Participation is completely FREE.  All you need is a telephone or internet connection to be able to:

• Contribute to the global conversation with world leading experts
• Learn powerful conscious business tools to bring to your own work
• Participate in a community of international conscious business practitioners
• Help transform the way the world does business!

Join the conversation and find out how you can make business a force for global transformation! Register for free at www.wakinguptheworkplace.com

Chopra@Google: Video about the Soul of Leadership

Deepak Chopra's 1h talk at Google about the content of his new book "The Soul of Leadership". He eloquently explains how consciousness creates reality, what good leadership is and what impact it has. He also talks about consciousness, the soul and much more... Who combines latest scientific discoveries with timeless spiritual wisdom as brilliant as Chopra?

Conscious Business: What is it? Does it matter? Uniting IQ, EQ and SQ for Global Sustainability

Climate change, economic and financial crises, environmental disasters, nuclear risks etc. - how many more wake-up calls do we need? We are at an important crossroads where we decide on how we behave, consume and lead our lives - and how we do business. 

As drastically as it sounds, the choices we make have a direct influence on the survival of large parts of society, the environment and the world at large. The bottom line is: Our individual and collective decisions determine our future and do affect all of us.

"Let us choose to unite the power of markets with the authority of universal ideals. Let us choose to reconcile the creative forces of private entrepreneurship with the needs of the disadvantaged and the requirements of future generations."
Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General

There is a (r)evolution underway, an expanding consciousness: managers meditating, people seeking for purpose and standing up for their rights, leaders shaken by unpredictable crises. The "winds of change" massively affect the corporate world, too, and foster new ways of doing business more consciously. Therefore, this article explores these new ways of conscious business, the related new leadership style and required integration of IQ, EQ and SQ (spiritual intelligence). 

Why should we look into Conscious Business?

Several years ago, I realized that I wanted to change my career from money-maximising to a profession with a purpose. I wanted to feel my lifetime well invested in positive change, meaningful work and making a difference in the world. While working for NGOs and the United Nations, I kept my interest in business because I have always been impressed by business organisations' efficiency and entrepreneurs' innovative creativity and 'can-do' attitude.

However, I began to inquire into the what, why and how of business and my own actions: What are we doing? Why are we doing it? How can we do it better? So I started on the long journey of inquiry into myself, business and capitalism. I realized the importance of expanding our own consciousness to embrace positive change and achieve global sustainability. Also I recognized that there are old and new - more conscious - ways of doing business: From CSR, social entrepreneurship, inclusive business to conscious business.

"We are living in a phenomenal age... finding approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits and recognition for business, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce poverty in the world." 
Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and philanthropist

Conventional versus Conscious Business

Here are some pointers to contrast the conventional way of doing business with conscious business. This is a simplification aiming to open up awareness by seeing an enterprises from different perspectives. 

Some dimensions might seem like contradictions while others seem easier to be reconciled:

• Money vs. Meaning
• Ego vs. Eco(logy)
• Compete/control vs. Cooperate
• Profit vs. People/Planet
• Fear vs. Freedom
• Superiority vs. Sustainability
• Shareholder vs. Stakeholder
• Value vs. Values
• Capital vs. Consciousness
• Share vs. Sharing
• Greed vs. Giving

Some might say that this sounds all nice but will question if conscious businesses are sustainable, profitable and competitive? Yes, they can. In fact some argue that they excel in the marketplace (see A Better Way to Win: Profiting from Purpose). 

What is Conscious Business?
After having looked at some differentiators, how can we define a conscious business?
It is "a business enterprise that seeks to be aware of the effects of its actions, and to consciously affect human beings and the environment in a beneficial way." It is a value-based enterprise "where values represent social and environmental concerns globally as well as locally", i.e. go beyond economic value (see Wikipedia Conscious Business).

There are no universally agreed criteria on conscious business but some accepted principles include "Doing no Harm" and the Triple Bottom Line approach of aiming for "positive value in the domain of People, Planet, and Profit". One such example is "The Body Shop" founded by activist Anita Roddick and many more examples to be explored on this blog. 

"We are running out of time to integrate the material and the spiritual worlds."

Peter Senge, MIT Professor and author of 'The Fifth Discipline' 

What does Consciousness mean?
Let me try to demystify the word 'consciousness' which fills whole PhDs in various fields. There are different levels of consciousness such as universal, collective and individual consciousness. This article focuses onto the individual consciousness, however all these levels are connected and affect each other.

Your individual consciousness can be described as your awareness of your interconnectedness with everything within and around you: your own soul, co-workers, society, environment, planet, universe etc. The matrix of connections can also be seen horizontally (friends, family, colleagues etc.) and vertically ('Mother Earth" and 'Higher/God-like/Universe').

In simplified terms, consciousness is awareness and relates to your holistic, spiritual intelligence. It does not come from your knowledge or your mind, it is not determined by your IQ and it goes beyond your emotional intelligence (EQ). The closest to consciousness within the intelligence systems-thinking would be your spiritual intelligence (SQ). 

Conscious Leadership

Conscious business requires conscious leadership which is based on all three main intelligences: IQ, EQ and SQ. SQ which is the spiritual intelligence quotient describes how well you live and lead with wisdom, compassion and peace (explore deeper at Deep Change). 

Conscious leadership can also be seen as integrating the various leadership dimensions from paternal, humanistic, holistic to spiritual-based (read more at Spiritual-Based Leadership Research Programme).

Some key principles of conscious and enlightened business leadership include:

• Know yourself
• Do no harm
• Take (self-)responsibility
• Cultivate generosity
• Live integrity
• Act courageously
• Be inspired and inspire
• Embrace change

"The best way to begin an integral approach to business is with oneself...
How do body, mind, and spirit operate in me? How does that necessarily impact my role in the world of business?"

Ken Wilber, one of the most influential spiritual philosophers

Towards Conscious Capitalism and Global Sustainability

Does this all matter? Yes, it is required to meet the challenges of our century and our livelihood depends on it. A conscious business values its people and therefore requires conscious leadership that inspires and brings out the best of its staff.

With an expanding consciousness amongst business leaders, consumers, activists and policy makers, we are all part of a (r)evolution towards conscious capitalism. Let us jointly address the urgent issues on environmental sustainability, social justice and broad-based prosperity to ensure global sustainability. Join the movement and leave a comment.

Recommended Reading:

• Conscious Business, Fred Kaufman
• Spiritual Enterprise, Theodore Roosevelt Malloch
• Good Business, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• One: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership, Lance Secretan

Additional Resources:

• Waking up the Workplace (free online seminars 17 March-23 June 2011)
• Conscious Business Summary (by Realize)
• Conscious Leadership (by Gina Hayden) 
• Conscious Capitalism Institute
• 10 Conscious Companies (credit to Sean Murphy for top photo)

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About the Author: Juergen Nagler, has worked and consulted for leading businesses, NGOs and the United Nations, blogging in personal capacity at Business4Good (biosketch).

Lions on the Move - a new Africa being born?

Egypt freed itself from a dictator because people claimed back their power. Protesters shouted "we are the people", the same acclamation that brought down the Iron Curtain when people in former Easter Germany protested for their freedom. It also reminds me to the United Nations Charter starting with "We the People".

While Egypt culturally belongs to the Arab world, it is an interesting cross-roads also to Africa and the West. History is being written and it seems more and more people are awakening... what does it mean for Africa and the world?

As blogged earlier, since I arrived for a new project in South Africa last year, I felt that change is in the air. This was further confirmed during a trip to Ethiopia last month. A lot of development and construction is going on, the Chinese are building a new African Union complex and the diaspora is coming back from the USA to start businesses.

If we look at the bigger picture about events on and around the continent, the signs make up a puzzle, imperfect but nonetheless we can see a path, a journey towards freedom. Just some examples: independence of African states (mainly 1950s-70s), end of cold war 1989 (which affected many African countries), end of apartheid in South Africa 1994, "first African-American" US president Obama 1998, first FIFA World Cup in Africa 2010, South Sudan separation 2011, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Libya 2011. What next?

This list is of course incomplete to give a full picture of a very diverse continent with 53 states where poverty, disparity and dictators remain in several regions. However, with omnipresent communications technology and a rising collective consciousness the trend is clear: people increasingly take ownership and demand fair political leadership, jobs and economic opportunities.

Africa's economic and social outlook is positive: The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon just recently spoke about "winds of change blowing throughout Africa" and "the new narrative for Africa is a story of growth". Africa is expected to be the the fastest growing region in the world, only behind Asia. A recent McKinsey study paints a similar opportunity-rich picture calling African countries "Lions on the Move".

As the beginning 2011 is bringing change so rapidly, watch out for the rest of the year and 2012. Africa and the world are changing so fast, we better are open for it. As we have seen in the examples of Libya and Ivory Coast, the new era comes with some 'birthing pain' and old structures need to crack open for new energy to emerge. Rather resisting, can we embrace the coming change? As Mahatma Gandhi said: “You must be the change you want to see in the world”.

If you want to read more about the new, positive Africa emerging, you can for example follow Africa Good News, AfricanLoft and, of course, this blog Business4Good. Or best, see for yourself and visit the over 50 countries of Africa.

The "Social Entrepreneur Empowerment" Series

Ever since my decision to use business acumen for higher development goals, I have been fasinated about sociel entrepreneurs. Thousands of hidden champions around the world combine business approaches with social, environmental and spiritual objectives.

This decade seems to bring out even more of inspired entrepreneurs and conscious business people. Ryan Eliason seems to be of them because he is organising the free "Social Entrepreneur Empowerment" Video Series.

"What if you could combine the love, integrity, vision, and leadership of Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and Martin Luther King, Jr. with the entrepreneurial business savvy of Sir Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey?

What if you could download their wisdom into yourself? Imagine the bigger game you could play!"
                                                From www.socialentrepreneurempowerment.com

The series started 8th February with Ashoka founder Bill Drayton (hear the replay at Everyone a Changemaker). Bill talks about what makes an social entrepreneur, the rapid change of our times and how we are all changemaker in this world. Clear, down to earth and inspiring. "We are right at the tipping point" and "what is the new paradigm?" There is a LinledIn Group called Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Network with follow-up dicussions.

There are live streams until 17 February 2011 and the talks are anytime available as replays at http://www.socialentrepreneurempowerment.com/replays/

The Top 100 Thought Leaders in trustworthy Business Behavior

Via the World Business Academy's newsletter I came across the list of "The Top 100 Thought Leaders in trustworthy Business Behavior 2010" by Trust Across America.

The list seems to focus on US only, so dozens of international leaders are missing which is a pity in a globalized world where ideas and information spread across the globe quickly. Nonetheless this is a good start and many thinkers with global influence are among the ranks.

Some of the candidates I have found inspiring are Stephen Covey ("7 Habits of highly effective people"), Hazel Henderson (working on wealth metrics beyond GDP) and the leaders around Net Impact. I am sure you might discover many more authors of inspiring books, founders of institutes and companies.

Enjoy exploring the list at: The Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior

For 2011, I would almost expect Deepak Chopra with his new book "The Soul of Leadership".
Who have you found a most inspiring thought leader but missing in the list?

Inclusive Business Guide: How to Develop Business and Fight Poverty

Fresh research and advice on how to develop business and fight poverty - or better foster prosperity - comes from the same authors that have been part involved in various leading reports by UNDP's "Growing Inclusive Markets" initiative. The new Inclusive Business Guide is the first comprehensive compilation providing cutting edge know-how and inspiration for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike. Mainly addressing a business audience, it features 20 case studies from around the world, relevant know-how and is packed with well selected recommended reading.

"It is the absence of broad-based business activity, not its presence,
that condemns much of humanity to suffering."
Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General

I know both authors personally, Christina Gradl and Claudia Knobloch, and it's good to see the progress on the learning journey since Prahalad inspired so many companies to look for fortune at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP), estimated at over $5 trillion (!) local purchasing power. "Inclusive Business" seems to be the new mantra of a new generation of initiatives. It's broad enough to include various hybrid concepts combining sustainable business development with poverty reduction.

Some ideas stress the role of low-income segments (not to use the word "the poor") more on the consumer side, some more on the supply side; some come from the public sector while some are more business driven. As the overlap of these concepts can be quite confusing, the illustration below can help with some overview:

The large and growing BoP markets are the major opportunity for new ways of doing business good for people, the planet and profits. To untap this potential, innovation and a new awareness are required. This guide furthers the knowledge and takes readers through the 12 step business process from development to implementation to growth:

Read the full Inclusive Business Guide (PDF). All figures copyright endeva.
Happy new year 2011 with lots of success!

Starting new UNDP Africa Project - a dream comes true

I have just moved to Johannesburg to start a new United Nations development project. This blog post covers the project and my first week back with Mother Africa from two perspectives: 1) professional and 2) personal.

1) New UNDP Africa Project on Private Sector and
    Inclusive Business/Market Development
Together with my Mozambican colleague Tomas Sales, we are starting UNDP's first Pan-African project on developing vibrant private sectors that create jobs and enhance incomes by including low-income people into value chains. This can mean offering specialized and affordable products/services to them as customers (demand side) or working with them as workers, suppliers or entrepreneurs (supply side). Such business models at the "Base of the Pyramid" are also called inclusive business models contributing to poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The track-record so far and prospects to achieve the MDGs by 2015 are mixed. 10 years have passed and only five more to go. The recent financial and economic crises plus environmental challenges (foremost climate change) have not helped either. But the goals can still be achieved and increasingly the important role of the private sector - business and entrepreneurs - is realized. The project covers Regional Economic Integration, Value Chain Projects, Partnerships and Inclusive Finance. It's too complex to describe here in short, so I leave it with a slide carrying the spirit of the project.

2) Dreams do come true
Some years I had a dream: Using my business background for social human development. I wanted to make a change with my life and work for a better world, not just donate some money to ease my conscience. My heart was burning for big adventures and taking on big challenges. My aspiration was to work for the United Nations in Africa.

The road there has been winding but if things are meant to be and we believe in our aspirations and potential they do become true. My multi-stages path after leaving the " corporate rat race" included: unpaid volunteer at a Microfinance NGO in Peru (FINCA), grass-roots work in Mali (Mali-Initiative), an unpaid internship at the UN (Global Compact), earning Masters in International Development (UNSW) and getting a chance to work for UNDP in New York, hanging in there as a serial short-term consultant...

Now my dream to work for the UN on "business & development" in Africa is coming true. And the best is that it is just starting :) Imagine next? I already feel a sense of deep change here in Africa and globally consciousness is growing. Change is in the air, we can make it! Some inspiration to listen to your own heart and unleash your inner potential:

"Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." 
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!
Live the life you've imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

Leave a comment below.

The Enlightened Business Summit - October 25-29th Teleseminar - Conscious Capitalism

Via the World Business Academy newsletter comes an open invitation to "The Enlightened Business Summit", a virtual global event that features around 40 top CEOs, bestselling authors, pioneering entrepreneurs, and provocateurs – for free. To cite from the World Business Academy:

"The Summit features leaders such as Tim Ferriss, Tony Hsieh, John Mackey, George Zimmer, Christine Comaford Lynch, Tony Schwartz, Roxanne Emmerich, Stephen M. Covey, and Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi. It’s designed with mainly 30-minute talks interspersed throughout the day so you can stay on top of your work while learning the best insights from the world’s top business minds.

If you’re like us, you recognize that conscious capitalism can become the single most powerful engine for good on our planet. But what it takes is having a great guidebook and wise advisors.

Most of us have been raised in a war-zone approach to business that actually doesn’t work very well – it leads to unhappy employees, uncreative teams, burned out leaders, and stagnant sales. Recent financial crises are forcing all of us to get far more creative in harnessing the best science, insights, and wisdom for creating businesses that liberate our creative potential and truly succeed – on all levels.

That’s why this event can be so valuable for you and your organization – it gives you unprecedented access to world-class advisors for transforming the way you do business.

You can participate live on as many calls as you like and interact with both the featured leaders and other participants via a state-of-the-art MaestroConference platform, which will connect you to participants from around the world.

The Enlightened Business Summit runs from Oct. 25-29th as a free offering from The Shift Network and it will be hosted by Chip Conley, author of Peak and one of the most popular speakers at this year’s TED conference."

I only know a few of the speakers so far, such as Stephen Covey ("7 habits of highly effective people"), Lance Secretan (read his ONE book on conscious leadership), Hazel Henderson. A very intersting topic and line-up. Being 'free' the value for money is hard to beat, so I will selectivly tune in.

For more information & registration see: www.enlightenedbusinesssummit.com

Accelerating the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through Inclusive Business

UPDATE with resources from 22 September 2010 at the end:

Can you create business and social value through the same enterprise? Does sustainable development and good business go hand in hand? Yes, it can! I have been working on these issues for the last 18 months at UNDP and am happy that tomorrow - coinciding with the UN MDG Summit - a number of the world's leading business networks and initiatives are coming together to rally business energy and expertise around inclusive business models.

What are inclusive business models? These are business models that involve poor people as consumers, employees, suppliers or distributors, and offer a powerful and sustainable way to fight poverty. There is a strong overlap with the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) and Social Enterprise concepts. Separating these different perspectives can be an academic exercise, however more convincing are hearing real cases. So let's hear what the leaders in the field report.

Audio, video and other resources from the workshop will be posted at Business Fights Poverty over the next few days. So follow there, and I will post some key take-aways here.

UPDATE from 22 September 2010:
There is a wealth of valuable information coming out of this event, here some selected highlights:

• Statement of Helen Clark, UNDP chief, at the World Business Development Awards (WBDA)
• The ten 2010 WBDA wining companies/initiatives
• New report: The MDGs: Everyone’s Business