Getting high-fliers into social enterprise
I was interested to read Jane Dudman’s interview with Tom Rippin, Chief Executive of On Purpose, in the Guardian Online recently, (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/mar/03/tom-rippin-on-purpose). On Purpose is a social enterprise initiative that offers one-year leadership programmes for business leaders looking to get more involved in giving back to the community. The interview got me thinking about the importance of encouraging businesses to become involved in social enterprise. Corporates can no longer afford to just pay lip service to social responsibility – it now needs to become a fundamental part of every organisations’ ethos. Here at The Listening Company, we pride ourselves on giving back and encouraging all of our staff to get involved with the local community. Since bringing our Sales Director, former England Rugby star and London Wasps Captain Lawrence Dallaglio, onboard two years ago, our staff have learnt that one of the tricks to success and a winning mentality is a focus on engagement with the people around you, and in turn looking to take inspiration from your day to day actions and accomplishments. And we are increasingly living this philosophy internally. We are currently backing Lawrence in his bid to raise £1 million for charity, by sponsoring his 2,800km bike ride across Europe. As well as sponsoring the event, 20 members of our staff have joined him at various stages on the 24 day long ‘Cycle Slam’ grand tour. All proceeds raised are set to go directly to Sport Relief and the Dallaglio Foundation. This comes off the back of the launch of The Listening Company’s Decade Trust last year, a charitable foundation dedicated to helping local charities.
