Integrity, Sincerity, & Execution as Currency
I’ve been ruminating on the intangible values that make for a great social entrepreneur.
Beyond the usual Competency 101 Profiles – visionary, entrepreneurial, business-minded, collaborative, empathic, empowering – I’ve reflected on (3) less popular characteristics that I wanted to highlight. I picked these (3) values as I consider them ‘currency’ in making one more effective, especially in working with people.
For me, these (3) are : Integrity, Sincerity, and the Ability to Execute – values that I continue to aspire for, and hope to one day realize.
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1. Integrity
Integrity is the default absolute must-have. After all, it is the cornerstone of being a social entrepreneur.
For me, the seed of integrity starts with the fact that you’re doing this for the right reasons; You have to be fueled by the right intentions.
It shouldn’t be about the money (although self-sustainability is undeniably important), your ego, or the warm fuzzy feeling one gets from “doing good”. My personal opinion is that you should be passionate about solving social problems, and obsessed about living a life of service.
Furthermore, integrity is about uncompromisingly doing the right thing. This can take the form of having core principles that you will adhere to, even when the going gets tough. In Hapinoy, for example, whenever we are faced with difficult decisions, we simplify it to one simple question : “What’s Good For Nanay (the Hapinoy Store Owner)?”. This ultimately sways the decision that we take.
When people know that you have integrity, they will trust you, collaborate with you, support you, do business with you. So you really have to guard this with your life. And the secret is simple : just live a life of integrity (I absolutely know that this is easier said that done!).
There are no techniques to gain integrity and build reputation, one must simply try as hard as s/he can to stay true to it. The easiest way to not have any skeletons in your closet that will explode in your face – is to not have any skeletons in the first place.
2. Sincerity
As a social entrepreneur, you’ll most likely be working with marginalized sectors/communities, tackling a palpable social problem – whether this be on livelihood, healthcare, education, poverty, inequality, access to energy, etcetera.
Now, take note that the people you will be serving and/or partnering with could have already been “betrayed” by over-promising politicians, or “let down” by good-intentioned, yet unsustainable organizations who came and then went away. In any case, earning the community’s trust – that you are here for the long-haul – is an important first step, and the smell of sincerity is a key that opens up communication and dialogue. (And trust me when I say that without the community’s trust, you will not be able to accomplish anything.)
Trust is not something easily given, and as such it must and will be earned through time. In Rags2Riches, it took over a year for things to really mature such that the Cooperative formation became a welcome development and shared goal. And although the program became more robust, I’d like to believe that it is the Community’s belief in the sincerity and integrity of the R2R team that made this social enterprise truly work.
3. Ability to Execute
Most Social Enterprises – especially if they are veritable game-changers – will start as a vision of what could be, and not what is. Now, while this is certainly inspiring, it also lends itself to the term, “Drawing lang ‘yan” – which means to say that it is still only a concept drawing on paper. In other words, it’s a skeptic’s perspective – it hasn’t happened until it has happened. In fact, you can be the most kind-hearted person in the world, but until you fulfill the vision you’re painting – even gradually – you will be less effective in the eyes of your partners.
A former boss of mine taught me a valuable lesson : the best argument against your critics will always be results. After all, results will always speak for themselves. This holds true as well for social entrepreneurship.
The Ability to Execute and make the vision gradually real is sacrosanct. It not only fuels credibility, but it also spurs a bandwagon effect that increases momentum and growth.
In my view, Hapinoy still has a long way to go in realizing the true potential of the program, especially as we see it in our heads. But we continue to execute, iterate, execute, iterate – and gradually build on the unfolding results. It’s admittedly a continuing uphill battle, but one that we’re absolutely committed to getting to eventually.
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The reason I call the above (3) as ‘currency’ is this – a large chunk of a social entrepreneur’s time is invested in working with people.
And one particular nuance in a social entrep’s lifestyle – is that we do not strictly transact as other people do. For example, a normal business would be focused on finding suppliers and workers, pay them to do a job – and on the other side, sell to a customer, and gain cash from the exchange. In this model, money is the main currency.
The social entrepreneur, on the other hand, will also transact with money, yes – but will go and build deeper relationships. And at this level, it’s really intangible currency that can spell the difference.
In Hapinoy, we don’t hire and pay microentrepreneurs as labor; We work with them in order to co-build their business; In Rags2Riches, we don’t just sell bags, we sell the broader advocacy of eco-ethical style.
Money definitely speaks – but in social entrepreneurship, so do Integrity, Sincerity, and Execution.
[...] Aside from the business planning skills gained in this competition, I’d just like to emphasize again the ‘soft side’ of social entrepreneurship – integrity, sincerity, and execution as key currency. [...]