THE RESPECT EQUATION

I often empathize with the beleaguered corporate CEO.  They have to ensure that their organization plays multiple roles, equally well: they need to be profitable business; preferred employer that attracts, and nurtures, the very best; efficient producers; attractive investment; beloved Brand; and effective Citizen and member of the community.  And these roles have interests, demands and ambitions that are not just divergent, but competing. 

 The question that we have been researching over the past year is how can corporations inhabit the roles of profitable business and effective Citizen in ways that earn credibility and respect. In the emerging “Age of Answerability” the role of Citizen is critical to being a successful profitable business.  

 We all know the cause-aligned branding and social marketing efforts of corporations. We have either purchased the pink nail polish to support Breast Cancer; or biked in the Becel Heart and Stroke ride up the Don Valley Parkway; or contributed to Bell’s Let’s Talk initiative to support mental health. Some of us are aware of commitment to not sell or purchase “blood diamonds”; or contribute to re-using previously worn clothes and plastic. And perhaps some of us follow the rating agency assessments of the ESG commitments of corporations as markers of their financial investability. 

 The challenge is that the distrust of intentions persists.  These corporate social responsibility actions don’t convince people that corporations really care, or are genuinely committed to championing social issues; nor do these actions attract or retain loyal customers. 

 We often use Walmart as the poster child for this type of Respect Gap.  The real reason Walmart raised the hourly wage was because they realized their employees could not afford to shop at Walmart. It was not fundamentally because they realized they were under-valuing their workers; nor that workers are valuable human beings that deserve to be fairly compensated. Walmart finally saw that the problem they were complicit in creating – the “working poor” - was a threat to their business.  

 There are two challenges to dismantling The Respect Gap. 

 The first is the reality of intentions. Can you actually shift the profit-seeking intentions of corporations; or do you need to leverage their profit intentions to shift their behaviours, knowing you won’t shift their business drivers?  The environmental movement understood this; they convinced corporations to implement environmentally sustainable behaviours by demonstrating the financial benefits of cost containment. The profit motive could generate different (preferred) behaviours.  

 How then do you leverage profit-seeing intention to be a better Citizen?  You need to demonstrate that Citizenship is financially beneficial. 

 The second is the problem of marketing. We are all savvy consumers of marketing; when we see and experience marketing we know someone is interested in selling us something.  We go into transaction mode. But if you are trying to convince me of social commitments, this is about earning credibility, and being believable.  This is about cultivating a trusted relationship with me.  This is the opposite of transaction. 

 So we have a two-part challenge:  prove that Citizenship is financially valuable and explain your actions in ways that cultivate a relationship with us. 

 We offer a solution to this Respect Gap. 

It is of three parts. 

 First – listen to your audiences.  Really listen to them.  The act of listening in itself earns respect and shifts you from transaction to relationship mode. What you hear when you listen will be invaluable for defining what you ought to do as a Citizen and Corporation. 

 Second – create with your audiences. Respect them as authors and co-creators, and they will emerge as co-builders with you. The co-creation process is transformative because it respects the voice and ideas of your audiences. 

 And third – lead with real action.  Actions do speak louder than words.  And when those actions have been co-created with your audiences, based on what really matters to them, these actions will earn respect. Then you can emerge as credible, believable Leader. 

 This is the new equation for being credible Citizen and believable business. 

We call it The Respect Equation.  

It is a very simple idea. 

Respect your audiences. 

Talk with them. 

Trust their intelligence. 

Work with them. 

 When we listen to, and work with, differing interests we can reach solutions that earn respect. Not always complete agreement, but respect. 

It is the way through to cultivating real relationships with your audiences. 

This type of mutual respect building is the road to financial profitability.