A Community At Work

The first in a multi-part series on how we engage with our coworkers and our employers to form a community.

The Wall Street Journal CEO Council recently met to supply some advice to the then incoming Biden Administration. While Elon Musk made news at the council decrying MBAs and California’s stifling of innovation, the lesser heard news was a series of recommendations that CEOs believe are the priorities for 2021. The recommendations focused on normalizing international relations, reskilling talent in the US, and investing in education (especially STEM), all of which sound great. What was missing: a willingness to address the social unrest that has gripped the U.S. and other nations amidst the pandemic.  

Whether it's unrest in Chile and Venezuela over basic necessities, protests in Hong Kong over mainland China oversight, or marches across the U.S. over racial inequality, we’ve seen a very active year for direct conflict with governments. However, this is far from over. One firm that evaluates civil unrest expects nearly 40% of the world’s 195 countries to see increased unrest through 2022. That’s a shocking 75 countries with unrest!

With an expected future of increasing unrest, what is na?ve of the WSJ CEO Council is to believe that the government alone can solve that. In fact, looking at the slow (sometimes frustratingly slow) action of governments combined with the “we must act now” comments on issues ranging from climate change to social inequalities, the body politic has, with some level of indignation, resolved that the government is not going to solve our greatest challenges. 

Without the government (especially federal government) to solve these issues, some look to community leaders to do so. And while community leadership should not be overlooked, our communities have transformed significantly over the past couple of generations. We’ve moved away from local engagement (read Putnam’s Bowling Alone) and moved toward technological individualism. In many ways this has stifled the impact of communities, especially when engagement has so broadly dropped. 

So then, if communities or governments aren't moving fast enough for our needs, where else are we to look? Many have implicitly resolved that businesses have an often louder, faster, and more impactful action than the government. So, the pressure is on business leaders more than ever to not only provide profits, not only provide an inclusive environment, but to serve as leaders that foster, grow, and champion such immediate needs as social equity.

If capitalism wants to save itself, now is the time to do so.

We’ve engaged in a deeper way with our employers, often creating a blurred line between expectations of employers, and what would traditionally be the place of governments or communities.

As expectations shift, how do we lean into this moment? How, as leaders, do we create a deeper link for ourselves and our coworkers, create communities at work that are empowering, insightful, and full of joy?

There isn't just one path. From changing language from shareholders to stakeholders to Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) to one of the more fundamental business tenants of connecting strategy to culture. Leaders have a mandate to explore both the opportunity and the direct conflicts that arise in our daily tradeoffs, the tradeoffs that create friction and even pain when our work isn't connected to purpose.

One mantle taken up today by businesses: providing much-needed coronavirus information and support directly to employees. Google now offers weekly at-home COVID-19 tests - for free. The nearly $5M charge per week is worth it to a business that is not only known for its perks, but for its motto: "Don't be evil". Other companies are expanding their education programs that are more than just run-of-the-mill phishing tests. These businesses are leaning into their role as leaders and building deeper communities at work.

So, what are you, as a leader, doing to create these community-building actions? To build a profitable company? To build a deeper connection and create community?

[1] CEOs’ Advice to the Biden Administration, Wall Street Journal, 2020 [link]

[2] A dangerous new era of civil unrest is dawning in the United States and around the world, Verisick Maplecroft, 2020 [link]

[3] Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Robert Putnam [link NPR All Things Considered]