Stakeholder Orientation

A Community Contribution by Brandi Beakley 

After building a purpose-driven retail business that had experienced more than 100 percent YOY growth for four straight years, CEO Steve Hall knew driversselect was poised to scale. But the business model had outpaced his abilities to scale it without taking on serious financial and cultural risks. For one thing, driversselect was in desperate need of a much larger facility. Tribe members (driversselect employees) were on top of each other at the existing location, and inventory was being parked at an overflow lot several miles away due to lack of space. The growing pains were palpable.

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By David Gardner 

Dear Friends,

When my brother Tom and I keynoted the 2012 Conscious Capitalism CEO Summit, I told the room of 200 CEOs that I was going to pick a basket of 12 conscious, purpose-driven businesses’ stocks for 2012. Tom and I co-founded The Motley Fool, which provides financial advice to investors, so that only makes sense, right? But here’s the kicker: instead of being backward-looking, I said let’s watch them going forward from here to see if they outperform their more traditional, bottom-line-driven competitors over time.

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How First United Bank is transforming lives through its purpose-driven work

By Agata Antonow and Aleksandra Corwin of Round Table Companies

A man tired of struggling paycheck to paycheck walked into the gleaming glass and wood-accented lobby of a bank in Durant, Oklahoma, and was greeted by a 27-year-old personal banker named Katie Knight. He’d gotten hooked into a vicious cycle of payday loans, and didn’t have enough money to make it through the week. He was here as a last resort.

First United Bank advertised with commercials that asked people to bring their financial challenges into any branch, guaranteeing that they could help troubleshoot even the stickiest of situations. Two weeks after his initial visit, the man was back, but a familiar face in the lobby caught his eye.

“Hey, you,” he yelled across the lobby and strode over to come face to face with Greg Massey, the bank’s CEO. Massey reached out to shake the man’s hand and introduce himself, but was interrupted. “I know who you are. I’ve seen your commercials on TV and I always thought you were full of crap.”

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How KeyBank brings consciousness to its industry

By Geoff Campbell and Aleksandra Corwin of Round Table Companies

Building on a long-standing commitment to responsible banking, KeyBank is a powerful example of how enlightened business practices align with higher profits—the central premise of Conscious Capitalism.

“Profit and consciousness are not polar opposites,” says Beth E. Mooney, chairman and chief executive officer of KeyCorp. She stresses KeyBank’s focus on helping clients and communities thrive —including balancing “mission and margin”—and ensuring all boats in their wake are rising.

“We believe when our customers do well, we do well,” Mooney said. “When our customers do well, our communities do well. This is the true balance of mission and margin.”

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The End of High-pressure Sales

How one conscious company is helping capitalism evolve

By Geoff Campbell and Aleksandra Corwin of Round Table Companies

When Wells Fargo employees got caught creating millions of fraudulent savings, checking, and credit card accounts for its customers without their consent, capitalism’s critics had a new poster boy.

But Jesse Crowe, founder and CEO of technology firm Emerios, said the scandal was avoidable—even if Wells Fargo’s sales culture had remained the same.

“Had Wells Fargo been using our solution, this never would have happened,” Crowe said.

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