Wendi Momen

Present from the very first founding meeting of ebbf back in 1990 in Chamonix, at the base of Mount Blanc, current ebbf board member and general secretary Wendi Momen (see her profile on ebbf’s members platform) has been, throughout her life, a passionate promoter of creating equal opportunities for women and men.

She is now about to catch a plane taking her to New York, to the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations where she will be representing ebbf. We took this opportunity to ask her about the CSW, about the topic of the equality of women and about, her thoughts and activities in this, one of ebbf’s seven core values.

ebbf: when and what is the CSW event?

Wendi: the Commission on the Status of Women is one of oldest commissions of the UN, set up back in 1946. It is charged with overseeing issues that states parties and UN are dealing with in relation to women, overseeing that agenda and ensuring that the status of women is appropriately promoted and funded and gets the attention from government that it requires

Representatives from the member governments meet every year for two weeks to, hopefully,  reconfirm and even upgrade the commitments they have made previously for the progress of women. This year the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of  Women is about to start and will run from the 27th of February to 9th of March.

ebbf: what are some of the key topics that will be covered at CSW this year?

Wendi: The main  focus area this year is that of rural women, looking at their access to health, education, water, etc. and their role in alleviating poverty and in wealth creation. Women living in rural areas have  greater difficulty accesses these  that do women living in cities, or do men in general. We know that when women  are  involved in entrepreneurial activities, their work has a  direct consequence on the the wellbeing of their rural communities. Whether you live in the “global south”  or in the “global north”, the fact that you are living in an isolated  rural environment means that your access to healthcare, transportation, communications, education, money for loans is inevitably harder than if you lived in a city. Then there are the effects of climate change on rural women and the effects of globalization.  We are beginning to recognize  the importance of supporting rural development (and the specific role of women in making this happen), which can enable us to avoid the disastrous effects of urbanization with the worrying growth of disorganized mega cities and the exodus from rural areas, which are, basically, the food producing areas.

ebbf: what concepts / ideas will you bring to CSW?

Wendi: The way our society is structured right now is not working for women, for children and as a consequence not even for men and most definitely not for the  development and overall prosperity of society. I also connect these “status of women” issues with ideas about how  business and its structures need to change to enable women to be at their most effective, on the one hand, for businesses to maximie their own potential on the other, both of which have a big impact on sustainable societies. The key messages  hinge on the link between poverty alleviation and wealth creation,, providing more opportunities for women entrepreneurs to  develop a new economical, environmental and  social model that works for the whole community. Practically, we are  at the CSW cosponsoring with   UN Women UK, Advance and Naserian a workshop on `Growth and the Female Entrepreneur’, which looks at the contribution women entrepreneurs in rural areas are making towards the economic growth of their countries. We have practitioners from Europe, the USA and, most importantly,the “global south”. We will show examples of the work that has already been done  by women entrepreneurs, where women in rural settings have set up their own enterprises. For example, one of the speakers comes from WiRE (Women in Rural Enterprises) and she will share some of WiRE UK’s projects e.g. where a collective of women set up in a rural setting developed a whole range of products that can be made at home and sold jewellery, dairy products, gifts, clothes of very high standard and so on, as well as IT services.

ebbf: what is your thinking in the area of the equality of women and men?

Wendi: this is an age in which we need to understand that the equality of women and men is a a foundational  truth at the base of civilization. It is not merely a way to organise society more fairly, important as that is. It is not only about giving women opportunities to advance,  or even giving women the rights that  men may have. These are extremely important, of course. But the equality of women and men goes beyond even these. It is a basic truth about the nature of human beings and it means that every aspect of our social life – at home, at work, in the community, in politics – needs to change to reflect it.  As I said, people need to recognise this is  foundational  truth upon which the whole of civilization rests.

We are seeing today that when there are pressures in the economy it is women who suffer most. Take the example of the latest figure on people at work in the UK that just came out and you can see how the number of women at work is at its lowest for three decades. This tells us something about the structures in our society, how when things get difficult, it is women whose work is less valued, who leave the workforce, who act as cushion against cuts in social welfare by looking after children and elders, who forego salaries to provide services voluntarily. While in the “global north” it may  seem ok to have men at work fulltime whilst women  work parttime , but in the “global south” women coming out of employment is not just aboutwomen losing opportunities; it is a setback for the entire family, village, society. It is a well-documented fact that when men have `enough’ or excess money, they  generally spend it on themselves, buying status items like watches or cars  whereas women tend to reinvest in the wellbeing of their children, starting  with nutrition, education and healthcare.

Equality is not just about women but also about men. Men  would benefit from rethinking the way they behave in in their families and communities.  Does their behaviour enable or prevent progress? Men and boys need to think of their role and responsibilities  improving  family life, not just economically but in terms of caring roles.  Equality is also about reshaping and creating structures and institutions that will allow both women and men to  develop their potential and to offer it to humanity for the progress of the whole society.  To foster the ethical and moral advancement of their communities,attitudes need to evolve. Women themselves are sometime complicit  allowing `the powers that be’ to marginalize them expecting them to be  the buffer  when things go wrong in a society. Women need to leave room for men to also take on more responsibilities.

ebbf: your life has been dedicated to providing equal opportunities to women and men, what was the spark that started your interest in  this topic? Was it something that happened around you?

Using a talk-show format, Wendi Momen (European Baha'i Business Forum), left, asks Liz Benham (International Federation of Business and Professional Women) about challenges facing women in the male-dominated field of construction.

Wendi: It was a long time ago, what stated me on this journey back  in 1976 when I was in my 20s during a visit I made to a West African country. I was there to do my research for my PhD on the foreign policy of that nation – it  had absolutely nothing to do with a “focus on women”.

I was speaking with the minister of agriculture of that nation about a soft loan that the government  was receiving from China for agricultural development and he was telling me how the money would be used for machinery to help men  process their peanut  crop, which was an export crop.

As I was sitting talking to him, I was also looking out the window of his office at the women working in the fields right outside the ministry. There were the women, standing in muddy water, planting rice. As I was listening to the minister talk, I  realized that the money was going to go into the hands of men producing  food for export but none of it would reach  the women who produced the food for eating. This is a country which was relying on food aid from the UN.

I put it to the minister that as the country had a plan to become self sufficient in rice within five years, c, wouldn’t it be more sensible to  invest some of that Chinese money  in the women farmers – giving them better equipment, better fertilizers, etc. but he did not understand at all what I was talking about. It was like he was blind. He had no idea of the role of women in  his country’s economy.

But that was not all. Later, when I met those women out in their fields, as American young British-American woman  25 years old, I thought  how cruel and harsh it was hat such old women had to perform such hard work. Their faces were so weather-beaten, so lined and reflecting so much hardship. To my astonishment I realized how they were actually only 5 years older than  I was! The lines in their faces and their poor physical state  were due to their gruelling    work and their lack of healthcare  – I really thought they were 60 years old!

So the combination of the lack of insight by the government  about the important role of those women and the unnoticed toll that work was  taking on  them is what  made me passionately start to work for the recognition of this fundamental, foundational principle of the equality of women and men and towards raising the r awareness  of other women, men and governments  about the role women can play and do play in the economic development of their own countries and need for equal opportunities, equal rights and equal recognition.

ebbf: have you seen any progress in this area over the years?

Wendi: one of the things that has been great for me is working with other women and men who support this concept at these UN events and  the collaboration with  large number of organizations that are     involved., There is a growing interest and recognition of these issues and an increasing number of organizations active in this field. Many governments, too, are trying to address these issues in positive ways. Not all are doing this, which is why it is important for organisations like ebbf to continue to attend the CSW and other UN events and put these ideas in front of them.

There are many successes,  and an increased awareness of these issues around the world. The very fact that this commission exists gives rise to oversight and scrutiny at least once  a year of this key topic.Even though some governments try to dismantle the progress that has been made, and others may  not wish to subscribe to the principle of the equality of women and men and its implications for the structures in their countries, it is harder and harder for them to prevent the progress of women. For example, because they are part of the UN system, they have signed up for  responsibilities regarding the advancement of women –  so for example, access to higher education is now accepted

What we still don’t have is women on boards…

You ask what I am doing. Well, just to pick one very practical example. I am working with Naserian, which  is working with Maasai widows in Tanzania, to train them in their human rights and  also to develop their entrepreneurialskills for wealth creation. This is just one example of the growing number of  useful, practical ways in which organizations are making a direct difference. We are currently working with  women in six villages. There is a  goat project where the women  sell milk and cheese then using the surplus for the education and welfare of their children. It is still a very small project but already we have seen changesin perceptions, in the self-respect of the women and in their ability of to provide for themselves and their children.

For me, the key is for both women and men to champion equality. I believe that individuals can change – I see the evidence all around me – and that their communities and institutions can also change. At this stage, it is about both women and men really understanding that fundamental truth at the base of civilization – that men and women are equal – and then embedding it in everything they do, think and say.

You will be able to follow Wendi’s experience at the CSW summit and interact with her checking @ebbf ‘s twitter account for the hashtag #csw_ebbf

A few meaningful jobs that might interest you for this Friday post:

• European Program Manager for CSR at Intel – see website
• FastCompany is looking for:
  - a web developer  - see websit
  – a design intern – see website
• The Harvard Business Review is recruiting a senior editor: see this job offer
• IFOR, the International Fellowship for reconciliation is looking for a WPP Communications Officer: http://forusa.org/blogs/ifor/ifor-job-posting-wpp-communications-officer/10212
• The Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the eradication of slavery. They are now looking for a CEO / Executive Director in New York. See here the link.
• And you can find on 2degrees website a wealth of meaningful positions, such as
  - Sustainability Director in London
  - Corporate Social Responsibility Manager in Dublin
  - Global Environmental Manager in Cambridge
  - and MANY more on 2degrees website here

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The request: ebbf members wishing to extend the “meaningful conversations” they enjoy during ebbf international and local events beyond those face to face encounters.

The ebbf answer: recent ebbf member Ravi Purushotma (whom you can also connect with on ebbf’s members platform) introduced ebbf to an online conversation technology and we asked a group of ebbf volunteers to join the 1st “ebbf meaningful hangout”.  So we have people joining the conversation connecting from far apart cities such as Lisbon, San Francisco, Madrid, Chicago, Lille, Belfast, Freiburg … testing how well it served our objective of enjoying / learning / sharing new ideas in our quest to find ways to contribute to a prosperous, just and sustainable civilization through our daily workplaces.

Ravi’s proposed theme was ”how gaming can help us rethink the way we operate, train and educate in our workplaces”
After viewing this inspiring TED Talk by Jane McGonigal.

Sharing some of the ideas and questions that came out from that 1st “ebbf meaningful hangout”:

Fascinating to see how using a “gaming” environment all the weight of tasks and chores is actually transformed into challenges you are eager to take on, as you enter the “gaming” mentality of overcoming the challenge to reach the next level.
How can we get into that “gaming” mindset of wanting to get to the next level and wanting new challenges and looking forward to new tasks?

It goes beyond just gaming, this is really about using the arts and creativity. How is it actually going to solve the worlds problems? And the conversation then went onto offer current examples of games that are addressing issues from basic guitar learning apps, to language development games, to restructuring decision making mindsets.

Looking at the time dedicated to gameplay and applying it to the betterment of the world is a great use. Concerns: what are the assumptions? are we playing them because we’re bored? what kinds of motivations are we tapping into? How can we move towards an idea that we’re trying to sacrifice for the common good?

The clear winner is when the game is put into practice, when it does not remain detached from reality (remaining just a game) and is instead connected to a workplace challenge and to fruitful action.
In games people have less inhibitions and are ready to experiment further even in the  usually stricter “guidelines” of our workplaces. Gaming needs some PR as it may be seen as not conducive to work, smartphones and apps are opening a new mentality.

The collaborative element of games is another key element: the example of the world of warcraft was often mentioned as a way to support individuals, to have teams working together to overcome challenges. The TED Talk video itself underlined the social fabric – we like people better after we have played with them, trust people who have played with us, who have followed the same rules to help us achieve an “epic goal”.

A good “game” would be one that has people collaborating, that does solve a practical problem one may face but also be contributing towards a broader purpose and that highlights the values that the team used to get there.
Two categories of desired outcomes:
- a “school learning” game that teaches you maths or other practical skills
- other learnings that are not taught in school larger moral, spiritual learning and new game models which is what is being developed now.

Those highlights from the 1st “ebbf meaningful hangout” linked to the knowledge that at least three of the people involved in that call are currently re-programming our learning and creating new “games”, new educational methods made it an overall success and a tool that ebbf will from now open up to its membership to create regular online video conversations.

ebbf now aims to collect your desired next themes / questions / issues that you would like to see covered to:
. create a schedule of “ebbf meaningful hangouts”
. invite you and a team of “experts” to enjoy meaningful conversations on the topic
. thus creating new ideas and solutions to your questions and issues that will be shared with the ebbf global audience.

So now it is up to you to decide:

which themes or issues would you like to see covered in the next “ebbf meaningful hangouts”?

We asked active ebbf member and AIESEC alumni Eleonora Ferrero about her dreams and her energy and how she benefitted and you can make good use of the long-standing successful ebbf-AIESEC partnership.
She will be working alongside ebbf board member Mahmud Samandari, as ebbf’s liaison for AIESEC activities and can be contacted at the new aiesec[at]ebbf.org email helping you make the most of the opportunities of this partnership.

I HAVE A DREAM
In a near future, all companies in the world will work based on CSR and following ethical values.
Entrepreneurs and Managers will be able to run sustainable business, with profit for the company, for the shareholders and all stakeholders.
Moral leadership and social business will change the old business model.
The market leaders are the ones who will be able to change the world trough a sustainable innovation process

ebbf: Eleonora, is there a moment in your life when this dream surfaced?

Eleonora Ferrero ebbf's liaison for AIESEC activities

Eleonora: During my University years, getting in contact with positive leaders I found in AIESEC and ebbf, I learned the kinds of positive business models that can be applied. I heard about social business and CSR, but not just in theoretical way, meeting many individuals who lived and run this successfully in their businesses.
Then, when I left University and AIESEC’s realities, I discovered that the world around me was not aligned with those principles and that is when this dream of mine surfaced!
I felt the responsability to do something concrete in order to show others how meaningful changing “old” business models can be. And thankfully we are surrounded by crisis all around the world (economic, enviromental, human, social, etc), and people are looking for new development strategies, for new ways forward.

1. Change.org is offering a few positions that you can find on their website

What strikes us about change.org is the proof of the potential influence of the individual in today’s highly connected world. It is one of a number of platforms that demonstrated how much a single person can achieve and influence making use of ease in which people around the globe can be united and active around issues they care about. It underlines how a passive attitude suffering the actions of irresponsible unethical organizations is coming to an end.
This trend also shows innovative companies how moving towards responsible behaviours that respect, engage in dialogue and truly serves its stakeholders is what will provide them with the success that they strive for.

This is how change.org describes itself
“Change.org is a rapidly expanding, profitable social venture growing by hundreds of thousands of members a month and empowering people across the globe to win social action campaigns on a wide range of issues such as human rights, global poverty, and environmental protection. Our current partners include hundreds of the world’s largest nonprofits, including Amnesty International, Sierra Club, Human Rights Campaign, and the United Nations Foundation.”

2. ETHICAL PERFORMANCE
This is another values-based organization that has a dedicated webpage listing a wealth of other sustainable, responsible and definitely meaningful job offers.

Check out on their website over 20 currently open positions around the world.

With this first post of the year dedicated to meaningful careers, ebbf will be working hard to serve you and allow you to both raise the awareness of how much influence you already have and accompany you to a place of even higher influence in your contribution towards a prosperous, just and sustainable civilisation through your daily work.

Larry Miller – encouragement and purpose

The following is an extract from a longer post from ebbf member Larry Miller which introduces us into 2012.

“OK, I know. You are going to exercise more often, eat less fatty food, lose weight, save more money, and maybe even write that book you have been swearing you would write for the past five years! And, maybe you can add a few things to your list that won’t be so hard to do and which will actually improve your own performance, and that of those around you.

Here are some suggestions guaranteed to improve performance in almost any work place.

Let’s agree to encourage others. I know it is a simple and obvious thing. But, we all thrive on encouragement. Let us agree to see the potential, not simply the current reality, in each of our team members. There is something I like to call “creative dissatisfaction” which is the gap between who we are and who we know we could become… and, there is always a gap, no matter how great we may be. Rather than pointing out what I am not (and there is lots you could point to!), how about pointing to what or who I could become? It’s a small difference that makes a huge difference. When I have a vision of who I could become I develop a drive, that creative dissatisfaction, to achieve, to close that gap.

Strive to become a scientist in the coming year. It may sound strange, but how we make judgments are often colored by learned biases. Continuous improvement is the result of the continuous design of experiments, watching the data, understanding cause and effect and the humility to say “Oh, well, that one didn’t work. Let’s try something else.” The great managers, like the great scientists, respect the data and have the courage to experiment and to learn from what the data is telling them.

Demonstrate through your deeds the value of the world’s greatest experts who are on-the-spot. The traditional culture of our organizations has taught us that “moving up” is valued; those who have been promoted up in the organization must be worth more. We naturally value them. But, who actually serves customers? Who does the real work that adds value to customers and who become genuinely expert in the process of serving customers? It is most often not those who are “up” but those who have their hands on the real work. The Gemba walk is a philosophy, not merely something you do with your feet and the philosophy is to learn from and value those who are on-the-spot.

Find the Noble in Your Work: We all live our lives in the moment, struggling to do what is urgent, but always longing to find the important, that which is noble and worthy in our work. The most primary source of motivation is the search for meaning, the desire to accomplish something worthy. I believe it is important to meditate on what we do and why it is important. The best public speaking advice I ever heard was to be certain, before you stand in front of an audience, that you have something genuinely important to say, something important for that audience. If you don’t believe you have something important to say, there is no way you can fool the audience into believing it is important. Management and leadership are the same. Have something important to say. Meditate on how you and your company are making this world just a little bit better each year. And, then say it to your employees. Make life in your organization important and worthy.

I am sure you can think of other commitments you can make going into the New Year. It is a good time to reflect on how we can each improve, both personally and professionally. It would be a good idea to ask your entire management team to reflect on their own behavior and how they could each improve, how they could each contribute to the collective performance of the group.

And, oh…, I will complete that book I have been working on for the past five years!!! “

You can read Larry Miller’s complete new year’s resolutions that have impact post on his own Management Meditations blog.

MITx riding the wave of free collaborative learning

One wonders why so many companies and organisations are being so slow in adopting the full implications of the web 2.0 . The majority of production, decision making, training methodology is stil entrenched in the web 1.0 one-way passive system instead of embracing the multi-stakeholder sharing and co-creation opportunities of web 2.0 platforms.

The prestigious Massachusettes Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) is about to show the possibilities of shifting towards sharing collaborative systems adding another layer, increasingly present in today’s technology: making it free.

You can read here an article that gives the news of this new MITx online course that will allow anyone (without any need to enter admission exams or pay a cent) to attend its online interactive courses, usually reserved to a very small “elite” of academically talented and financially comfortable individuals.

I see three important implications of this apparently brave move, part of a growing trend:

1. a prestigious college that re-thinks its purpose
now giving the opportunity to the entire (English speaking) world to learn and develop itself, ultimately serving what I think should be the ultimate purpose of an academic institution: offering universal education that will in turn increase the possibilities of the advancement of civilisation thanks to a major new wave of empowered individuals; the new “students” who will develop their knowledge and skills through these new MITx courses.

2. addressing the current, increasing, gap between rich and poor
people who can afford education, horizon-expanding travel, the potential to connect and increase their network of influence kept increasing their wealth, the rest of the world got poorer. These MITx web 2.0 open source solutions are now giving the opportunity to people regardless of their wealth (as long as they can afford / have access to an internet connection) to gain those same opportunities.

3. the decrease in people’s need for “certificates” and increase for only-what-I-need knowledge and services
This MITx course will be totally free with a likely small fee if you wish to receive an “official MITx certificate” at the end of the course. My sense is that individuals, specially younger generations, are much less concerned in getting the official document that testifies they have attended a prestigious college and increasingly interested in the actual skills and new knowledge that they can gain by attending prestigious best-in-class courses.
I also get a sense that more and more “students” will be seeking for specific courses, most relevant to their passion or area of interest. There will be less interest to attend a year-long course that will include some irrelevant classes and a wish to only pick what they need and want.

The beauty of web 2.0 platforms and the connected social media is that it is now easier than ever to find or have your friends point you to where you can find what will be an increasing amount of free, excellent, relevant content.

I see this as one the the great revolutions of our time that will allow for the fulfillment and development of the unlimited latent capacities of human beings. A positive revolution that will allow the positive advancement of civilisation.

Congratulations to M.I.T. and to the other pioneers able to ride this new collaborative, open sharing wave: will you be the next user or the next creator of open free platforms?

BCG opening for marketing in sustainability area

ebbf member Vahid Khamsi sends this very interesting job offer of marketing manager reporting to the director of Sustainability at Boston Consulting Group,
preferably in the Geneva office.

1st JOB DESCRIPTION:
The primary role of this position is to support Knut Haanæs (Head of BCG Global Sustainability Initiative) and Ingrid Velken (Global Manager for the Sustainability Initiative). The primary focus of this position is to help develop and execute the marketing agenda which includes knowledge development, client outreach programs, external and internal publications, practice PR, client conferences (BCG‐branded or BCG‐sponsored), as well as internal communication activities: newsletter, PA updates, etc.This individual will be an integral part of the Sustainability Initiative core Team and so will also participate in other key projects to further build the practice area agenda.The successful candidate will report to the Sustainability Global Manager. He/she will also work closely with the Global Leader as well as other members of the core team.

you can download here the full job description and application procedure.

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Daniel Schaubacher forwards this other meaningful job opening at ebbf’s frequent partners EABIS:

2nd JOB DESCRIPTION:
EABIS – The Academy of Business in Society is seeking a Communications Coordinator.

It is a full time contract for an initial period of 12 months with the intention to extend.
We are looking for a dynamic and organised person to coordinate EABIS communications for projects, events and the EABIS brand.
The position is ideal for a recent graduate with up to 3 years of work experience.
Download here the full job description and don’t hesitate to share it with friends!
The deadline is Monday 30 January 2012.

Yi Chi learning and developing her values-based career by asking the right questions

ebbf member Yi Chi has a very interesting story to tell from her decision to leave her hometown of Nanjing, an ancient capital of China, at the age of 16 up to her current position of Vendor Relations Manager at a Banking Group in Toronto, Canada.

We first asked Yi Chi about her first big step, a decision that many young professionals ask us: how did you choose your MBA?

To take an overseas MBA is a leap of faith for a lot of young professionals who grow up in mainland China and aspire to expand their horizons in life and career. The old discourse from cold war is fading and the new discourse is yet to be built. In the middle there is materialism not driven by greed but more by lack of understanding. How can we better understand the dynamics and build dialogue beyond the dichotomy of the east and the west, the communism and the capitalism, and the developing and the developed?

During the process of MBA application, Chinese applicants face the same challenges as other international applicants in English skills, cross-culture communication, and financial resources.

However, the biggest challenge is lacking of emotional support.
When stepping out of my comfort zone in life and career, I would very much like to open my mind to understand all the differences I encountered.
I very much hoped to have a mentor who could walk me along the path, not necessarily someone who shared the same background as me but someone with utmost care and curiosity in what I can offer in the mutual learning process!
It would be a tremendous support for a mentee to conquer my inner petty and fear, and embracing and contributing to the diversity!

We have a lot of research and publication on diversity, emotional intelligence, partnership and engagement, it seems to me there is a lot of room for our top North American business schools to keep innovating and improving, given the advantage in visibility across sectors and available financial resources. Ivey’s Shanghai office is just one of the innovations that may not work for every school. It is a step which is proved to be extremely helpful in my journey.

I truly hope to build a bridge of understanding, inspire business school and government, and most importantly, to encourage Chinese talents who are in China and overseas in the journey to embrace the world and call everyone of us to keep global unity and peace in mind in every workplace, because it is the vision of our globe where we work every single day.

QUESTION: After your MBA you took a role in organizational design and now in retail banking. How much of this is a designed path, something you wanted to do, and how much “just happened”?
What are you striving for in your career path and what is your motivation?

I got to where I am with a combination of both following my drive and priorities in life and things that just happened along the way.

Business can build bridges across countries. Business people are practical, diligent and open-minded. But my faith in business was challenged so severely. I quested and quested. Where is that utmost care and love that can help people overcome the fear, speak up, innovate, drive change and keep global unity in mind when working in their roles?

I aspire to create such drive in people because it is the spiritual capital that creates a new world and make business extraordinary and not just at bottom line.
A professor recommended me to explore Organizational Development.
Before the last semester in MBA program, I met an executive in HR/OD area.

This opportunity helped me to work in OD for a short while and then my current role vendor relations manager for a newly acquired business. Now, I am not just ensuring compliance and saving cost from an M&A deal. Instead, I help our service partners to deliver legendary experiences to those in financial difficulties across US and Canada. And I promote mutual learning to integrate acquired organizations with care and effectiveness.

I am motivated to work for global unity, including self-development for that purpose.
My first motivation comes from my roots. I was born and grew up in Nanjing, an ancient capital of China. During WWII more than 300 thousand people were killed. Both my parental grandparents were survivors and they told me their experiences when I was a child. In secondary school, every year on the massacre anniversary the teacher would say you were all indirect survivors.
So I ask myself, what do I survive for?
I survive not for revenge but for building peace and unity.
My hometown is also where Dr. Sun Yet-San’s cemetery is. His writing Universal Love becomes the image of the ancient Chinese city. And the universal love reconcile so well with Chinese ancient wisdom.

My second motivation comes from the people I encountered in life.
In the last two years before I left China, I met some friends  in Shanghai who moved to China, learned Chinese language, ate Chinese food and studied Chinese scriptures. Those two years changed my stereotype of the west and showcased me how to go beyond our limitation and love beyond our nationality or race.

When Ivey offered me their MBA place, I couldn’t pay for the tuition and was about to ask for help in Ivey’s Chinese alumni gathering. Then an old friend in Canada suggested to co-sign the student loan for me without me having to ask for this to happen. And my current employer is the only bank that approved my student loan.
So now when I feel sad in life, when I am angry, and when I am trapped in my own ego, I would tell myself “live well” because many wonderful individuals have believed in my potential, voted for me and become a crucial moment in my life.

I left home at 16 for university with no contacts or money but college tuition as many other people. If it wasn’t for the help of each of my friends, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be who I am today and strive for who I would like to be in the future.
And it is me who is responsible to develop that potential.

My third motivation comes from the Chinese talents who are so thirsty for knowledge with so few resources. When I was in consulting, I encountered many very talented young people who worked in factories at school age. Their living and working conditions were very poor but the thing they strived for first and foremost was knowledge.
I share the same thirst and values although I am wearing suits.
Once I was in a friend’s house in Shanghai, a carpenter with his apprentice came to fix things. The apprentice looked only around 16 years old and had very beautiful big black eyes. He looked at the collection of books on one side of the wall for about seven seconds. I could never forget his eyes.

Faith is definitely the driving force in my life, I see one of the purposes of Faith to strive for personal development that will in turn contribute towards an improvement in global civilization. And it is interpreted consciously and unconsciously by so many wonderful souls. Knowing they are there, before, together with and after me, I stand more firmly in my faith.

If education is not for the job you are doing today but for the job you will do in the future, if people today are only making the train faster whilst tomorrow they will be creating the airplane, I then ask myself a number of questions that challenge my progress and that of organizations I work with:
how can we accommodate intrapreneurs at workplace? How can we create social spaces to generate new knowledge from diversity?  How can we engage employees, build inclusiveness at workplace and develop talents based on common faith rather than temporary passion or ego? Are we and our organizations following the increasingly rapid changes with increasing anxiety on maintaining ROI and bottom line, or are we leading the changes collectively toward a common vision and horning skills to master spiritual dynamics and forces with beauty and care?

At the same time, I am thinking of my role as a translator to build cohesion to dissolve any boundary between the east and the west, the communism and the capitalism, the developing and the developed, and people of all religions and who have no religion.

QUESTION: in a conversation we were having, you highlighted a link to a Corporate Social Responsibility course. What is CSR and how do you see it happening and evolving today based on your direct experience in your recent companies?

We bring our values to business and vice the versa. If we can live up to our values in our lives, we can do it in business, vice the versa. I see CSR is currently a way in which the company can live in and contribute to the society (community, customers, employee, etc.) just as an individual would do.
Even though it is not seen as directly connected with business, I feel CSR is a beahaviour that should run in a business just like blood runs in our bodies.
The CSR program offered by that specific theology school offered a space for people to talk about their belief system as the foundation to building a values-based organization.

QUESTION: you shared the news of Claire Shih, a 29 year old entrepreneur and social media expert who was just asked to join the board of directors of Starbucks. What does that tell you? why is it important? what signal does it send?

As in Cisco’s white paper, we are transitioning from an education society to a learning society. I am curious how this young lady can bring her China heritage into her purpose.
This news is an example of how a young talented Asian can pursue her true dream rather than appealing to what the society expects (so-called career development, climb corporate ladder, so called lateral move, so called diversity, so called philanthrophy, etc.).

Furthermore, it shows how the only path to change the world is to be who we are.

QUESTION: you mentioned how important career development is for you, but a career development that is connected to who you are and what you want to achieve more broadly, Could you tell us a bit more about this?

I personally have this challenge – I don’t want to limit my career direction by saying I want to do supply chain or OD. Our career development is still about what is the next role in our organization, not what issue do you see and how you want to tackle it.
For example, when I am talking about my career with my boss: I want to include my Faith, my chinese background my main inspirations and motivations (as mentioned above). I think that “all of our being” should be openly mentioned in these conversations and form part of our career development. The skill of a good manager is to include and connect those personal motivations with the objectives of the organization.

That very frank and open conversation with my boss allowed him to suggested to me how I can focus on what I can do everyday, helping me to understand how to take a senior role in the company that would allow me to have the more positive influence that I look forward to bringing to my organization and the world surrounding it.

QUESTION: I am glad to find that we are both in the ebbf “WeValue Indicators” team.  Why in the we value team? what are you looking for there?

I was in WeValue initially to learn how to be a Baha’i inspired business professional. I am looking for potential partners, mentors, and tools, and am also looking for ways to be helped and supported in my active quest to engage like-minded business in Canada/China.

And that is my final wish: I so very look forward to enjoying conversations with like-minded individuals, with whom to share the issues we are facing and to support our respective development paths.
Striving to continuously learn, improve and design my career and my influence to tackle the issues of society that can contribute to a better, more united and loving global civilization.

Any volunteers?

George Starcher ebbf co-founder and president

Socially  Responsible Enterprise Restructuring (SRER) was the theme of the December meeting of the Geneva chapter of ebbf.

In the current climate the terms “layoffs”, “restructuring” or plain “firing” are all familiar ones. It is a painful situation for all the individuals involved in making the decision, executing it and of course for those who suffer it. That is why ebbf Geneva was fortunate enough to have ebbf co-founder and current president George Starcher available to give new insights and start a “meaningful conversation” around this topic. Below you can find highlights of new responsible approaches in this area.

ebbf pioneered the concept of SRER more than a decade ago with the publication of “Socially  Responsible Enterprise Restructuring:  A Joint Working Paper of the International Labour Office and the European Baha’i Business Forum.”
The study was directed by George Starcher, former senior partner at McKinsey and then Secretary General of ebbf, published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and then translated into several languages.

The recent Geneva breakfast meeting focused on several major conclusions of that study and endorsed a new  effort to bring this important management practice to the attention of executives, showing clearly the benefits of a responsible approach.

The overriding conclusion of the study was that Restructuring takes many different forms and affects part or all of an enterprise. Furthermore, it balances and consciously takes into consideration the interests and concerns of all stakeholders who are affected by the changes and decisions.

Furthermore, many companies ignore what the authors called “the logical hierarchy of restructuring” which focuses first on the higher payout initiatives. This hierarchy covers, in order of potential impact, eight priorities:
Strategic, ownership, revitalization, organization, production, outsourcing/insourcing, reducing non-personnel costs like purchasing, and finally, downsizing.
This hierarchy reflects a declining impact on stakeholders and a logical sequencing of the corresponding actions.

The third conclusion of the study is that if it is not possible to achieve sufficient profit improvement from the first several initiatives, then downsizing may be necessary and if so it should be carried out in a responsible way.
As Peter Drucker warned us,

“In many, if not most, cases, downsizing has turned out to be something that surgeons for centuries have warned against: amputation before diagnosis. The  result  is always a casualty.”

Responsible downsizing begins with a philosophy that human resources should be managed as an asset, not simply as a cost. A philosophy of continuous improvement avoids crises, as does careful planning of downsizing programs including determined efforts to avoid layoffs by practicing “No employee should be left alone to deal with a job problem.”

Should a company restructure?
Unless immediate survival is in doubt, any restructuring programme should begin by reviewing strategy and, if appropriate, redefine or redirect strategy before moving down the restructuring hierarchy to focus on cost reduction.
Some questions that should be asked in this phase could include:
• Does the basic business of the company need to be redefined?
• Would its competitiveness be considerably enhanced through merger or acquisitions?
• Could competitiveness be enhanced through joint ventures and alliances?
• Is there a need to rebalance the portfolio of businesses?
• Should the company divest certain businesses and activities?

Revitalizing as part of restructuring
In restructuring programmes aimed at reducing the work force, it is important to consider whether there are parallel opportunities to grow or revitalize the enterprise and thus create new jobs to which redundant personnel might be transferred.
Where do companies turn to find growth opportunities? The following are among the more important strategies for growth:
1. Superior responsiveness to the needs of key customers and markets.
2. Creative management of channels for marketing and distributing their products.
3. Effective sales force management to align efforts with potential and to align incentives with strategy.
4. Outstanding new product development and introduction.
5. Alliances and joint ventures.

What can we learn from companies that have downsized successfully?
1. Corporate social responsibility is engrained in the corporate ethic and code of conduct. To a large extent, success is assured or compromized before the issue of downsizing even comes up. Companies which seek to meet the needs of all stakeholders on an ongoing basis usually apply this same philosophy to downsizing. For example, the extent to which human resources are recognized and managed as important assets or simply as costs. The French group, Danone, for example, stated in a past Social Report, “No employee should be left alone to deal with a job problem and jobs must be created wherever they are destroyed.”

2. They adopt a philosophy of continuous improvement.
Whether volume is going up or down, they continuously seek opportunities to streamline processes and to eliminate work. They avoid overstaffing. Two key aspects of continuous downsizing are, first, anticipation of imbalances between skill needs and resources as various businesses grow and decline as well as the necessary reconversion and retraining for employability. The second aspect is the use of temporary personnel to meet peak needs and to perform work that is likely to be eliminated.

3. Their decision to downsize is well prepared.
4. They plan the downsizing process very carefully.
5. Their announcement strategy and communications are well prepared.
6. The implementation is well managed.

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You can read the full text of these and the other points in the 25 page document condensing the findings of this joint ILO-ebbf study and can also purchase the over 30 other ebbf publications that you can find clicking here.  or emailing: publications@ebbf.org

Considering the timeliness of this issue, and the pioneering views on responsible restructuring we feel should be offered, ebbf is also about to launch a wider interactive conversation on this topic of responsible restructuring that you can take part in at the next ebbf international event (11 – 13th of May in London – see here the ebbf events webpage )