Renowned author, speaker and branding consultant Simon Mainwaring and his
agency, We First, have been advising some of the
world’s most successful and impactful companies on how to lead for the
triple-bottom-line future we need for over a decade. His just-released second
book, Lead With We,
digs deeper into the theme and provides a blueprint for purpose-driven
businesses
that thrive while tackling some of our most pressing societal challenges.
We spoke with Mainwaring to learn more about how business leaders can adopt the 'first-responder' mindset necessary to navigate an increasingly challenged world.
Your book, podcast and blog have all recommended business become a ‘rirst responder,’ especially after what the world learned from the pandemic. Why is it up to business to solve social and environmental challenges?
Simon Mainwaring: My argument is that only business has the reach, resources
and, yes, responsibility to respond at scale to the interrelated social,
environmental and global challenges we now face as a species. Our ‘next
normal’
will continue to be characterized by the co-existence of destabilizing
challenges, with business positioned on the front line. And those companies that
endure and prosper — “sustainable brands” — will be the ones that have thought
deeply, prepared extensively and rolled out appropriately a “first responder”
strategy. We’ve all just seen many, many companies such as Dyson,
PayPal, VF
Corp,
GM,
Ford,
Unilever
— as well as countless smaller businesses and startups — whose leaders and
employees have responded directly to crises while simultaneously fortifying
their business growth and brand reputation.
Critics could argue that business can’t survive yet another burden: What’s the counter to that argument?
SM: That the state of the world provides business an unprecedented
opportunity wrapped in an ostensible burden. But think about it: Emergency
workers don’t dread the 911 call. They rely on wide-ranging preparation —
endless training for every scenario. They run drills to make sure they’re ready
for whatever happens in the field. So, too, should business. Build and
templatize a first-responder plan based on successful past responses and best
practices,
so they can innovate and spin it up more quickly and effectively moving forward.
In other words, carry through lessons from their COVID response? Assume that in general, things might not stabilize for a long time?
SM: Exactly. Because the next global crisis is inevitable. Business can
either hope for the best or prepare for the next problem coming down the road.
I’m saying the ones best prepared are stacking the cards in favor of their
survival. Plus, the kinds of responses I’m talking about provide a huge amount
of good in the world, as well.
What kind of good, specifically? Practical things, such as PPE during a global health crisis?
SM: That’s a recent great example of businesses large and small putting the
health and wellbeing of people and the planet before
profit.
This whole ‘first responder’ premise might start with that simple shift in
thinking. You know, become a sustainable brand by helping society,
somehow
— because business can’t survive in societies that fail. So, social good
companies such as Beyond Meat and
Lyft
provide obvious examples; but revolutions are also underway in clean beauty,
food
and
fashion,
practicing “revenue through reputation” in times of crises. Other companies,
such as Walmart and Home Depot and lots of others are undergoing
comprehensive clean and renewable energy transitions — necessary as the
cornerstone of climate action, the number-one priority for any business
intending to maintain relevance and prosper over the long run.
So, sure: Repurposing products and services to solve for critical needs in real
time is a great example. But the spectrum of ways that companies have not only
responded appropriately to immediate needs — PPE equipment, meals for hospital
staff
and first responders, etc — is most relevant when considered in the context of
them having done so in alignment with their unique company purposes, products
and partnerships. It’s a lot like the way nature works: Everyone does their own
part, and the sum is greater than the individual parts.
And we’re seeing it far beyond the US — Colombia’s Daabon; the
Netherlands’ Vanderlande; Spain’s Inditex; Switzerland’s
Mammut and Nestlé;
France’s Danone, Sodexo, Lacoste and Sephora. Mexico’s
Orbia. There are Indian companies, Chinese, South American — the list goes
on.
What’s the first step in evolving your leadership into this first-responder mindset?
SM: Well, after committing fully to putting people over profit — which by
the way, a lot of research shows is one of the most surefire ways to increase
your bottom
line
— I recommend that companies back out of the future, rather than build on the
past. The better business understands the compounding challenges hurtling back
from the future, the more effectively it can prepare for those
eventualities-inevitabilities. In fact, companies of all sizes will soon face a
hockey-stick of expectation in terms of their responsibility — and stakeholder
expectations
— to address social and environmental challenges. That’s already happening with
new generations of employees and more scrupulous consumers, not to mention new
regulations and other scrutiny. I’m thinking of companies like TOMS and
Dr. Bronner’s that are now shifting their long-standing impact models to
respond to the environmental emergency in line with their business response to
COVID-19.
What else do you see coming? What’s the future you’re recommending businesses back out of?
SM: At the risk of sounding too shrill — I see great cause for hope and
optimism — we’re in real trouble. A catastrophic climate “Code
Red,”
as the UN just put it. A yawning chasm between the so-called 1 percent and
the rest of the world — gross economic and social
inequity.
Democracy itself is under massive attack. Shall I go on?
So, why are you optimistic? Why should we all be?
SM: Because this movement of movements is well underway. As I said, large
companies — such as IKEA, Novo Nordisk, LEGO and Procter &
Gamble
— have all pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from their operations
and value chains in relatively short order, revealing ways that smaller
companies — even Mom & Pops — can scale such efforts to their size and
resources. There was a time when such environmental proactivity was “nice to do”
by only the best-resourced companies. Now, as the IPCC's Sixth
assessment
detailed, it’s a five-alarm fire that we all must respond to post haste. We’re
seeing it through Sustainable Brands™’ mission and the evidence of
its effect. We’re seeing it in the B Corp
movement.
In a plethora of new industry alliances; new, unified ESG
metrics.
Amazingly innovative, ethically directed tools in more people’s hands.
I think we’re seeing more inclusive messaging to bridge deeply polarized people,
issues and politics, and build social movements that shift thinking and
behavior.
Cross-sector collaborations as we’ve never seen before. So, yes, I’m optimistic.
But the situation is no less urgent. We have to continue to tell a new, more
urgent and optimistic story that’s emotionally resonant. This revolution won’t
work unless “We” all join together — that’s why I call the larger movement Lead
With We. It’s inspired by the emotional power to drive behavioral shifts by
tapping into instincts hardwired within all of us — our connection as a human
family, our deep bonds to nature, our intuitive understanding of the value of
coherence, and unity versus separation and division.
How can brands strategize real-time scenarios to protect their business and support others?
SM: The glib answer is “Prepare for anything and expect the worst.” If
you’re a small or medium company, study the fascinating and effective “crisis
plans” in place at major corporations such as Unilever and Toyota. Remember
that no matter how well they plan and how creative their imaginations, emergency
workers constantly encounter thorny problems in real-world emergencies. From a
business and brand strategy standpoint, you can anticipate problem types (civil
unrest, public health crises, social/cultural movements, terrorism,
environmental/climatological catastrophes, infrastructure degradation), so you
can adapt your planned responses accordingly. Were we talking in our 2019 board
rooms, C-Suites and factory floors of global economic shutdowns? Major supply
chain
logjams?
Panic buying? Huge unemployment? Mass, nationwide protests? Whole sectors
decimated? Millions of people dying? All from a bat or a pangolin or a slipup at
some lab somewhere? Anything can happen.
You mentioned collaborations as key …
SM: Right. That’s the “With” and the “We” I’m talking about. Partnering in
new ways to scale your response and impact. High-level partnerships, including
precompetitive
collaboration
and cross-sector
alliances
— maybe best exemplified by IBM’s “Call for
Code,” will be the key to effective
crisis response — call it “mutual aid.” That’s the only way we got effective
COVID vaccines in record time.
Final advice for companies to evolve and prep this way?
SM: First responders spend as much or more time proactively working on
preventing future emergencies than they do in responding to the ones right in
front of them. Leading your business during a
pandemic
might seem like a burden — but it’s providing the critical training every brand
needs to secure a better, stronger and faster crisis response to not only
survive in the face of relentless crises, but also to strengthen the relevance,
resonance and returns of their companies.
For an actionable blueprint of how your company can become a first responder
and ‘Lead With We,’ order Simon’s new book at
LeadWithWe.com.
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Published Dec 2, 2021 1pm EST / 10am PST / 6pm GMT / 7pm CET