Book Review: WEconomy

Holly Branson, the daughter of Sir Richard, has written this book about the benefits of running a purpose-driven business.

The book is co-authored with Marc and Craig Kielburger, founders of www.we.org, a global movement that brings people together and inspires them to make the world a better place.

The WEconomy is a collection of engaging case studies around the importance of embedding purpose at the core of business.

It includes stories from the likes of Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson and Oprah Winfrey.

The book's authors share their personal experiences with purpose-driven business from both the non-profit and social entrepreneurship sectors.

There is an interesting chapter that covers employee engagement and how today’s employees want to live and work in alignment with their broader social values.Ben Faulkner

Ms Branson describes her own journey from doctor to the Virgin Group, and how her team was tasked with ensuring that "business as a force for good" would be the most important part of Virgin’s DNA.

One of the chapters looks at the rise of impact investing, and it is encouraging to see a business such as Virgin incorporate social and environmental goals into its investment strategy. Indeed, it is interesting, but perhaps not surprising, to read that Virgin were already running businesses that met the criteria.

There is an interesting chapter that covers employee engagement and how today’s employees want to live and work in alignment with their broader social values.

Within this chapter, Reed Hastings, chief executive officer at Netflix, shares his novel approach for setting an example to his employees in achieving a work-life balance. 

At EQ, as a founding UK B-Corp (B Corporations) we are firm believers in business as a force for good and Ms Branson captures this perfectly: “When, in some instances, companies are more powerful than governments, business cannot see itself as separate from the health of our world and its people, but responsible for it.”

The true essence of the book is that purpose and profit are not either/or propositions.

Published by Wiley. Ben Faulkner is communications director at EQ Investors