How To Be A Conscious Business And Where To Start
Monday morning. You get up, finish your morning routine, and go to work that you love. You smile as you sit down at your desk and open your laptop. You know that what you’re doing is meaningful. This brings you ease as you start your day. It’s meaningful not only because you find what you do interesting, but also because you feel heard and supported in the company. You know that through your work, you’re making a positive impact on the world. That gives you a sense of mission.
Later in the day, you have a team meeting to discuss how to align your next month's growth strategy with your social and environmental impact goals. After lunch with the team—phone left far away at your desk—you take a short walk around the neighbourhood to refresh your mind. When you return, you have a meeting with the company’s key partners to ensure your new strategy aligns with their goals. You finish your day at your desk but never skip your short breaks to stretch and meditate. In the evening, while biking back home, you realize that you feel good, energized, and grateful...
And then you wake up. That was a great dream about a day of work at a conscious company. Of course, like all dreams, you think it sounds too good to be true, but you realize that your current company is far from this picture. So, you decide to make a change.
But where to begin? First, you decide to do some research to better understand what a conscious business looks like.
After reading article after article, you find definitions that resonate with you: “A conscious business is led by a conscious leader, takes all stakeholders (including but not limited to just shareholders) into account in the business’s operations and strategy, and has a higher purpose beyond profit.” (Meghan French Dunbar)
“Conscious business is important because it is a shift in mindset—from extracting value to creating value; from hierarchy to humanity; from exploitation to investment. Instead of the businessperson as a profiteer, conscious business says, let’s position the businessperson as a community leader.” (Renée Oddy)
Okay, you say, but what does it mean practically? To answer this question, you write a list of things that a conscious business should have, according to the fathers of the concept of “conscious capitalism,” Rajendra Sisodia and John Mackey:
Higher Purpose: Beyond making a profit, a conscious business has a higher purpose that aligns the interests of all major stakeholders, not just shareholders. This helps to provide meaning and purpose for employees and attract clients who share similar values.
Stakeholder Orientation: A conscious business strives to create value for all its stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, communities, and the environment, and keeps an open dialogue with them.
Conscious Leadership: A conscious business is led by conscious leaders who are highly self-aware, empathetic, and dedicated to the well-being of those they lead. They inspire and guide others toward a common goal, rather than simply managing for short-term results.
Conscious Culture: A conscious business’s corporate culture fosters trust, care, and cooperation among all stakeholders. It’s a supportive environment where employees' well-being plays an important role, and they feel empowered to contribute their best to the company’s purpose.
Impact (an extra dimension added by ASEYA): A conscious business takes a serious approach to its social and environmental impact. Its CSR strategy and ESG report are not just black words on white paper. The company takes real actions based on well-defined goals and speaks openly about its achievements and failures.
Wow, that sounds good, but also complicated… How should you convince your management to go down this path?
You then look at the research data and are surprised to find out that 66% of consumers will pay more for a product if the business supports social or environmental causes, and 59% are likely to stop supporting businesses that don’t align with their personal beliefs. You also find that 78% of employees are more likely to work for a company that leads with purpose, that mindfully engaged employees are twice as productive, and that companies committed to CSR generate 19x higher returns.
You discover that successful stories of conscious businesses already exist, including world-renowned companies such as Patagonia and Whole Foods Market.
So it’s not just a dream—we can also do it, you tell yourself.
You decide to go further and take a free Conscious Business Assessment by ASEYA. From the results, you realize that while your company is doing pretty well in terms of impact and conscious leadership, it still has a lot to improve in terms of higher purpose, stakeholder orientation, and conscious culture. You take note of the recommendations you receive in your assessment results and present them to your manager the next day, along with all your findings.
Next week, you book a call with ASEYA to discuss how to build an action plan for your soon-to-be-conscious business and schedule a workshop to train your team on the topic.
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The character in the story might or might not be you — you decide ;)
In any case, hopefully, this story gives you some ideas and inspiration on what you can do better in your own organization to raise awareness and increase impact. It's time for all of us to wake up and take action. Will you be among the first to take a step towards the future of business?
