Even after 33-years at Goble Properties, it is still fun to see others bewildered when I value people over profits, communities over growth, or the environment over margins. Of course I’ve failed many times on all counts. But when I do get it right, it often stands out as counter-cultural in the business world.
Which in turn triggers conversations about why I made a decision, which allows me to share how faith is central to my values.
Last week I wrote about social enterprise being a gateway to spiritual conversations with the wealthy. Within a few hours of posting those thoughts I received an email and a letter with two fun stories.
First, we were one of the first backers of the HUB centers popping up around the USA. The investment just paid financial fruit and it’s great to see the amazing progress. As the HUB people said in the letter, it was a “groundbreaking investment in what at the time was a muse of something we all believed in, but was largely unproven and certainly before “co-working” was on the tip of every tongue.”
Today there is not one HUB, but nine and going to 20 fast. It is a proven concept as thousands of social entrepreneurs reach velocity faster. They create new business models, new products, new ideas … some of which will change the world for the better. I’m proud to be one of the groundbreakers.
So what does this mean on a spiritual level? When people of faith engage the business community there are opportunities to influence values. Good values will positively impact employees, neighbors, communities, and whole nations.
It doesn’t always work that way, of course. But it can often work if we keep our hearts and minds focused on what is really important.
Soon after receiving the letter from the HUB folks, an email updated me on a new PathLight endeavor in Belize. The Sponsorship+ students prepared cacao seeds for planting on the Jaguar Creek property. In a few years those seeds will grow into trees and we should have our own chocolate!
This small effort could create dozens of jobs and generate needed revenue for a region of the world plagued by unemployment and scarcity. It will take a skilled farmer, combined with a financial overseer, but this endeavor should produce a profit as it makes a difference. It’s a classic “doing well while doing good” example of social enterprise at work.
For business people it is an opportunity to engage the world by modeling good values. Business people can join in this effort, expressing their passions and utilizing their skills while making a difference.
By the way, the chocolate industry has a long history of exploiting children, so we want to do just the opposite. We want the kids to turn the experience into something joyful, something fun, something to look forward to. My hope is that those kids who spent time preparing the seeds are the first to taste the chocolate in a few years, and the first to receive the financial benefits of a profitable enterprise.
You gotta admit, that’s pretty cool.
Here are a few pictures of the kids preparing the seeds:
