Doing Good Business

• Helene Lerner


• 26 May 2015

A business leader, philanthropist, and kind-hearted soul—that’s Shari Arison, she’s owner of the global enterprise Arison Group which operates in more than 40 countries. This innovator has created a unique values-based model to run corporations while yielding returns on all levels – social, environmental, and financial. Here are some of her strategies on how to build a prosperous values-driven business, with practical applications for conducting your personal life as well.

Making the Right Choices 

For business: Financial freedom is the ability to choose, based on responsibility and understanding, the framework of abilities and economic possibilities at any given moment. You’re educated about what you have and operate from this vantage point.

Practicing Mindfulness 

For business: Mindfulness trains you to be able to shift gears from a busy state of “doing” to a state of “being.” It doesn’t mean we need to stop our lives. We continue to check our email, drive, and work, but in a mindful way with less autopilot. We learn to focus our attention on what is happening in the present moment, in a non-judgmental way.

For the individual: Respond from stillness and pause between activities. If the going “gets tough,” stop! Take a deep breath to center yourself. From this place, you can choose how you want to respond.

Volunteering  

For business: What management can do is encourage activism and support the efforts of employees who wish to do community work. Community involvement strengthens social ties and it is a great way to connect with people who have common interests, give of yourself, and learn new skills.

For the individual: Helping others through service fosters self-esteem also gives you a sense of purpose.

The Power of the Spoken Word 

For business: Words have the power to build people up or tear them down. While you can’t control how others will receive your messages, you can be sensitive and do your best to be authentic. Also, practice listening and become aware of what is really going on with people around you.

For the individual: One of the greatest gifts we can give people is to “hear” them. We may not agree with what they are saying, but we can acknowledge their point of view.

Call to Action  

For both: Once you connect with your own values, you have an important leadership role to play in helping to motivate and connect the people around you, to both their personal values and to the collective values that you adopt as a company or organization. Anyone can be a leader. No matter what field you’re in, or what shape or size your business is, if you’re a leader in your family, among your friends, in school, or just traveling through life: take action.

Adapted from “The Doing Good Model,” by Shari Arison, BenBella Books, Inc., 2015.