By Emma Brownell for Intent.com
NIKE says, “Just Do It.” You should listen.
Ever feel like something is beyond hope – like investing in good works, or donating to a cause, or participating in your company’s charity matching plan isn’t worth it because your contribution would be insignificant, or the issue itself is too far gone, or – why bother?
Well, at times like those, look to the companies in this series that started out, arguably, as socially irresponsible companies.
Not all of those profiled in this series were built on the idea of sustainability. Certain of the brands in this series first made headlines because of their flagrant disregard for sustainability.
The Model: NIKE
NIKE is among these companies. NIKE first got attention – of the negative variety – in the early 1990s for underpaying its factory workers. While it paid basketball stars in the U.S. millions to endorse the NIKE brand, it paid its factory workers (across 55 countries) a pittance (14 cents an hour). The word spread that NIKE was engaging in inhumane practices, and the media, US citizens and nonprofits took the story and ran with it.
By 1998 the then-CEO, Phil Knight, made the decision to turn the company around. NIKE’s practices weren’t dramatically out of line with those of the rest of the industry, but its size and brand recognition made it a prime target for those lobbying on behalf of workers’ rights.
As reported in Social Responsibility: The Nike Story, Knight created a six-point plan to change corporate practices. The plan included monitoring factory conditions, setting minimum age requirements and improving working conditions. Knight also hired Maria Eitel. She is now the president of the NIKE Foundation, founded in 2004. The foundation focuses on investing in girls. As explained on the site, “We work to get girls on the international agenda and drive resources to them. We believe the best way to do that is to prove that investment in her unleashes the girl effect.”
In 2008, NIKE CEO Mark Parker teamed up with World Bank President Robert Zoellick to launch the Adolescent Girls Initiative. The AGI’s mission is to “increase economic opportunities for adolescent girls in post-conflict developing countries.” It is being rolled out in Liberia, with plans to launch in Afghanistan, Nepal, Rwanda and South Sudan this year.
Lesson Learned: Just Do It
So, what’s the lesson to be learned from the NIKE example? That it’s never too late to start caring. When it comes to your professional and personal lives, if you feel like people are being treated unfairly, or like there’s an opportunity to help that’s going untapped, remember the NIKE story. You don’t have to start a foundation or team up with the World Bank to make a change. But you do have to pay attention to weaknesses, to opportunities – and you do have to keep fear and inertia at bay.
What are some areas in your personal or professional life that could benefit from a socially conscious makeover? You need to make conscious decisions about how you spend your money, how you pay your staff (if you’re an employer), who you employ – these are lessons that NIKE reinforces.
Read more blog posts in the Intent.com Sustainable Leadership Series here
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