I believe
“In terms of power and influence, you can forget the church, forget politics. There is no more powerful institution in society than business, which is why I believe it is now more important than ever before for business to assume a moral leadership. The business of business should not be about money, it should be about responsibility. It should be about public good, not private greed." Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop.
I believe Anita was right.
I believe in responsible companies. I believe in profits with principles.
I believe that being profitable gives you the freedom to make good decisions.
I believe that if a company can make a profit doing the right things the right way, it has the strength to say no to things that may compromise its hard-won integrity, and the capacity to say yes to things that could change their part of the world for the better.
I believe that to have any kind of positive impact, a company needs to be profitable and commercially sound, so ensuring that is a big part of my work with all my clients.
I believe that a company needs careholders more than shareholders, and that profits are best used as foundations for responsible growth, more than personal dividends.
I believe that it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it.
I believe that if you want to build an important company or organisation that changes something for the better, everything you do has to be rooted in going about your business with trust, integrity and empathy. You get a reputation for how you treat people — inside and outside your organisation — that will resonate far further and far more loudly than any ad campaign.
I believe that “your brand is the outcome of everything your company does”, so marketing is only a tiny part of growing a responsible company.
I believe that the way we go about our business is not only the best way to market an important company and to sell its products and services, but also to ensure that it has a profoundly positive impact on the world. Your company doesn’t have to have some high-minded moral purpose, or planet-saving technology (but I’d love to help if it does), but it does need to operate with an uncompromising focus on its responsibility.
I believe that businesses have far more power to change the world, far more quickly, than governments - so they must - but only if they act in the way governments should; for the betterment of all.
I believe that with great power comes great responsibility, and I want to work with any company that takes their responsibilities to their people and our planet extremely seriously. One individual and one company cannot save the world, but they can lead the way.
I believe that we can only start to turn the tide of the environmental, social and political crises we face, if businesses take true moral leadership.
As a famous nun once told a scruffy Irish rockstar, “you can do things I cannot do, and I can do things you cannot do. All that matters is that we both do them.”
I believe that there is no other way. So that’s why I do what I do. I work with companies of people to help them to grow principled and profitable businesses, that help lead the way.