C3MD hosted another fabulous Coffee and Collaboration event on Tuesday, March 14, with Stakeholder Orientation as the focal point. We referred members to a guest blog post by C3MD member and Culture Principles Founder Danielle Marshall. While providing a great overview of the conscious stakeholder orientation model, she got us thinking about strategies to deepen our Stakeholder Orientation practices by reenvisioning what it means to be a key stakeholder and beginning to make the process more equitable.
“Businesses may find it difficult to prioritize when faced with conflicting interests from multiple stakeholders. For example, shareholders may need immediate returns on their investments, while employees may need higher wages or better health insurance. It can be challenging for businesses to balance these competing concerns ethically while still creating value for all stakeholders involved. There is no magic bullet here, yet with intentionality, thoughtfulness, and ongoing commitment, you can take advantage of a phased process that moves us away from either/or thinking to a both/and approach.”
You can read Danielle’s full article here.
C3MD President Liz Richardson led us through a video produced by Conscious Capitalism Inc. to serve as a primer for our discussion. Here is a link to that Stakeholder Orientation in Action video.
We talked about what stakeholder groups we considered ourselves part of, as well as the stakeholders that were most important in our personal and business lives. Liz shared a list from conscious leader and the owner of Michigan’s Zingerman’s Bakery, Ari Zingerman, that covered essential points in having the stakeholder orientation:
- Honoring the essential humanity of the person we interact with
- Be authentic in our interactions
- Having a meaningful say
- Begin every interaction with positive beliefs
- A commitment to helping everyone get to greatness
- Creating some sense of meaningful equity
She also shared one of her favorite conscious business blogs from Ari Zingerman, called the Zing Train, which always has thought-provoking, conscious business themes. For those who want to dive deeper into some of the ideas we discussed, Liz also recommended the book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization, by Peter Sanje.
The discussion was so rich that our time was up before we were ready. Because of the interest, we decided to do part two next month. Danielle Marshall graciously agreed to lead us through an Equity Lens Alignment discussion. Can’t wait! And we hope you’ll join us.
––Wendy Baird, C3MD Board Member
Thank you to C3MD Board Member Wendy Baird for this meeting recap post. If you are interested in submitting a guest blog post please reach out. We want to hear what you have to offer!
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