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Discussion Questions: In your opinion, what are
the most common types of unethical behaviors in organizations? Have you
experienced/witnessed any of these behaviors? If so, what have you learned from
the incident?
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485306
2013
HUM661210.1177/0018726713485306Human RelationsFyke and Buzzanell
human relations
The ethics of conscious capitalism:
Wicked problems in leading
change and changing leaders
human relations
66(12) 1619–1643
© The Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/0018726713485306
hum.sagepub.com
Jeremy P Fyke
Marquette University, USA
Patrice M Buzzanell
Purdue University, USA
Abstract
Given corporate scandals, organizational crises, and accounting irregularities (e.g.
Citigroup, BP oil spill, Enron, Arthur Andersen), leadership ethics has grown in
relevance. The current study takes a discursive approach to engage in a multimethod
case study of a consulting and leadership development firm that takes Conscious
Capitalism as the impetus for, and target of, leader development. Using constructivist
grounded theory and critical discourse analysis, we reveal themes and ‘best practices’
voiced by consultants and clients for cultivating mindfulness and developing ethical
leaders, as well as micro- and macro-level paradoxes, tensions, and challenges:
structuring-releasing; expanding-contracting; opening up-closing; and collaboratingcompeting. Our critical approach contributes (a) a critique of Conscious Capitalism as
a Discourse that appears to offer hope for business ethics and societal transformation
and (b) a critique of ethical leadership development through embedded power relations
and the complex discursive processes within and driven by leadership development
and ethics at the intersection of various d/Discourses. This research helps explain
some of the challenges involved in developing ethical leaders. We reveal that although
Conscious Capitalism appears to offer solutions to many of today’s social problems,
including leadership ethics, developing ethical leaders ironically leads to problems that
are ‘wicked.’
Corresponding author:
Jeremy P Fyke, Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University, Johnston Hall, Office 423, 1131
W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53233, USA.
Email: [email protected]
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Keywords
Capitalism, Conscious Capitalism, consultants, critical discourse analysis, d/Discourse,
ethics, leader(ship) development, mindfulness, organizational change, paradox,
transforming business, values, wicked problems
Introduction
In today’s increasingly global business environment, organizations are renewing their
efforts to raise their standards of ethical business conduct (McCann and Holt, 2009).
Given corporate scandals, organizational crises, and accounting irregularities (e.g. Enron,
Citigroup, Arthur Andersen, BP oil spill), leadership ethics and organizational justice have
grown in relevance. In a world where businesses and stakeholders connect instantaneously through technologies (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube), public outrage over ethics
and justice can have deleterious effects over a company’s goodwill and competitiveness
(e.g. Nike’s labor practices, see Bies and Greenberg, 2002; Folger and Skarlicki, 2008).
Questionable ethical decisions have led academics and practitioners to wonder ‘what’s
wrong with our leaders’ (Brown and Treviño, 2006: 595). As the research focus shifts
away from victims’ perceptions and toward the decision makers themselves, behavioral
ethics is increasing in importance. This shift has heightened interest from diverse fields
including organizational behavior, business ethics, and industrial/organizational psychology (Rupp and Bell, 2010). Despite recent work exploring ethical leadership (e.g. Akrivou
et al., 2011; Brown and Mitchell, 2010; Kenny, 2010; Mihelič et al., 2010; Toor and Ofori,
2009), research on ethical leader development is surprisingly lacking.
The current study takes a discursive approach – examining talk and text in everyday
social contexts, as well as paradigm-shifting macrodiscourses in which texts and collections of texts are embedded and shaped (Fairhurst, 2007; Larsson and Lundholm, 2010;
Phillips and Oswick, 2012) – to engage in a multimethod case study of a consulting and
leadership development firm. The company fosters positive social change by developing
ethical leaders and organizations, a process that they call ‘The Work’. Using a discursive
lens, this research is attuned to micro- and macro-level discourses (d/Discourse) and
contexts that constitute and are constituted by organizational life (Alvesson and
Kärreman, 2000). Our aim in this article is not to assess the impact of the consultant’s
advice and training on the clients; rather, we are interested in how consultants and clients
negotiate meaning over various ideologies at the intersection of d/Discourses. Despite
the need for ethical leadership, research has not fully linked context and practices (e.g.
training, role-modeling, ethical codes). As Akrivou et al. (2011) note, contextual pressures in today’s business play key roles in handicapping leaders’ abilities to act ethically.
Even with best intentions and clear moral principles and personal obligations, as in deontic justice (Cropanzano et al., 2003; Folger and Salvador, 2008; Folger et al., 2005), other
concerns (e.g. social, economic) influence behavior (Cropanzano and Stein, 2009). In
line with a discursive approach, our account is, by necessity, descriptive and critical for,
as Fairhurst (2009) argues, leadership should be explored in situ, while uncovering
whose interests are served in struggles for dominance.
We take Conscious Capitalism (CC) as foundation for and target of leader development. As such, we explore the complex discursive processes embedded within and driven
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by leadership development. To CC proponents, ethical business issues are best solved
through increased consciousness beginning with leaders and amplifying throughout the
system. Research indicates that self-reflexive and morally responsive leaders are ethical
(Brown and Treviño, 2006), with reflection aiding self-awareness and ethical behavior
(Akrivou et al., 2011). Consciousness and self-reflexivity may be key unlocking moves
for increases in moral rule-following decision rubrics by business leaders. However, it
remains unclear whether and how moral rule-following guidelines and internalized codes
of ethics can be developed, and with what consequences.
Despite acclaim from practitioners and popular outlets (e.g. Aburdene, 2005; Strong,
2009), CC has received little scholarly attention. We report on a field study of a consulting and leadership development firm committed to CC. Much leadership work takes a
prescriptive stance, arguing for and against certain norms and techniques (Cunliffe,
2009). This project, by contrast, takes a critical perspective that enables researchers to be
open to the partial and fragmented discursive struggles characterizing organizational life
(Alvesson and Deetz, 2000). Our critical perspective on organizational d/Discourse is
sensitive and open to the power dynamics that characterize organization change and
development, an approach normally favoring trends toward positive approaches
(Cameron et al., 2003; Marshak and Grant, 2008). We document and critique what happens when one firm attempts to develop ethical leaders. Our analysis gets at a question
posed by recent research – ‘can ethical leadership be identified and developed?’ (Brown
and Treviño, 2006: 608) – to which we add ‘and with what consequences?’
Our contributions in this article are threefold. First, we provide a critique of CC as an
emerging business Discourse that appears to offer hope for business and societal transformation. Since ‘D’iscourses tend to be paradigm-shifting (Phillips and Oswick, 2012),
and thus highly influential, scholarship must avoid blind acceptance and grapple with the
implications of these ideologies. Second, our attention to organizational tensions affords
a basis for critique of ethical leadership development based on embedded power relations at micro- and macro-levels (see Gordon et al., 2009). In this respect, our engagement with ‘small d’ and ‘big D’ avoids the dichotomization of discourse levels present in
many discourse studies (Alvesson and Kärreman, 2011a, 2011b; Phillips and Oswick,
2012). Finally, business is increasingly seen as a lever for change in the world; a vehicle
for tackling overly complex or ‘wicked’ problems (Rittel and Webber, 1973; Waddock
and McIntosh, 2011), such as poverty and environmental sustainability. CC has emerged
as one avenue for helping business grapple with wicked problems (Waddock and
McIntosh, 2011). However, we find that dealing with ethical dilemmas by training leaders to be more ethical through CC can, itself, become ‘wicked.’
Review of literature
Ethics and organizational justice
Because of the sheer persuasive potential of leadership (see Fairhurst, 2011), leadership
is imbued with ethics and is critical for an organization’s overall culture (Brown and
Mitchell, 2010; Treviño et al., 2003). Issues of leadership ethics are not new, but a resurgent interest has led to the development of ethical leadership constructs. Brown et al.
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(2005) define ethical leadership as ‘the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of
such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making’ (p. 120). In leadership processes, leader behavior is powerful, as followers tend to emulate what they see in role models. Indeed, unethical and unjust behavior
tends to have a trickle-down effect, such that when institutions are perceived as unfair
and/or unethical, individuals become less likely to behave ethically (Cropanzano and
Stein, 2009). On the other hand, Mihelič et al. (2010) note that the more leaders translate values and moral convictions to behavior (i.e. ‘walk their talk’), the more followers
trust and respect leaders and follow their lead. Yet, demonstration and reinforcement of
normative conduct is necessary but not sufficient. Given the complexities in a constantly changing global world (McCann and Holt, 2009), increased corporate scandals,
and cases of failed leadership, ethical questions center on crucial social problems (Kuhn
and Ashcraft, 2003).
Other research explores ethical codes of conduct and normative standards for ethical
behavior. However, as Seeger and Kuhn (2011) note, having principled moral obligations, ethical codes, or normative standards in place by no means guarantees compliance.
Indeed, Enron executives’ misdeeds occurred despite extensive ethical codes (Seeger
and Ulmer, 2003). The Enron case highlights embedded structural incommensurabilities
between pushes for efficiency and return on investment, as well as needs for transparency and ethical standards. It presents an intractable conflict with which Enron leaders
struggled mightily, that is, a ‘wicked problem’ (Rittel and Webber, 1973) which is illformulated and has unclear answers and solutions not easily identifiable in the short-term
(Camillus, 2008). A similar intractable conflict between justice and institutional reputation surfaced in the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University.
For leaders, deontic justice research explains decision making in terms of moral rulefollowing and internalized standards of justice and ethics (e.g. Cropanzano and Stein,
2009; Cropanzano et al., 2003; Rupp and Bell, 2010). Another way to consider deontic
justice perspectives is through the concept of mindfulness. Being mindful requires constant awareness and (re)appraisal of internalized moral standards. Theories in the area of
moral standards remain in the nascent stage and are in need of theory development (see
Cropanzano and Stein, 2009). Mindfulness provides such a means for development by
requiring that individuals look at beliefs, values, and worldviews to better engage with
others. Although not examining mindfulness specifically, Akrivou et al. (2011) explored
the role of solitude in ethical decision making, which they defined as ‘a voluntary activated state for the purpose of enhancing the quality of individual reflection and mental
experience which has an inner- and/or an outer-directed focus’ (p. 122). In their conceptualization is the importance of reflection, a close relative of mindfulness. They argue
that solitude positively affects authentic ethical leadership behaviors and in turn perceived fairness and integrity. Thus, it would appear that reflection and mindfulness serve
an all-important albeit underexplored function for leaders. Despite Akrivou et al.’s discussion of contextual factors that mitigate time for reflection (e.g. speed, competition,
communication demands), less is known about how these factors affect leadership development efforts. Indeed, executives rarely intentionally behave unethically (Akrivou et
al., 2011).
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We are left then with a slippery process by which ethical conduct can be learned and
put into practice. Given the speed with which leaders are asked to make decisions, combined with contextual pressures of competition and a global marketplace, we wonder
whether leaders have the resources to carve out the ‘mental space to disconnect and
reflect on how to combine effectiveness and ethical role modeling’ (Akrivou et al.,
2011: 121) or a space to be mindful and consider unintended consequences, even with
best efforts to develop or teach ethical leaders. Despite a stated focus on leadership
development (e.g. Avolio and Gardner, 2005), little research actually engages in empirical investigation of organizations that operate in that space. Rather, extant research
remains largely normative and anecdotal (Brown and Treviño, 2006; Rubin et al., 2010),
focusing on how leaders can avoid missteps (Brown, 2007; Mihelič et al., 2010) and
how ethical leadership can be facilitated throughout organizational cultures (Schweitzer
et al., 2004).
Conscious Capitalism
Conscious Capitalism (CC), popularized by John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods,
promises companies a way to rethink their purposes in the world, and offers companies
a different, integrated entrée into corporate social responsibility (CSR) and related initiatives. CC, therefore, is one of several ‘general and prevalent systems for the formation
and articulation of ideas in a particular period of time’ (Alvesson and Kärreman, 2000:
1126). Recently, the world has heard voices calling loudly for a reappraisal of capitalism
and the way business is done. Consider the Occupy Wall Street movement that spread to
over 1000 cities worldwide. The Occupy movement signals disgust over corporate greed
and a call for a more humane form of capitalism where social values are at the center of
business (Sivakumar, 2011).
CC’s impetus is that the way business is done is not sustainable. Rather than eschewing capitalism, ‘leaders [must] re-think why their organizations exist and acknowledge
their companies’ roles in the interdependent global marketplace’ (‘Conscious Capitalism,’
2012: para. 3). Recognizing marketplace interdependence requires a high level of mindfulness on the part of leaders (‘Conscious Capitalism,’ 2012), and deep systemic change
to organizational cultures (Visser, 2011). CC has four tenets: spiritually-evolved, selfeffacing servant leaders; a conscious culture; a stakeholder orientation; and a higher
purpose, one that transcends profit maximization. As noted earlier, organizational culture
is critical for a just and ethical operation. From a CC (2012) perspective, a conscious
culture is one that is captured by the acronym TACTILE (trust, authenticity, caring,
transparency, integrity, learning, empowerment). Looking at this acronym, it can be theorized that a conscious culture is one where justice, in all its forms (i.e. distributive, procedural, interactional, see Cropanzano and Stein, 2009), is a top priority for leaders.
Conscious leaders are those who are mindful of their behaviors and ethical convictions
(as in deontic justice, see Cropanzano et al., 2003; Rupp and Bell, 2010), as they work
toward the betterment of their organizations and society.
As such, CC is inherently concerned with business ethics. The principle of voluntary
exchange (e.g. between businesses and customers), upon which capitalism is based, provides the ethical foundation of businesses (Mackey, 2009). Businesses are expected to
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behave ethically in this voluntary exchange, and CC assumes that everything in business
can be done either consciously or unconsciously. The vehicle through which consciousness in business is achieved is through purpose, the reason for a company to exist beyond
its profit-making objective (FLOW Overview, n.d.). A company’s purpose must be created to achieve higher levels of consciousness about ways that it contributes to the greater
good. However, getting companies to be conscious of these ways requires reflection and
reflexivity on the part of leadership. The requisite time and energy needed to carve out
the ‘mental space’ (Akrivou et al., 2011) for reflexivity in today’s hypercompetitive business milieu stands in tension with pressing concerns for action faced by organizational
decision makers.
Organizational tensions and complexities
In a world where rationality and order permeates business theory and practice (Trethewey
and Ashcraft, 2004), organizational communication scholars provide insight into members’ messy and conflicting experiences as they live with individual and organizational
transformation tensions (Jian, 2007; Mumby, 2005; Putnam et al., 2005; Seo et al., 2004;
Tracy, 2004). For leaders, the tumultuous work environment, marked by a weak economy and increased competition, means that organizational members are pulled in multiple and oftentimes competing directions (Trethewey and Ashcraft, 2004). Operating
under a larger rubric of ‘tension-centered scholarship,’ researchers investigate ironies,
contradictions, and paradoxes in organizing (Gibbs, 2009; Koschmann and Laster, 2011;
Trethewey and Ashcraft, 2004; Smith and Lewis, 2011; Stohl and Cheney, 2001; Tracy,
2004). This line of work is important because ‘scholarship that denies the powerful presence of tensions neglects the basic character of organizational life’ (Ashcraft and
Trethewey, 2004: 171). Four processes characterize this approach: paradoxes are ‘dilemmas that demand impossible choices between non-existent or mutually exclusive options,
e.g. “be spontaneous”’ (Gibbs, 2009: 908); tension refers to ‘the clash of ideas or principles or actions and to the discomfort that may arise as a result’ (Stohl and Cheney, 2001:
354); contradiction arises when two ideas are in mutual opposition to one another; and
irony refers to ‘a stance toward paradoxes that invites observers and participants at least
to realize and perhaps also to transcend the limitations of their own efforts’ (Stohl and
Cheney, 2001: 354).
Research has explored tensions in consulting and change interventions. Jian (2007)
explicated varied tensions that resulted from an information and communication technologies (ICT) program implementation at an information technology company.
Although management framed the changes as ‘appropriate’ and necessary, employees
discursively constructed their own, oppositional meanings. Jian’s findings point to the
ironic consequences of change implementations, as well as how organizations operate as
‘sites of struggle where different groups compete to shape the social reality of organizations in ways that serve their own interests’ (Mumby and Clair, 1997:182). How to manage these struggles is an ethical leadership process.
In summary, ethical leadership has received wide scholarly and popular attention.
How to define and implement leadership development, particularly practices drawing
attention to productive ethical processes in a highly complex global world, has required
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different approaches. Over the past decade, CC has gained traction in the business community as a way for companies to reappraise how they do business and positively contribute to society. Although incorporating CC appears a worthwhile aim, it is by no
means a panacea, as it is fraught with challenges. Taking a d/Discourse and tensioncentered lens, our research seeks to answer the following question (RQ1): What are the
tensions and complexities surrounding the development of ethical leaders in the service
of Conscious Capitalism?
Method
Participants and context
‘Devenir’1 is a management consulting firm located in the southwestern United States,
with 12 full-time employees and 20 geographically-dispersed contract coaches. For its
leadership development, Devenir offers a 52-week Integral Leadership Program (ILP).
To form an ILP offering, members of various organizations at different hierarchical levels (e.g. VP of Sales, CEO) are assembled into classes where they receive one-on-one
and group executive coaching; bi-weekly teleclasses composed of ILP members and led
by a Devenir facilitator; full-day, 10-hour quarterly workshops; and a web portal containing music and video clips, core practice worksheets, e-journal listservs, and homework.
All client tools are integrated into the learning modules that facilitate the development of
conscious, ethical leaders.
We believe Devenir serves as an illustrative case because it shares many of the same
goals and aims of today’s leadership development and change management firms (e.g.
strategy, execution, skill development). Although Devenir is a relatively small company,
we believe the experiences we uncover will ‘be epistemologically in harmony with the
reader’s experience and thus to that person a natural basis for generalization’ (Stake,
2000: 19). Moreover, given the current environment in which business takes place, and
the importance of organizational ethics and justice in the wake of recent, high-profile
crises, Devenir operates in a space that is sorely needed. At the same time, Devenir provides a unique element in the change management/leader development industry; namely,
having CC as the foundation and target of their efforts, and integrating cognitive, moral,
and spiritual elements for requisite development and change.
Procedures
After obtaining approval from the Instructional Review Board, the first author engaged
in a two-month field study of Devenir, where he was regarded as an intern or ‘job shadower.’ Wide access to the organization resulted in four data collection methods: (a) 16
semi-structured, open-ended interviews with Devenir members and 13 with Devenir
clients (over 500 double-spaced pages of transcription); (b) over 500 pages of documents including the company website and client materials (e.g. online interactive
coaching software, pamphlets); (c) 100 hours of participant-observation (212 typed,
double-spaced pages of field notes); and (d) autoethnographic journaling (120 typed,
double-spaced pages).
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In line with a discursive approach, the researchers became attuned to the stories and
realities that comprised Devenir life (Bushe and Marshak, 2009). Accordingly, two different data analyses were performed: constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006)
and critical discourse analysis (Chouliaraki and Fairclough, 2010). First, following
Charmaz’s method, data collection and analysis occurred simultaneously, such that the
first author began to ‘separate, sort, and synthesize . . . data through qualitative coding’
(2006: 3) in the field. Selection of themes was guided by Owen’s (1984) criteria of recurrence, repetition, and forcefulness. During the final two weeks of data collection, the first
author took his findings to members to verify, ask further questions, and ‘member check’
(Lindlof and Taylor, 2011) findings with participants.
Our second data analysis technique, critical discourse analysis (CDA), occurred after
the initial constructivist approach. Our constructivist grounded theory approach afforded
a data-generative representation of the key themes involved in Devenir’s Work, which
comprise the first part of our results section (see Table 1, Appendix). Then, CDA allowed
us to reflect on our themes further, taking a stance of suspicion and vulnerability to guide
our inquiry (Mumby, 1997). Essentially, combining grounded theory and CDA allowed
us to uncover surface-level and deeper meanings (i.e. best practices and tensions, respectively). The revealing of multiple layers of meaning is a key aim of our critical study
because ‘surface level meanings and behaviors obscure deep structure conflicts, contradictions, and neuroses that systematically limit the possibilities for the realization of a
genuinely democratic society’ (Mumby, 1997: 9). In essence, CDA allowed us to be more
open to the tensions, complexities, and challenges associated with Devenir’s practices.
Appropriating critical discourse analysis opened our analysis to issues of power, hegemony, and power relations, while keeping an analytical eye on local texts and wider social
practices (i.e. d/Discourses; see Phillips and Oswick, 2012).
Results2
Our findings are organized in two parts: (a) core practices in ethical leader development;
and (b) a critical perspective, revealing micro- and macro-level tensions in developing
ethical leaders. We first provide a sampling of Devenir’s key practices in developing
leaders to contextualize the tensions we uncovered in our critical take.
Best practices in developing ethical leaders
According to participants, Devenir strives to create a seamless mental map of curriculum
and training materials, a coherent set of practices for the consultants, and embodied
experiences for the clients that they and their clients considered to be effective (for best
practice themes, see Table 1, Appendix). Of note are the various ways in which Devenir
seeks to position itself vis-a-vis the larger leadership training and consulting industry.
Language choices help them to discursively position (Bisel and Barge, 2011; Davies and
Harré, 1990) themselves in the leader development and consulting industry. Devenir
refers to clients as ‘partners’ to stress long-term relationships. It reinforces a Devenir
ecosystem to bring consciousness to businesses and leaders, in the service of CC and a
commitment to ethics. Moreover, Devenir works to ensure careful alignment with their
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partners, only working with clients that: are mid-market in size; have concentrated, private ownership; are physically close to Devenir offices; and share Devenir’s values (e.g.
a commitment to CC). Insuring alignment functions to secure relationships with partners
who have similar mindsets, worldviews, change expectations, and values.
Additionally, Devenir emphasizes a practice-based approach to learning leadership. A
common metaphor in Devenir’s leadership development work involves working out, or
finding new forms of building muscle. Athletics and martial arts references abound.
Devenir leadership development is akin to ‘getting down on the mat’ (as in wrestling)
and ‘striking a hard surface repeatedly in order to improve bone density.’ Devenir members discussed the need to practice – ‘in the gym,’ ‘doing the reps’ – to transform as
leaders. The practice-based approach is designed to cause leaders to be more mindful of
their development as leaders, in the same way that health and fitness becomes part of
one’s daily and lifelong routine. Participants are reminded constantly that a development
commitment takes reflection, mindfulness, and deep embodiment of practices. During
one telelesson, participants likened a state of mindfulness to the film The Matrix, where
one is able to slow down time, lean back, and dodge the bullets as they fly overhead.
Similarly, one facilitator explained that being mindful is akin to a batter being able to see
the stiches on a baseball before making contact. These examples demonstrate the power
of a leader to exercise ‘slow motion’ sensemaking through mindfulness.
Above, we described one firm’s discursive and embodied ethical leadership development approach. Devenir’s company-wide macrodiscourses, everyday talk, and embodied
practices strive to construct and reaffirm a coherent story of effectiveness that seems to
be successful in developing leaders’ consciousness. Next, we offer a critical take on ethical leadership development, thereby widening our perspective to look at partial and fragmented points of discursive struggle (Alvesson and Deetz, 2000).
Micro- and macro-level tensions in ethical leadership development
We consider the interplay of micro and macro levels and forms of d/Discourse. In any
attempt to develop leaders, ‘multiple Discourses comprise the discursive context for
organizations and the success or failure of change initiatives will fall partially on the
ability of change agents to address the opportunities and constraints created by their
discursive context’ (Bisel and Barge, 2011: 283). In Devenir, CC operates as a Discourse
of social change and responsibility – its impetus for and target of development. For each
finding, we identify a key image that illustrates the tension. These images are meant for
illustrative purposes; they help the reader get a sense for what the tension looks like in
practice. Our analysis focuses not simply on identifying the tensions, but how the tensions function, and how those experiencing tensions struggle to communicatively resolve
and/or balance them (Koschmann and Laster, 2011).
Micro-level tensions: Paradoxes of practice
Structuring and releasing. This finding explores an inherent tension involved in leaders’
need to follow a disciplined, regimented practice, necessary for true leadership development, according to Devenir, and its unintended consequences. The key image in this part
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of the story is the tensional struggle between reining in and pushing out. These tensions
center on keeping leaders committed to learning and practices (reigning in), while also
enabling their strengths in creativity and independence to flourish (pushing out). Laura,
a coach, explains:
We’re experimenting with how do we incorporate the practice-based approach and the
supporting structures and get the client to agree to it, because we know that that works, but if
they haven’t experienced it and our clients for the most part are wild and crazy entrepreneurs
that don’t have a lot of discipline, entrepreneurs typically don’t. What makes entrepreneurs
successful is also what typically holds them back from a sustainable company . . . the founder
might have been some wild and crazy entrepreneur, but as the family grows up in that company,
they’re developing different skills, or whatever, because a lot of entrepreneurs get really bored
with that sustainability part of the business.
In Laura’s interview, the notion that entrepreneurs ‘get really bored with that sustainability part of the business’ is interesting from a leadership perspective. As an organization
works toward becoming more ethical and just (i.e. a ‘conscious’ organization), sustaining
leader development is critical if there is ever hope that ethical behavior and fairness
might trickle down to the entire organization, as can be the case for unethical behavior
(Cropanzano and Stein, 2009). In the end, the result is the competing orders of discourse
(Fairclough, 1993) among entrepreneurialism (i.e. the entrepreneurial spirit of creativity
and independence), structure, and sustainability that Devenir must constantly negotiate
in order to develop leaders.
Expanding and contracting. This subtheme explicates how Devenir preaches an expansive
and multilayered discourse of being able to transform leaders and organizations and do
good in the world through CC, within a limited scope and target audience. The key image
here is preaching expansion but practicing reality. Here we explore what it means to talk
about changing the world, within the material realities of time, space, and other scarce
resources in today’s complex business environment. Roger, a co-founding member of
Devenir, explained to the first author that his view of what Devenir’s purpose is in the
world is ‘crystal clear’:
This business. ‘The Work.’ . . . We have a point of view that evolves, but our current point of
view is crystal clear. If we believe that, this business is here to participate in the transformation
of society, . . . [then] there’s all sorts of ways to do The Work. Since the conditions that are most
ideal for The Work are long term.
Roger notes that Devenir is a small part of societal transformation. In another example,
a coach, Parr, in an
