Doing good and doing well? Hmmm.
Introducing The Chasm Awards and entering The Golden Age.
Making a mug of Clinton
I started a speech at a Meaningful Business gig recently with a quiz ‘Who Said This?’
Quote number one: “I would much rather live a life of purpose than one in which I might have other things but not that.”
The audience called out answers: “Ghandi!”, “Martin Luther King!” and various other legends. The correct answer is, of course, Elizabeth Holmes, now in prison in Texas for fraud based on the lies she told about her supposedly game changing technology. You’ll get the point of the quiz if I tell you other answers included Arif Naqvi and Sam Bankman-Fried both lauded for their claims about doing good and doing well. It goes without saying that all three were given awards and feted by Davos and Skoll and the many other places where ‘social entrepreneurship’ does not encounter anywhere near enough scrutiny and scepticism.
I do wonder sometimes if there are more performative narcissists, gaslighting bullies, and charming bullshitters in the ‘impact/purpose/social entrepreneurship/whatever ‘space’ than in any other sector?
The answer might be yes, if the responses to my Impact Schmimpact piece last time about what the limits are of genuine accountability and transparency are anything to go by.
The piece was widely shared and I received a big response from readers. A representative sample of messages:
“God if people knew the gap between what we say and what we do, we’d be sunk in the morning.”
“Our board don’t want too much truth.”
“Our founder is so two faced : psycho internally, saint externally.”
In recent catch ups with friends and former colleagues, I’ve been told about a senior exec in a high profile ‘impact business’ threatening employees with violence, an award winning social entrepreneur and CEO keeping his board in the dark about the impact on staff churn and the mental health of overworked staff of the toxic culture he allows, and a well known leader in an international NGO gaslighting and threatening younger staff.
No doubt common or garden wankery by founders and leaders seems worse in the ‘doing good by doing well’ industry because we naively expect better behaviour than peers in hardcore private business (where there are of course many very unpleasant creatures).
I’m considering launching the annual Impact Chasm Awards, celebrating the largest gaps in the ‘sector’ between public pronouncements of saintly behaviour and marvellous impact and the actual realities.
“And the winner of the 2025 award for The Most Egregious Chasm Between Stated Intent and Actual Performance and Behaviour is ….”
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At mental health business Togetherall (where I sit on the board of directors), our wholly independent Guardian Council is one way we prevent overclaim, hype, and impact spin. It is my privilege to chair the Council - unique in our sector - to hold the board accountable for its claims about the platform’s efficacy and to ensure the needs of members are always the priority. Our latest report looks at the process and effects of introducing trained peers into our community. Download here.
Welcome to the Golden Age!
“We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.” Barack Obama’s words at his inauguration now read like something from ancient history rather than 2013.
As I watched Trump’s gracious inauguration speech, the painful truth dawned that many of the causes I have stood for, worked for, and, occasionally, fought for, are losing, in retreat, severely weakened.
A convicted liar and mountebank struts back into the White House crying 'drill, baby, drill’, his amoral billionaire fanboys and deranged advisers and cheerleaders marching in behind him, the increasingly unhinged Musk seemingly determined to go Full Goebbels mode.
Putin looks set to win after piling up the corpses across Ukraine. Xi continues to perfect his tech enabled totalitarian society with very few outside China knowing or caring much. Chaos threatens Congo again with the price paid by helpless civilians.
Islamist fanaticism is growing and, in places like Qatar, Dubai and Saudi, the toxic mix of hyper capitalism and tyranny prevails, with London’s legal, accounting and PR professions enabling the hiding and laundering of dirty money.
The shocking dysfunction of our local and national government agencies revealed by by the Southport murders, provides more evidence, if we needed it, that the British state is in crisis ( see health, prisons, immigration, housing etc).
The big ideas - bad though many they certainly are - and the forces looking likely to shape the world in the coming years are not emerging from the good guys, the progressives, the social enterprise enthusiasts, my tribe or, er, me.
What now for decent, liberal leadership development programmes like The Forward Institute (where I help out) and Wavelength (which I co-founded) run by well meaning people when the dominant model of leadership winning hands down in the world is the “f**** you, with or against us” model? What now for the advocates of identity based ‘inclusive’ and ‘authentic’ leadership?
Will you still need me?
When The Beatles wrote that song, 64 must have seemed an impossibly old age. McCartney was 14 when he wrote the melody. John and George didn’t make it into their sixties but I’m pleased Paul and Ringo are enjoying very active successful lives in their eighties after adding so much joy to the world.
Well, guess what? I turned 64 recently. I have lost my hair but I am still okay for the food, bottles of wine and there is no chance I’d be out much after midnight, never mind 2 45am.
I have revisited the mission I set myself seven years ago when I last rearranged my life: to only do interesting useful work in the world with people I like and respect and decided that’ll do for the next seven at least. To that end I have recently joined the board of The Reader, in my old stomping ground Liverpool.
On the subject of being useful : I have two mentoring slots available for the next six months. If you are a leader trying to make sense of it all and need some encouragement, straight talking advice in these all round tough times, need help wth your clarity and courage and welcome the occasional kick up the bum, I’m here for you: liam@asweplease.co.uk
Reasons to be cheerful
Maff Potts, the jazz musician, troublemaker and founder of Camerados (and a mate of mine), launches his book Friends & Purpose on 6th February in which he tells the stories of his extraordinary work drinking tea with people on the streets of Britain. Trigger warning: he doesn’t do Health and Safety audits or five year business plans. I had a great chat with Maff last year about his life and work. A very funny and wise man.
Those fabulous women Karen and Emma who run Cook For Good in Kings Cross are recruiting for a terrific programme called Cook For Change. Closing date is 10th February.
Saint Margaret sticks it to the devil
The Siena exhibition is coming to the National Gallery soon. I saw it in New York and it is magnificent.
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Peace, love and profit.
Liam x