The following article was originally posted in 2016 after we were first certified as a B Corp. It was updated in March 2022.

When Global Leadership Foundation was established in 2003 we were very clear about what we wanted to achieve and the impact we wanted to have. We had personally and professionally experienced a range of less-than-effective business practices, organisational cultures and leadership (often well ‘below the line’) that led to greed and competition, nothing changing, people leaving and, ultimately, businesses failing.

We had also seen and experienced the opposite: organisational cultures featuring high levels of staff retention and discretionary effort, increased partnerships and collaboration and sustained, profitable business outcomes, including in not-for-profits. We had seen that these businesses were characterised by leadership that was mindful and maintained a strong sense of wellbeing; that consciously chose the way in which they engaged others; that understood their impact (and that of their organisations) on their people, the customers they served and the communities they operated in.

This may not seem like a great insight – it may seem like no more than simple ‘common sense’. However, our experience was that effective leadership was definitely not ‘common practice’. It was quite unusual to find great examples of these ‘above-the-line’ organisations.

As a result of our observations and experience, we set out to raise the emotional health levels of leaders across the globe to build and support an increasing number of above-the-line leaders and businesses.

Early on it seemed as though we had taken to a lonely path.

When we talked to leaders about such things as mindfulness, enhanced wellbeing and increasing levels of consciousness, we were often met with puzzled looks. The same went for concepts such as abundance instead of scarcity, collaboration instead of competition, ‘giving away’ intellectual property rather than hoarding it, focusing on long-term business sustainability over short-term goals, and being a ‘steward’ for an organisation, its community and the wider environment.

We were often asked for proof of the benefits of these things. We were told, ‘It will never work around here’ and ‘We have to compete in order to get ahead’. Some even asked us what cloud we were on.

However, this was not always the case. We also found many others (both leaders and colleagues) who were on a similar path and who welcomed the opportunity to consolidate and strengthen what they were already working on. Many of these became our clients, colleagues, Fellows and friends and have grown into long-term partners and collaborators. They continue to give us the impetus and encouragement to continue the journey we started.

Over time it has become clear that the benefits of working in an above-the-line, emotionally healthy way are being more widely recognised, providing the motivation for others to take this path. Better still, there are now organisations like B Lab that make it their business to recognise such businesses and their organisational cultures.

B Lab started certifying B Corporations (or B Corps) in 2006 in the USA to recognise ‘for profit’ organisations that meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. In some ways, B Corp certification is to business what Fair Trade certification is to coffee.

Today, there is a quickly growing community of more than 4700 Certified B Corps across 78 countries and over 155 industries, all working together toward one unifying goal: to redefine success in business through using business as a ‘force for good’.

We are honoured to be part of this movement, recognising Global Leadership Foundation amongst a group of like-minded organisations that (in our words) are contributing to raising the emotional health levels of everyone on the planet through what they do.

As Rose Marcario, former CEO of outdoor clothing supplier Patagonia, put it: ‘The B Corp movement is one of the most important of our lifetime, built on the simple fact that business impacts and serves more than just shareholders – it has an equal responsibility to the community and to the planet.’

The path we chose is not as lonely as it used to be. The number of B Corps has almost tripled in the last six years. While progress is always slower than we would like, it is nonetheless being made. The recognition of positive, above-the-line organisational cultures, cultures characterised by higher levels of emotional health, is a huge step forward. It will be fascinating to both watch and be a part of this growth over the coming years.

Gayle

In March 2022, the B Corp movement in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand launched a bright new website featuring many examples of successful B Corps along with information for organisations interested in joining the movement. www.bcorporation.com.au.  

Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash