Business
Up To The Minute 3/29: The Latest Thought Leadership On Corporate Responsibility, Founder Advice, Cannabis At Work, And More
What Is: Up To The Minute? A thought leadership showcase. A wealth of knowledge. Your new weekly go-to source of insight from voices big and small across a wide range of industries.
This week, we’re reading about the mounting pressure for corporations to explain their social purpose; a lack of corporate involvement in health initiatives; the need for establishing marijuana policy at work; and more.
Check it out:
1. Jeanne Hardy, founder and CEO of Creative Business, Inc., a leading business advisory firm in New York: “Businesses that embrace the idea of purpose and profit being inextricably linked are companies that will drive innovation and achieve long-term profitability.”
The corporate responsibility movement is gaining momentum quickly. And every time Nike takes a stance against racial inequity, Ben & Jerry’s publicly supports an economic justice campaign, or Delta Airlines cuts ties with the NRA, the pressure mounts for every corporation to take their own stance. Here, Hardy discusses how the push toward corporate responsibility is changing human resources, encouraging employee activism, supporting ethically sourced data, and jumpstarting a movement from work-life balance to work-life integration.
2. Ashish K. Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria: “The global health community has largely failed to involve the broader private sector in the community’s mission to improve people’s health and well-being across the globe.”
Apparently, the corporate world has joined in the fight for the health of the planet—but not the health of its people. How’s this for contrast? Just 9% of the world’s Fortune 500 companies have a global health strategy, while 74% have an environmental strategy. Jha and Sands discuss why that is, and what corporate leaders can do to change it in Most CEOs Don’t Have A Global Health Strategy. That Needs To Change
3. Christina Hager, Head of Social Media Strategy at Overflow Storytelling Lab: “The authority and universal respect required for thought leadership take time and hard work to develop.”
Attn: aspiring or semi-established thought leaders. Posting one 300-word “article” to your LinkedIn every month and a half isn’t going to cut it. If you want to shout with leading industry voices, be consistent. Engage with your audience. Network with other thought leaders. You know the deal—but perhaps you need a reminder as to what exactly “the deal” entails. If so, check out Build Thought Leadership Across The Digital Space With Engagement And Consistency.
4. Benjamin Crudo, CEO of Diff, a full-service e-commerce solutions agency: “As the CEO of an e-commerce agency in a jurisdiction where cannabis was recently legalized, I’ve realized there is a middle ground to strike—and it starts with including your team in decisions around how to handle weed at work.”
Crudo says “we need to clear the smoke about cannabis in the workplace.” I see your solid pun, Ben, and raise you my own: It’s high time for companies to talk about legalized cannabis. If your company stocks a few beers in the kitchen fridge to be sipped on Friday afternoons, then shouldn’t a joint on your smoke break be cool, too? Who knows. We aren’t discussing the still-taboo idea at work, a study suggests. But we should soon, says Crudo in We Need to Clear the Smoke About Cannabis in the Workplace.
5. GeekWire Managing Editor Taylor Soper introducing 10 founder startup tips: “Validate the market. Sell before you build. Seek failure. And go all in.”
Techstars: It’s one of America’s premier seed accelerators. This Q&A introduces all 10 startups part of its newest class and draws insight from the founders leading them. Read the big words behind the big stuff happening over at Techstars’ Seattle incubator here: Meet the newest Techstars Seattle class: 10 founders share their pitch and startup tips
