Lessons Learned From Our B Corp Certification
By Dale McIntyre | November 4, 2016
“Leaders aren’t born; they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.”
Those are Vince Lombardi’s words, but I can relate. Leading Pharos through the rigorous B Corp certification process changed our company’s profile and had a profound effect on the way I approach leadership.
Leading an organization through a significant change is a delicate balance of acknowledging fear of the unknown while inspiring buy-in and commitment. It can be daunting, especially when you consider that more than 70 percent of corporate change initiatives fail.
The decision to pursue certification as B Corporation was the right step for our company. Like many other businesses, sustainability has always been important to us, but we wanted to grow our commitment to directly and broadly improve the social and environmental impact of our operations.
Lighting the Way Toward Change
Navigating change is easier when there is a clear alignment between purpose, brand, and the content of the change. As we looked ahead, the changes required to become a Certified B Corporation aligned perfectly with our corporate purpose and pushed us further down the path of modeling a sustainable approach to business.
The nature of our work put us ahead on our journey, but the process still wasn’t easy. Guiding my organization through the changes needed to achieve such uncompromising certification standards taught me some powerful lessons in leadership.
