This week I am more than unreasonably fired up with the article Why MBAs should not sign the Harvard Business School oath written by by Theo Vermaelen,  Professor of Finance at INSEAD.  The MBA Oath is a voluntary oath drafted by the 2009 Harvard MBA graduates and is a significant  example of ethical leadership which  promotes corporate responsibility.

Professor Vermaelen suggests there are three reasons why MBA’s should NOT sign the Harvard Business School MBA Oath:

1.The oath invites violation of fiduciary duties and ethical standards

2. The oath is a misplaced response to the financial crisis

3. People are not driven by pledges, but they are driven by incentives

Vermaelen suggests that the corporate governance code requiring fiduciary duties to maximise shareholder wealth is inconsistent with corporate responsibility.  He says that “none of these codes would accept that managers promote “social and environmental prosperity worldwide” as the HBS oath does. I would suggest to Professor Vermaelen that customers, employees and investors are voting with their feet, and their money, and gravitating to those companies that actively promote corporate responsibility.  It would be hard to find a major corporation which does not publicly promote their commitment to sustainability, ethics and social values. Further if a corporation engages in global business  then its responsibilities are also global.

He also has the impudence to suggest that “Externalities such as the consequences of business decisions for the environment have to be dealt with by the government, …”.  Does he truly believe that governments are responsible to clean up the mess,  if, as a consequence of  business decisions which maximise shareholder value, there is a negative impact on the environment?  Or is he suggesting that if governments don’t legislate against environmental degradation then corporations can behave as irresponsibly as they like in the course of maximising shareholder wealth. Historically it is correct that governments and voluntary environmental groups have cleaned up after environmental destruction caused by irresponsible corporations, however it is the responsibility of the corporation to make sound business decisions which do not impact negatively on society.

In regards to ethics Vermaelen writes  “I believe it is unethical to raise money from shareholders without telling them in advance that you are going to pursue causes that are destroying shareholder value.”  I ask which clause in the MBA Oath suggests  that corporate responsibility would be unethically hidden from prospective investors? As far as I was aware the oath promotes ethical, moral leadership.  And how does the pursuit of social and environmental responsibility “destroy” shareholder value?  I guess that depends on whether financial returns to the shareholder is the sole measure of value. Besides, it is increasingly recognised that strong corporate citizenship programs enhance reputation, market share, employee retention, innovation and most other functions which contribute positively to  shareholder financial returns.

Vermaelen argues that the MBA Oath is a misplaced response to the GFC.  He suggests the crisis was due to a lack of financial expertise at the highest echelons in the financial industry.  He further says “So the solution is not more ethics or pledges, but more finance education and better forecasting and risk management models.”  Now we are getting to the crux of the article.  Professor Vermaelen’s motives are perhaps to discredit a competitor, Harvard Business School, and market his finance faculty at INSEAD as the world’s saviour from further financial meltdowns. Might I suggest to the good Professor that the GFC has produced a very significant re-evaluation of our society and what it means to lead and conduct business with integrity.   A significant segment of society believes that shareholder value goes beyond mere financial returns to shareholders. Employees are recognising that their value as human beings is integral with the work they do and the integrity of the company for which they work.

Oh dear, Professor, do come out of your glass INSEAD tower please,  the carrot and the stick went out with Oliver Twist.  Human Resources departments now realise that there is a lot more involved in talent acquisition and retention than throwing money at employees.

Vermaelen says “I don’t believe in pledges as an instrument to guide people’s behaviour”.  It doesn’t matter what Vermaelen believes.  What matters is the integrity of those MBA’s who have pledged an oath to be moral leaders upholding  ethical and responsible corporate behaviour. They don’t need to be guided by anyone except their own principles of what is right and what is good.

Vermaelen interprets the oath ” as a commitment to bad corporate governance, companies which employ those who sign the oath as top executives should disclose this on the first page of their website. In this way investors are warned that investing in these companies can be “dangerous to your wealth.”  To the contrary, I congratulate those MBA’s who drafted, promoted and signed the Oath, for they are the new generation of corporate leaders who will transform the way in which corporations seek to add real value to shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and the communities on which the conduct of  their business impacts.

I have chosen IBM at random as an example of the manner in which corporations are now taking their global social contributions seriously.  Here is what I found on IBM’s website:  IBM Corporate Citizenship and  Corporate Responsibility.  Please see below two relevant excerpts:

“The primary focus of our corporate citizenship activities is on developing initiatives to address specific societal issues, such as the environment, community economic development, education, health, literacy, language and culture. We employ IBM’s most valuable resources, our technology and talent, in order to create innovative programs in these areas to assist communities around the world.” – IBM

In 2003, we undertook a global, company-wide discussion about the values that define IBM. In addition to finding a common set of qualities that characterize “an IBMer,” we also learned something equally important: Almost every one of us thinks our work and choices should be determined by what we value. – IBM

Professor Vermaelen, the world has moved on, shareholder and employee value is not entirely vested in financial returns  to shareholders.  I invite Professor Vermaelen to quantify the destruction wreaked on IBM’s shareholder value by the inclusion of corporate responsibility within the conduct of their business.

There were a number of other statements in the article which I would love to refute, but the above will do. I am sure others will weigh in to the debate.

I was about to send off my application for entry to INSEAD’s MBA program majoring in social entrepreneurship.  Guess I’ll have to tear it up now, I was assuming INSEAD would provide a progressive curriculum with a modicum of integrity. I clearly need to find another business school.  Perhaps Harvard would take me?

Plato: Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly ...

Instead I have traded the “cycotherapy” liberation plan for something bolder.  I am putting my financial security on the line to make a contribution to the lives of people less privileged than myself.  In this new plan, the “M’illumino plan”,  I am trading security for a social enterprise and this has given me freedom to realise my vision to make the world a better place.  I  have started living!  I have started living a life with purpose, a life with vitality, a life with passion and hopefully a life which will add value to society.

Recent media reports have suggested there are too many NGO’s, too many non-profits and too many social entrepreneurs.  These organisations are thought to be  un-coordinated, inefficient and lacking economies of scale.  I would refer the critics to  E F Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful:  Economics as if People Mattered which was required reading for Macro Economics in the 1st year of my economics degree.  Schumacher advocated the efficiency and sustainability of small scale development with a local focus, a theory which is perhaps even more relevant in today’s economic climate.  And whatever a corporation’s or country’s financial or economic goals might be, people do matter!

So do I think that launching yet another social enterprise is inefficient?  No I do not.  Do I think my focus should remain local?  In the short term, yes, because there is much to be achieved  in this country.  Do I think my enterprise should be for profit?  Absolutely,  because by reinvesting that profit and employing the best people, M’illumino will be able to focus on sustainable social projects. In other words the business must be sustainable for it to achieve its goals of making a contribution to society.  In the longer term M’illumino will act globally as  health, poverty, environmental and moral issues are global issues.

If enough people decide  not to escape from our responsibilities we will have the answers  for our children about what we can do to end poverty, to promote peace, to save animals and plants from extinction, to mend environmental degradation, to promote ethical corporate and national governance, and construct a socially and ecologically sound environment that we will be proud to hand to our grand children.

Please watch the video of 12 year old  Severn Suzuki’s presentation at  the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992.  Have we come up with any answers?  Have we made any progress?  You be the judge!

With thanks for the link to Liviu Callinan, MPhil. in International Peace Studies at ISE Trinity College Dublin, who posted the link at the Leadership Cafe Foundation.

Then I started linking up with old friends via social media and looking at what they had done with their lives:  some achieving to expectation, some wildly successful despite inauspicious starts, others disappointingly reduced to career oblivion despite exhibiting much early promise.  While I did not compare my achievements with theirs, nor regret  any choices made in my life, I did wonder if escaping on my grand cycle tour would be  using the gift of my life in the best possible way.  But the question became what to do? What to do?

I decided to combine my entrepreneurship and e-commerce expertise with the things I love, literature and technology,  and bring my passion for health, life and learning to those who have yet to discover those joys.  I hope to inspire a spirit of sharing and bring hope to those whose lives are deprived of the basic physical and psychological needs which they require to succeed. If I bring literacy and financial resources to inspire even  just one potential leader in an under-privileged community I will have achieved something.

When searching for an appropriate name for a new social enterprise which hoped to enlighten and inspire,  I recalled an essay on an Italian poem which I was required to write as a post-graduate diploma student in languages in 2001.

Here is my documented version of the inspiration for the name M’illumino:

“M’illumino was inspired by the Italian hermetic poet Giuseppe Ungaretti’s 1917 poem Mattina (Morning):

M’illumino
d’immenso

Literally, I illuminate myself with immense.  Or figuratively, the sun rises in me, my light is immense and comes from within.

All humans are “immense” and when this creativity, passion and power is not only recognised but developed and harnessed by societies, corporations, communities and individuals, they will all achieve striking results.

I am excited and passionate about allowing the maximum expression of all facets of our lives through science, art, music, language and communication, architecture, technology, health, relationships, sensuality, spirituality, adventure and the appreciation of unique cultures and the planet’s sensational environment.

Life is magnificent!”

The Gates Foundation suggests that all people are of equal value, I agree, but I would go further; while we are all of equal value we are all immeasurably valuable to ourselves, our families, our communities and human society.  Please be thankful for every little thing in your life and contribute what you can to improving the quality of life of someone less privileged, whether they are in your own community or the other side of the world.

Here is my vision for M’illumino:

M’illumino is a new social business venture with a focus on the transformation of corporations and societies to achieve “greatness” through the recognition and development of unlimited human potential.

M’illumino will essentially be a company which focuses on communication and the dissemination of information, transforming the way we live and interact with society, within organisations and within our personal relationships.  M’illumino will provide inspiration, creativity, knowledge and leadership and do so with honesty and integrity.

M’illumino will employ the latest technology to disseminate products and ideas ensuring that all people, no matter their circumstance, can empower themselves to achieve.  Shareholder eminence will be replaced with corporate responsibility and fair returns on investment;  equal access to technological and economic resources will ensure that  ignorance is replaced with education and understanding, disease with ease and health, poverty with abundance in all things, and helplessness and despair replaced with individual empowerment and peace.

M’illumino’s vision is:

• To transform the way in which humans live their lives so that everyone can see the beauty in all things and live their lives in the knowledge that every individual has the power to live their dreams.
• To honour and respect employees and customers, aligning their goals with the goals of M’illumino and always adding extra value in all communications and transactions.
• To inspire creativity, innovation, vision and integrity within individuals, corporations and societies.
• To offer  an holistic range of tangible and intangible products and services which will illuminate all facets of our lives:

Literature, music, art, architecture, science, technology, sensuality, spirituality, language and communication, leadership, health and recreation, wealth creation, creativity, inspiration, innovation, nurturing relationships, conservation, human and animal rights, beautiful environments, appreciation of unique and diverse cultures, wide open minds, good vibes and superior thought!

M’illumino is a start-up “social entrepreneurship” venture, incorporated on 1st October, 2009 as M’illumino Pty Ltd in NSW, Australia.  It is in the development phase and will have a new web site www.millumino.com.au up and running in early 2010.

When you start the work day full of  vitality you feel like skipping around the office for the rest of the day, inspiring vitality and fun in every person you have contact with.  No perceived disaster can upset your equanimity and all obstacles to achievement just melt away. Active, healthy, vital, fun loving workers are mentally alert, engaged and productive.  They are also usually self-disciplined and able to focus without distraction from  niggly or debilitating health issues.

I loved all physical things when I was in school and in my early 20′s. Athletics, tennis, netball, swimming, horse riding, ballet, whatever was going I joined in enthusiastically. I was flexible, toned, fit and healthy.  I also remember there were no fat kids.  None!  We all loved  the great outdoors and were never still except when we slept.

I’ve had this conversation with other people my age lately: “remember when there were no fat kids?”  Yes,  everyone can remember, we were all fit kids!

Now its hard to  find the fit kids, and its hard to remember  when that happened. Its also getting harder to find  people my age  who don’t accept that it is OK to be overweight and unfit.  This state is not an inevitability of middle age. It is an inevitability of losing the joy and love for life.

Most of these people would suggest  that they are happy and exuberant, they love good food but they don’t have time for exercise.  I would suggest that there is something important missing in their lives. Perhaps some ingredient of dissatisfaction with their life choices, or circumstances, sub-consciously allows them to disrespect  themselves and their bodies. They are not just filling the void with food, they don’t have enough esteem to care about their health and fitness and appearance.

How do I know this?  Because for a brief time I allowed myself to do this.  I ate too much of the wrong food, I lost the joy of exercise, and dragged myself through the day not caring what I looked like.  Instead of admitting I was not disciplined enough to get out of bed an hour earlier, I used the familiar lame excuse that I didn’t have time to exercise.

When I realised what I had done to myself, I examined the reasons why I might have done this and set about making changes.  I re-introduced exercise back into my life,  and discovered not only did I enjoy it, it made me feel great.  Once you re-discover the joy and inner teenager you suddenly discover that there is more than enough time to add exercise  to your day.  I get up early and spend about an hour on my bike, the joy of the wind on my face and the exhilaration of going top speed down a hill is  unsurpassed.  The slow steady climb back up is  time to reflect on life and enjoy the sheer power being generated by leg muscles through the pedals.

Apparently women my age have all manner of health problems, loss of sexual drive and a feeling of depletion.  To the contrary, I am happier, healthier and fitter  than I have ever been in my life.  I am the tiny girl I used to be, full of enthusiasm, self-respect and esteem and knowing that I can move mountains in my personal and business life.

I realise how very lucky I am that good genes and an accident of birth in the right place at the right time has provided a life of privilege.   I am now embarking on  a new social enterprise to inspire health, literacy, hope and economic development in the least privileged communities.

Fitness generates  post-menopausal zest, vitality,  joy and love for life.

Get fit, get fit!  Whether you are 10 or 100 you won’t regret it for a minute!

Corporate and small business innovation leads to new products and technologies, new business processes, new ways of empowering and rewarding individuals, new ways of enhancing customer service and  new ways of growing our markets.

Technology continues to evolve in exciting ways:  products are faster, cheaper, smaller  and provide infinitely more useful applications.  Technological innovation provides new health, transport, communication and other technologies which immeasurably enhance our lives.  Web 2.0 and cloud computing has provided new ways to integrate, network and communicate. Personally I wonder how I survived, or kept in touch with family, friends and business connections without my iPhone, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and blogging applications. Now with SaaS applications  and my iPhone I can run my business from home, Ayers Rock or the Eiffel Tower.

However it is innovation in societies which is most exciting.  Social innovation is leading  to a fundamental shift in values resulting in significant global gains. The Global Financial Crisis has caused a global rethink of values and an explosion in the number of social and philanthropic entrepreneurs who are making a significant and passionate contribution to society.

Social entrepreneurship is now one of the fastest growing sectors in post-graduate business education.  INSEAD now offers MBA’s and PhDs in social entrepreneurship as do numerous other leading educational institutions. The Skoll Foundation defines social entrepreneurship as pioneering “…  innovative and systemic approaches for meeting the needs of the marginalized, the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised – populations that lack the financial means or political clout to achieve lasting benefit on their own.”

Technology combined with entrepreneurship is providing innovative, constructive solutions to the social discord caused by  poverty, fear, ignorance, war, environmental degradation etc.   There are simply thousands of examples of investment in humanitarian businesses and community organisations whose raison d’etre is making a contribution to the society and the environment in which we live.

Organisations such as Kiva are helping to alleviate poverty by matching non-profit “investors”  with borrowers who would otherwise have no means to  establish self-sufficiency. “Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend to unique entrepreneurs around the globe”.

CDI, the Centre for Digital Inclusion, was started by Rodrigo Baggio when he was still at school and noticed the disparity in access to technology in his home city of Rio de Janeiro.  His initiative to  help disadvantaged people use technology to improve their communities and their lives has now evolved to providing “753 “Technology and Civic Engagement “ schools in 10 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. CDI has helped transform more than 1 million lives.”

Philanthropic foundations and responsible corporations are also enabling innovative and sustainable health, agricultural, education and economic initiatives in the poorest communities and countries, as well as assisting the under-privileged in economically advanced countries. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has global initiatives to improve health, develop agriculture and improve access to technology and education. They also have a significant program to provide education and a start in life for under-privileged students in the USA.

Social and technological innovations provide us with the means to achieve meaning and purpose and make our lives worth living by contributing  within our  own communities and to society as a whole.

Societies, corporations and individuals  do not operate in vacuums.  Corporations are not  exempt from moral responsibility to add value in all their interactions with individuals and societies. By acting responsibly corporations receive the side benefits  of enhancing their markets, fulfilling customer expectations and enhancing human resource productivity and retention. Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp, is often reviled for greed and corporate bullying however my goals and thoughts coalesce with those of Rupert Murdoch regarding the ability of technology to transform lives and the responsibility corporations have to add social benefit.

I agree that digital communication creates “a new source of wealth, material and social,” in all corners of the globe. In an address to the media in Beijing Rupert says “It is a mechanism by which people can transform their lives, to improve the education of their children, to reform health care, to access news and information… “. Further, digital communication technology is “a canvas for the talents and aspirations and potential of a person and place.” My sentiments exactly.

As knowledge  replaces ignorance we will see there is no need for poverty, hunger and discord between disparate cultures. The wasteful mis-allocation of  resources to humanitarian aid and military pursuits is unethical. Emergency aid is an absolute given, but ongoing “aid” is a never ending spiral serving  to sustain poverty which  generates discord over scarce resources.  Throwing money at the poorest  nations out of guilt or embarrassment is not empowering to the recipients. The emergence of social entrepreneurship is an exciting development in the empowerment of  individuals, particularly women, in less privileged societies and should significantly reduce those communities’ reliance on aid.

Organisations, individuals and governments in advantaged countries need to  more responsibly share  the financial and natural wealth in a manner which positively contributes to  the enrichment of lives in less advantaged  geographies.   Rupert Murdoch suggests that “it is a moral failing of the rich world that our agricultural markets are subsidised and protected ….  the greatest assistance we can give to talented Africans is to allow them access to western markets.” Access to technology, education and economic resources could  enhance wealth, education  and health throughout Africa curing many of the societal ills which plaque that  continent. Ditto for emerging nations in other geographies.

Truly we have an unprecedented opportunity for transformation and I look forward with excited anticipation to the future of our society.

For your convenience Rupert Murdoch’s address is available here and I suggest  that the headline totally misses the point of the real significance of the message.

Don’t you also find it strange that recruiters and leaders in young, entrepreneurial companies have an attitude that  anyone under, say 40, thinks that anyone over 40 has nothing of value to contribute?

This quote landed in my in-box today and was written by Monty Roberts on 7 Oct, 2009 ( at the age of 74):

“….and at 54 years of age I started a new life. There is no question that I have accomplished more in the 20 years since 1989 than I ever accomplished in the first 54.”

Monty is a horse trainer from California whose influence has not only transformed  horse training methods worldwide but influenced how corporations train their leaders. His understanding of communication with animals has enabled humans to  develope more effective methods of communication  between ourselves.

Monty Roberts is a best-selling author of numerous books and DVDs including Horse Sense for People.

I am a young 55, with an  equal enthusiasm  for new technologies and achievement as any Gen Y ‘er. Like Monty I have the fortitude to fulfil my aspirations. I also intend to contribute more in the next 20 years than I have in my lifetime to date. What about you?  Don’t settle for anything less than the very best you can be.

I recently contemplated  the achievements of my LinkedIn connections and wondered why they had achieved significantly beyond their former school friends and colleagues.  What is it beyond talent, IQ and personality that lifts them to positions of power and wealth and even perhaps beyond their own dreams.

I think it is their ability to dare to be someone, their ability to dream big and think even bigger. It is their ability to determine and visualise their goals, to innovate and strategize, to forge ahead with drive and passion, and have the confidence to persevere despite any fears, doubts and opinions of naysayers. They take calculated risks and back themselves against the odds.

In the 1980′s when I was employed by Digital (DEC) in Sydney, Australia, our regional manager, Les Hayman, organised the annual  sales conference with the theme “Dare to Win”.  This came to be something of a joke around the office, whenever anything went wrong someone would laughingly suggest  that we “dare to win”.  The funsters haven’t been heard of  since but Les Hayman went on to run Sun and then the software giant SAP in Australia and subsequently Asia Pacific.  He later transferred to Europe and was appointed CEO/Chairman of SAP EMEA, Global Head HR and appointed to the SAP  board.  In his semi-retirement Les is a SAP Ambassador, Chairman of the ROC Group of Companies UK, Board Member Umantis Ag (Swittz) and Neoware Corp (USA). He lives in a Chateau in the Bordeaux wine region of  France.  Les dared to win!!

As a manager Les was a natural and charismatic leader who inspired a will to win, to make that extra call, to make that extra effort. Les  inspired me to believe in my ability to succeed and he clearly took this innate ability to other corporations, inspiring his teams to success, and ensuring the achievement of his own and his corporation’s targets.

When employees are inspired to achieve personal success in the work place it naturally impacts positively on the corporation’s ability to achieve its goals. The wealth and happiness of the individual which results as a response to achievement in their career goals, positively impacts their feelings of self-worth and their ability to interact positively in their personal  relationships and within society.

About two months ago I started a journal with lists of my goals in every facet of my life.  The lists started off conservatively ambitious, and grew significantly more ambitious with the dawning realisation that I could be whatever I dared myself to be.

What do you want to do with your life?  Dream big, think bigger, dare the biggest!

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