It’s the end of another year – already! I don’t know about you, but this year has flown by. At CCSD we had a flurry of activity at the beginning of the year, a period of reflection and inquiry in the middle, and one of our favorite events so far toward the end. 

QUICK RECAP

In January, we held our first Conscious Capitalism Assessment Workshop. Business owners converged at a half-day workshop, led by past-President R. Michael Anderson, to assess where their companies have challenges and help them define solutions for success. 

In February, our event at PIRCH on Creating and Sustaining a Conscious Culture through Rapid Growth and Expansion was a resounding success. Mark Tomaszewicz, then Ambassador of Joy at PIRCH, shared with business leaders the benefits and strategy for creating a culture that drives both joyful experiences for their customers and resounding profits for their bottom line.

We were fortunate to welcome Conscious Capitalism co-founder Raj Sisodia, PhD in March. In addition to a powerful presentation by Raj, the program featured a dynamic panel of  C-suite executives, including: JP McNeill, Founder & CEO, Renovate America; Pablo Fernandez, Founder & CEO, Secret Table and Susannah Stewart; then Chief Sustainability Officer at Chuao Chocolatier, who shared their best practices for leveraging Conscious Capitalism in their businesses. 

Raj co-authored a book called “Shakti Leadership: Embracing Feminine and Masculine Power in Business”with Nilima Bhat, who joined us in April, to share with a room full of business leaders how to leverage both feminine and masculine conversation styles to ensure effective, mindful communications in challenging situations. 

We collaborated with CC Los Angeles, CC Orange County, and CC Arizona to bring you two great webinars over the summer. One was with The Container Store Founder,Kip Tindell. The other was with former Trader Joe’s President and Founder of Daily Table,Doug Rauch.

In May we launched our Conscious Culture Roundtable, a peer-based learning and support program for C-suite and culture leaders from leading conscious organizations in SD County. This monthly gathering provides an opportunity for business leaders of purpose-driven companies with established conscious practices to share and learn from each other. 

November saw one of our favorite events so far: local legend Ken Blanchard spoke to us in his beautiful personal way about Servant Leadership and then provided an opportunity for those present to ask questions. 

SOME CHANGES AFOOT

In March, Conscious Capitalism, Inc. hired a new co-CEO, Alexander McCobin. Alexander brings a wealth of experience, enthusiasm and ideas — all of which are hugely beneficial to the movement and the local chapters. As you might expect, as with most big organizational changes, there’s been quite a bit of change, upheaval and navigating the unknown as they sort things out and develop new processes and guidelines.

In October the board met with Alexander and we’re extremely excited about the direction of the movement and the support we’ll be getting from the International parent organization. We’re all learning together. With new guidance and direction from CC, Inc, we will be able to align our strategy and offerings with theirs in order to create a more global movement.

CC, INC. — WHAT, WHY AND HOW

Vision:Conscious Capitalism, Inc.’svision is a world where businessisandis recognized asthe greatest force for good.

Purpose: Elevate humanity through business by changing the way business is done and the way it’s perceived

New Strategy:

1. Outreach to business people and future business people
2. Provide support to our businesses with conscious content
3. Work with businesses and communities to curate their stories
4. Advocate stories of conscious businesses

 WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

The main role of the local chapters affiliated with CC, Inc. will be to implement the strategy on a local level. How we do that will be different for each chapter and the needs of the market.

With new guidance, vision, purpose and support, we’re evaluating who our target market is here in San Diego. Our endeavor is to determine what that target audience wants from affiliation with CCSD and then determine what we can realistically do with a small volunteer board and limited financial resources.

The board has had ongoing discussions about strategy and capacity building throughout the year, and we’ve been addressing some foundational questions so we can move forward stronger.  In January we will meet to develop a strategy for managed growth for the coming year that will build on the new framework provided by CC, Inc. We’re excited about some of the new ideas and possibilities and look forward to sharing them with you.

 WHERE YOU COME IN

At some point in the past two years something about the Conscious Capitalism movement has inspired or captivated you. In addition to fanning the flames of a movement we all believe in, we’d love to know what you want from involvement with the chapter. If you have any input for us, please let us know by early January so we can include your ideas in our strategy session.

And, as always, we’re looking for individuals who are passionate about elevating humanity through business, who are comfortable with a bit of ambiguity as we build a sustainable organization, and who have the time and commitment to roll up their sleeves and help us make it happen. Does that sounds like you? Then reach out to us and let us know whether you have interest in being on a committee or on the board or just in sharing your unique skills and talents with us.

In particular, we could use people with expertise in public relations, communications, program and event planning, and finance.