Balancing business and common good

Annalea Krebs is excited.

Her business, ethicalDeal, recently received the Better Business Bureau Advancing Marketplace Trust award - not bad for an online company barely a year old. Krebs, the founder and CEO of the group buying site that introduces consumers to socially responsible services and products, has expanded operations to a team of 15 people based in three cities, Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto and she's been able to do it while staying true to her values.

"I still want most things - eat out, go travelling, I like clothes - I want to do those things in a way I know is going to create a sustainable future and allow me to live a healthy lifestyle." Krebs, a 2008 Bachelor of Commerce alumna, describes herself as a "mainstream consumer" who was looking for an easy and fun way to go green. When she had trouble finding it, she created ethicalDeal.

"What's great about doing what I do is I feel like I'm living a very aligned life," Krebs said. "It's possible for everyone to live a life aligned with their values. I'm simply trying to share what I was looking for."

Part of that sharing includes modeling the action.

"As leaders we are championing the humanization and personalization of a brand," Krebs said. "I think being authentic and transparent and walking the talk is important in any business and just being human."

She cites her website's blog where she reveals some personal challenges to living green as one example of how she puts a human face to the business. "It's important for me to be an honest and ethical leader and showing that I'm not the 100 per cent perfect green consumer is part of that."

Marilyn Taylor, director of the Institute for Values-Based Leadership at Royal Roads, agrees and says there is a growing recognition that balancing the common good with healthy self interest in business is good for everyone.

"(But) no innovation will last if it's not supported by the culture, and organizational cultures can't be improved without the political will and commitment of their senior leaders," she said.

Culture is collective values in action, whether conscious or unconscious. "Just like personal values are the GPS of individuals, culture is the GPS of organizations," said Taylor, who is one of the featured speakers Feb. 7 at the Leadership for a New Economy and Uncertain World event in Vancouver. The focus is on values-based leadership and the role it plays in strengthening communities.

That's the concept social entrepreneur Aaron Smith used to drive his business idea. Last year he was looking for a way to combine his desire to make a living with "helping as many people as possible." After experiencing a perspective shift as a student at Royal Roads, he was looking for social enterprise role models, but couldn't find anyone "leading the parade."

This past fall the RRU BComm alumnus, started govoluntouring.com, an online community matching volunteer projects with eco-volunteers.

He says the social enterprise community is relatively new and as such a bit of a gray area. "We want to generate profit for the sake of growing local economies, for the sake of personal interest and for long term sustainability, but you also want to make sure how you grow that profit is done so in a responsible manner."

Unlike regular business, he shares all of his marketing data and research with his partners. "We are completely transparent, so I operate in the same way non-profits do."

"If I can be an example or role model of a future business, a positive social enterprise that does generate profit, that does enact grassroots change and provide employment, then perhaps another student from Royal Roads or another person can say 'if this clown can do it, so can I.'"

He may sound lighthearted, but he is deeply passionate about his approach and it's beginning to pay off.

"We're seeing double-digit growth in users every month," said Smith. "We've connected over 300 volunteers to projects in just under 30 countries around the world."

And that's where he sees value.

Written by Doug Ozeroff (doug.1ozeroff@royalroads.ca)

Posted Jan. 16, 2012

Learn more about the conference, Leadership for a New Economy and an Uncertain World through featured speaker Tor Eneroth’s view on values-based leadership here.