The importance of contribution and community in the boardroom

Thomas Power is one of the world’s most prolific networkers. Over the years he has connected thousands of people, providing copious opportunities for his global community.

Indeed, Thomas’s ability to connect people is a superpower: “I connect with people in a matter of seconds. I’m constantly listening for keywords. I can always think: ‘Oh I know who you should be talking to about that.’ I believe it’s a task I was given to do on planet earth.”

Thomas Power and his wife Penny Power OBE believe passionately in creating deep and wide communities.

It is why they created Ecademy in 1998, a network that at its peak numbered over 650,000 people, well before the rise of LinkedIn or Facebook. The demise of Ecademy in 2012 hit Thomas hard. But he has found a new energy and purpose in his latest venture BIP100.

Rather than recruiting thousands of people to the network, this is a business club restricted to just 100 members. Its aim is to change the focus of business across the world, from performance and results to contribution and a values-based mindset.

I had a fascinating and very deep conversation with Thomas about his ability to build so many connections and how BIP100 is working towards building a better world for all.

The power of connecting people

Thomas has had an innate ability to connect with people from a young age. He can attach keywords to each individual he meets. “I have an internal Rolodex if you like. One word allows me to pin someone to a town, a city, a bar or a restaurant, and remember I was talking to that person about that subject in 2007.”?

I call that a talent, although Thomas’s wife Penny puts it down to autism!?

He provides a reference that supports this claim: “I relate to the movie?Rain Man.?Especially where he could place people’s names in the phone book.”

Perhaps Thomas articulated the power of networking best when he talked about his extensive travel as co-founder of Ecademy. “I called my book?A Friend in Every City?because someone would meet me at every airport I arrived at and take me back to their home. That was very special. I was invited to go around hundreds of towns and cities worldwide to meet thousands of members.”

So strong was his connection to Ecademy members that Thomas found that when he did stay in hotels, he would have an entourage waiting for him.

“Ecademy was a network of 650,000 people. But by travelling, I realised it was actually 5000 clubs with about 150 members each. I went to Mumbai, and 480 people were outside the hotel waiting to shake my hand. In Singapore, it was 800! I had similar experiences in Sydney, Brisbane, Sao Paolo, New York, L.A. and many more.” He looks back with huge pride: “It just felt like an amazing sense of belonging and achievement to have connected all these people into a global family.”

Balancing networking and family

Thomas used to travel to other countries three weeks out of every four. That is a significant pressure on any family, so I was interested to understand how he made time for his wife and children. “Well, I took them on many of the trips. The children went to Asia, America, and Europe. All three started networking from as young as two years old!”

That has had a knock-on effect on their lives today. “All three are now in their mid to late twenties. They all operate in their niches, and all have built communities. And they are connected to those they met twenty years ago!” An excellent illustration of the power of networking if one were needed.

Thomas still networks every day but, over the years, has come to understand what is achievable. “I do 1000 Zoom calls a year with connections. I have 30,000 connections on LinkedIn (mostly the subscriber network from Ecademy), so I realised it will take me thirty years to get to them all.” That may seem insurmountable, but Thomas is determined to keep going. “You really can only do 1000 Zoom calls a year. Any more, and you’re into overload. But my goal is to make it to 2050 and meet 50,000 people in my lifetime.”

Losing Ecademy

Thomas lost his beloved Academy in 2012. The rise of social media, particularly Facebook and LinkedIn, saw thousands migrate to those alternative platforms. He viewed Academy as a fourth child: “Imagine losing a child who was just fourteen years old. That’s how I felt. To me, it was like a death in the family.”

He understands the attraction of other social media networks but maintains they lack something Ecademy had in spades: “Those networks are purely systems. Yes, they connect people, but only on a surface level. Ecademy was an emotional network. We were about getting to know people deeply, building trust and a tightly knit community.”

He admits his grief lasted for eight years. It was not until 2020, amid the lockdown, that Thomas’s daughter Hannah suggested starting BIP100.

BIP stands for ‘Business is Personal’, and Hannah, knowing how her parents felt about values-based businesses, came up with an idea to bring people together who were fellow travellers. Its creation was exactly what Thomas needed to move on from the passing of Ecademy. As he says: “All my joy has returned.”

The problem with business today

Thomas goes back to the advent of Margaret Thatcher in the late 70s. The philosophy she instilled in business and society was one that he believes still exists today. “We have had over forty years of technology foisted on us. Companies became increasingly obsessed with performance, results and share price. Every CEO is rewarded on the basis of moving that share price positively.”

While many may think that is the basis of good business, Thomas sees things differently. “People work for 90,000 hours in their lives. That means they want to do something worthwhile, to make a contribution. They need a sense of intimacy and a very personal experience at work.” What he believes they receive is something transactional, ‘utilitarian’ as he calls it, where completion of tasks is the only Focus.

Thomas passionately believes that business needs to change, concentrating on its contribution to society and its people. Values must be defined and lived. He is tired of the focus on performance and results: “Focus blinds people. Concentrate on that one thing, and you blind yourself to your organisation. You create a company without people; they become machines collecting payment every month.”

He is particularly critical of the technology sector: “There are thousands of tech companies worldwide.

But I ask, ‘What is their contribution besides their device or software?’ Why can’t I see it? I only see waste. It’s like having a bad exhaust. I don’t think that can go on.”

Thomas also believes companies struggle to deal effectively with climate change. “Because they lack articulated values and purpose, companies do not have a clue how to implement a climate plan. Some think moving to electric vehicles or going more plant-based is enough. It isn’t.”

A new business philosophy

If companies should be moving away from focusing on performance, results and share price, what should they be doing? “People want to work somewhere that makes them feel like part of a community. A values-based community.”

Thomas is adamant that contribution is essential to many. That’s why businesses need to completely change and begin to concentrate on forming these kinds of communities, pushing back on ‘the results at all costs’ mindset.”

He advocates that directors discuss their values and beliefs around the boardroom table. Priorities should be compared and agreed upon. He continues: “Once a board has a vision of what the world should look like based on their values, the next step is to engage senior managers and executives. Everybody needs to be aligned.”

This is a massive shift from the standard financial and operational performance discussions. Is this possible? “I’m not against performance, results, or share prices. But I am against how it’s done today. I go into many businesses, and they are cold. They are not communities, not movements, not clubs. Turn them into those entities; believe me, they will be very powerful.”

His whole philosophy is based on the big vision: “Companies must align contribution and values with performance, results and the share price. Boards must get hold of this, but they haven’t yet.”

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BIP100 – a likeminded group of businesspeople

Thomas clearly wants to influence change in the boardroom. The idea behind BIP100 is to bring together 100 experts and small business owners with a similar philosophy about putting contribution and values first. Performance and results are some way down the list of priorities.

“We put a lot of effort into the interview process for BIP100. We naturally look for the right expertise, but their values have to match ours. We have completed over 1000 interviews, and believe me, there are very few people who believe that business is personal.”

Sadly, Thomas has continued to find that many see business as being about money, results, rewards and delivery of products. “We look at the world completely differently. To us, business is about family, friendship, support, relationships, depth – it’s about life!” It is why the Powers are so choosy about who they admit to the BIP100 and continue to look far and wide for those values-based owners.

Like Ecademy, the new organisation also fulfils one of the great missions of both Thomas and Penny: “We have always wanted people to be better off as a result of knowing us. Not just financially but through richer contacts, richer experiences, and a richer life. We are all about contribution, and BIP100 is our effort to continue that journey.”

How companies can start to build communities

The first thing needed for any company to build a true community is to focus much more on building that community and far less on performance and results.

He believes companies must build communities within, finding people passionate about specific values and letting them lead on them. “Take climate change. Every company should have a climate plan. But it needs people with real commitment and knowledge to drive that plan. Only then can you devise a coordinated list of actions?”

He sees that coming from lower down the organisation: “You need to identify personnel with those values and ideas about addressing the problems. Give them responsibility, and you will not only see the organisation evolve positively, but you will also identify the next generation of leaders. Repeat this in other key areas, and you will build a truly values-based community.”

Talking to Thomas is inspiring. He wants to change the status quo, believing that how leaders operate in business today is bad for all of us. This change of approach he so powerfully advocates could begin to improve the planet, people’s mental health and the productivity and success of every business that adopts a values-based mindset.

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