At the end of January, Maurice Ostro spoke at TEDxCamden. His talk, titled ‘The Crisis of Capitalism and the Unlikely Solution’, discussed the ways in which purpose can restore trust in our economic system.
Telling the audience about his family history, he began: “I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t even have been born.” His father’s astonishing escape from Nazi persecution made him question his personal purpose, while his business experience with the Fayre Share foundation inspired a more public approach to purpose.
Maurice shared some astonishing statistics:
- 60% of Brits do not think that the current system is working for them
- Working to benefit a good cause increases productivity by up to 30%
- 88% of millennials want to work for a company whose values match their own
So what are the takeaways from this? Here at EG, we believe that purpose can provide the answer.
By taking our pledge to purpose you can achieve three crucial things:
- You can do good. You can give back to your community, and make a positive impact on your surroundings through your work.
- You can do well. The research shows that your business will benefit from embedding purpose. Your employees will be more productive, you will attract more consumers, and draw top talent.
- You can help restore trust in society. With trust in business continuing to plummet, as Maurice says, purpose might just be the unlikely solution. Our aim is to change the way people view business, and the more pledges we get, the closer we come to achieving that goal. You can be the example for businesses
As Maurice says, “I had the idea for Entrepreneurial Giving – or EG. EG because it’s about being an example for business.”
