Benevolent Capitalism: Creating a Business for the Good of All

Do you ever feel concerned about the current state of the world? Are you frustrated with the status quo? Are you tired of business as usual and long for a different possibility? As an entrepreneur and owner of a successful global company, I can tell you that something else IS possible! Business can be kinder, more inclusive and less judgmental. Business can thrive financially while creating a greater possibility for others and for the world. I call this Benevolent Capitalism.

The word benevolent means, “For the good of all.” Capitalism refers to the things that we do to make money. When businesses function from Benevolent Capitalism, choices are made not only based on what will generate money but also on what will contribute to others and to the planet. What would the world be like if our businesses practiced Benevolent Capitalism? What greater possibilities would materialize if everything was created with the good of all in mind? Choosing Benevolent Capitalism requires that you work differently. It requires you to step up and go beyond the status quo; to become the leader of your own life and business.

Are you willing?

Here are four simple tools you can use in business decisions to choose and create for the good of all:

Know That You Know

We’ve been taught to make choices and solve problems through thinking. Look for the right answer. Do the right thing. But as Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved by the same level of thinking that created it.” Thinking never allows us to create something new because our cognitive mind never allows us to go beyond what it currently knows.

There is something that goes beyond thinking, and we all have it. It’s called knowing, or awareness. You might refer to it as intuition. It’s the inner sense of what to do, where to go, what choice to make. Knowing is faster than thinking. Knowing goes beyond the limitation of the cognitive mind and accesses the infinite possibilities that are available.

My question to you is, “What do you know that you’ve been pretending not to know, or denying you know, that if you allowed yourself to know it would change everything in your business and in the world for the greater?” Whatever that is, would you be willing to acknowledge it and to be it? Would you be willing to know what you know even if no one else understands? Even if no one else follows?

Questions Are the Key

You may have been told having the right answer is most important in making choices regarding your business. Actually, looking for the right answer and coming to the conclusion that you have the right answer is what kills your business and creates stagnation. Questions take us beyond our conclusions. They open the door to possibilities we have not yet considered. Questions access our knowing and propel us into the creation of a greater future.

Business Consultant and Co-Author of “No More Business As Usual,” Steve Bauman, works with a lot of corporations. As business problems are discussed, he often asks, “What if it weren’t this way?” There are always one or two people who say, “Well, it is this way! It’s always been this way.” Steve’s response: “Yeah. But what if it wasn’t?” When this question is asked all the limitations and conclusions are set aside for a moment and the consideration of a new possibility enters. Now there is the ability to go in a different direction.

Other questions you can ask are, “What else is possible here that we haven’t considered?” And, “What are the new realities we desire to birth as an organization?” Or, “What are the new realities I desire to create with the choices I can make?” Asking questions accesses our knowing. And, all groundbreaking ideas have come from our knowing and our consciousness, not from our thinking.

What Will Our Business Be Like If We Choose Benevolent Capitalism?

Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group says, “Don’t think what’s the cheapest way to do it, or what’s the fastest way to do it. Think, what’s the most amazing way to do it.” To find what’s the most amazing way to do something, ask this question: “If we choose … what will our business be like in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?”

When you ask this question, instantly you will have an awareness of what will create the most in your business. Most of us have never been taught that we are energetic beings. But we are! And when we ask a question that takes us five years into the future, our mind can’t figure it out; it’s too far away. So what happens is we perceive the energy of it. Perceive the energy and follow what feels light and you will begin to create your business from Benevolent Capitalism.

Be the Leader of Your Life

A true leader is someone who knows where they must go and is willing to go there even if no one understands or follows. Leaders ask questions and live in the space of “What else is possible?” Leaders choose consciousness. Consciousness is where everything is included and nothing is judged. Leaders acknowledge the contribution that they are, and at the same time acknowledge the contribution that others are.

Ultimately, leaders empower others to lead. They are not interested in creating followers. They are interested in creating a world, and a future, far greater than anything we have yet imagined. Will you be the leader of your life? Will you live in the space of possibility? If you wish to create a business that is for the good of all, start by acknowledging that you and the choices you make in your business and your life will actually create the future you’d like to see. Yes!

You are the most valuable product of your business. You are a powerful creator. Your choice makes a difference. Your consciousness creates change. You choosing to be the leader of your life is the invitation to a whole new reality in business and in the world. If you truly knew how bright and brilliant you are, if you truly knew that your choice contributes to the creation of our future if you fully got that you being the greatness of you creates a whole new possibility for the world, what would you choose?