Does your financial duty trump your moral one as a business leader?
For sure, we want to align the two if we can, but what if there is a conflict?
Here are 4 books I’ve really enjoyed, which complement each other really well, and should be read by everyone building a purposeful business (i.e. a commercial enterprise that creates long term positive value to people and planet).
“The Future We Choose” by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac gives the environmental perspective, with a realistic and hopeful plan of what we should be doing.
“The Value of Everything” by Mariana Mazzucato paints the economic and ethical context of the extractive capitalism we’ve been building over the last half century, with pointers to what we should fix if we want better.
Rebecca Henderson’s “Reimagining Capitalism” gives a more practical perspective on the financial and corporate behaviours and systems that need rethinking.
And the autobiographical case study of Patagonia, the poster-child of a better company, in Yvon Chouinard’s eminently readable “Let my people go surfing“.
Any CEOs who fancy a 4-book book club approach on these for discussion – PM me!
But even if you don’t do that, do read these great books and think through their implications.
How we can support you
- Join us on a workshop on how to scale your company; create time to focus on the bigger picture; and keep values and purpose at the core. For max 5 CEOs of companies with revenues between £1.5m and £15m.
- Subscribe to our Bite-Sized Business Tips - thought snippets for values-centred business leaders. Every few days, a short focussed read on a specific topic of how to lead a company that values both profit and purpose.
- Talk to us to explore how we can help you scale your company in the direction you want to take it.
Buy any of the books through our links and you’ll be supporting local independent bookshops. We put all commission into our microloan fund for female owners of small businesses in the developing world.