Be courageous and learn from others

It’s my birthday today and what a great occasion start a new series of blogs about my idols – people who have inspired me on my journey, helped me develop as a business leader and possess a strong moral compass.

Being British, the first of my idols I want to introduce you to, and a source of huge inspiration, is the Body Shop founder Anita Roddick. Not only was Anita a woman, a unique story-teller and an entrepreneur, she was also an exceptional leader in ethical business. She was a true trailblazer.

There are numerous quotes representing Anita’s wisdom and approach to life and business. I personally find these two highly inspirational:

“Be courageous. It's one of the only places left uncrowded.”

“If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just.”

Anita embodied courage and daring, and was first, different and “just”. When you think of the creation and expansion of her business, her activism and campaigning for environmental and social issues, you can see in all of that Anita’s vision, creativity and deep commitment.  

The title of one of her books “Business as Unusual” captures for me her approach to business in the best way. In Anita’s view, businesses can make a profit and a positive contribution to the community at the same time. The fact that her book was first published in 2005, a long time before concepts such as Shared Value made it to the top of management theories lists, is testament to her thought leadership. 

She was a trailblazer in many regards, pioneering the “Profits with Principles” approach and, as a result, must have often found herself in “one of the places left uncrowded” at the time she had started her business.  

When I look back, there are a couple of moments when I felt particularly aware of the inspiration and motivation that our idols, our role models, give us. One of those moments was in 2014, when I received one of the iconic awards for female business leaders - the “Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year” - exactly 30 years after the same award was received by Anita.

I was invited as a winner to the Veuve Clicquot vineyard in France to plant a vine named after me. And as I walked around the vineyard, I saw a strong and beautiful vine proudly growing under Anita’s name – a living testament of her legacy. It was on that day that I made a commitment to help others to discover their uncrowded places, and to help them develop the bold vision and a crazy appetite needed to get there. 

It is not easy to keep constantly improving and “be just”. It requires a real commitment and ability to maintain a sense of urgency for you, and those around you, to keep things moving forward. It helps to remind yourself that you are not the first and not the last one facing such challenge. Think of Anita and all the other women and men whose courage and commitment brought tremendous change to how we live and do business. That’s exactly a reason why having “an idol” is so important – it reminds you that even the most complicated things can be done.

I would be very much interested in learning about your idols, role models, people who have influenced your lives and what all you have learned from them. My next post on my idols is going to be about a man, actually two men, outstanding examples of how a cause can unite people and move mountains. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy time with the other idols in my life – my friends and family.