Building An Army
April 21, 2015
- Bob Chapman
CEO & Chairman of Barry-Wehmiller
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I recently had the opportunity to share the message of Truly Human Leadership at Conscious Capitalism 2015 in Chicago. The sold out event showcased the growing commitment and awareness of the four tenets and principles described in Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and Raj Sisodia’s book Conscious Capitalism: higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership and conscious culture and management. Their values closely align with what we believe and practice at Barry-Wehmiller. In short, both organizations believe that business can be one of the most positive forces of good in the world.
Since the publishing of their book, Conscious Capitalism has become a worldwide organization with many local chapters dedicated to spreading that message. I was honored to be one of the keynote speakers at their Chicago conference, along with a number of other friends of Barry-Wehmiller who are on this journey with us. Here are some thoughts and images from the event:
- Raj Sisodia, who opened that first day of the summit, spoke eloquently about the principles he and John Mackey wrote about. “Businesses create, but can also destroy,” Raj said. “It matters HOW you make money. Human beings are not a resource – we need to banish that term – human beings are a source.”
Tony Schwartz, founder of The Energy Project, who spoke about the need for balance in our lives and how it affects our ability to care for others, in the workplace and at home. “It’s not the hours we invest that creates value, it’s the energy we bring to those hours,” he said. One of Tony’s closing statements resonated very strongly with me: “Care is the cure.”
- Our friend Simon Sinek gave another impassioned talk about the ideals of leadership he wrote about in Leaders Eat Last. Some of the things Simon said included: “Leadership is an imperfect science, it’s human, it’s messy. It’s like being a parent. “Consistency is way more important than intensity. You dont get in shape by going to the gym for 9 hours.” “Leadership is not about being in charge but about caring for the people within your charge.” He closed by saying, “Be the leader you wish you had.”
- My keynote address was Tuesday evening where I spoke about what we have learned along the journey here at Barry-Wehmiller. About how everything I learned about parenting is leadership and everything I learned about leadership was wrong.
On Wednesday morning, Rhonda Spencer, Barry-Wehmiller’s Chief People Officer, and Matt Whiat, our Director of Outreach, led a practicum to show how we implement and cultivate a people-first culture. Matt and Rhonda offered a startling statistic, that 80% of people leave their job because of their boss. “They quit because of you,” Matt said. Of beginning change in the workplace, Rhonda offered this advice: “It’s the simplest thing to do. Just begin. Change the things that don’t make sense.” And when you’re on that journey of change she said to remember that “It doesn’t really matter what we do, it’s how and why we do it.”
- Wednesday afternoon, Simon and I appeared together in a segment called “Get Real.” Simon and I have had a very strong relationship for a long time. When we first met, it very quickly became apparent that our vision of Truly Human Leadership was in alignment with Simon’s passion. It was Simon who first described our leadership as “truly human” after visiting our operations and witnessing in person the culture I had described. In this discussion, Simon and I talked about how we are looking others who believe what we do, because we truly believe these ideas can make a difference.
And judging by the other truly human leaders who shared during the conference, we are part of a much bigger army who have the same desires and passions as we do. We can change the world.
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