On November 18, 2021, Simon Mainwaring, Founder and CEO of WeFirst, joined us for a virtual gathering to shed light on the merits of transcendent business as the future of regenerative and sustainable brands.
For Simon, also a New York Times bestselling author, how we get to transcendent business begins with what he calls collectivized purpose, an approach that reimagines business itself through the lens of collaborative leadership.
Collectivized purpose creates connective tissue between conscious businesses’ efforts for a unified higher purpose.
After a period of time challenging himself to think about how he can show up differently as a conscious leader, Simon began to think more critically about how we work together, grow, and coexist.
Collectivized purpose emerged as a way to “restore and protect the natural and social systems on which all of our futures depend and on which business depends,” a way to ensure all of our efforts work towards a shared goal that enables us all to thrive.
How do we align ourselves with a collectivized purpose?
According to Simon, we start by replacing ‘me’ with ‘we,’ exchanging the virtuous cycle with the virtuous spiral.
The virtuous cycle centers on self, a person’s individual purpose, and what they are achieving for themselves and their business.
The virtuous spiral likewise embraces self, but in a conscious business, it also considers how the self contributes to the overall leadership at a company, the company culture, the company community, society at large, and then a higher order transcendent practice of business. For Simon, it’s “focused on pulling this commitment to the collective through all of these different levels.”
What are the benefits of a ‘we over me’ mindset?
It allows all parts in a system to thrive and share in prosperity because each is looking out for the collective. In closing, Simon says “The beautiful thing about the virtuous spiral is that … everyone is working upwards and at the same time, the benefits are flowing down to everyone. Here’s the point: the whole is breaking down so the parts can thrive.”
For more from Simon, read his book Lead With We: The Business Revolution that will Save Our Future. Simon closed with a synopsis of the book, describing it as consciously designed to be:
- A point of departure–a mindset where you want to lead with as many people as possible to benefit the greatest ‘we.’
- A process–a collaborative approach with as many stakeholders as possible, with competitors and cross-sector alliances.
- An end state–a higher order aspiration where we redefine what success and growth look like so that we can have a future to look forward to.
At its essence, the book compels readers to ask themselves one question one question: “How do I lead with as many people as possible to benefit the greatest number of people on the planet?”
To get the full conversation, watch the full recording of this virtual gathering.
Our Virtual Gatherings are designed for business leaders, investors, and advocates who are looking to level-up their practice by learning from and connecting with Conscious Capitalists around the world.
