Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship, and TOMS

I’m fascinated by the challenge of being a leader. The root of this fascination is my understanding that the job of a great leader is never done. You’ve had success? Awesome: your team is excited, people congratulate you, and then … they want to know what’s next. What will you, and thus your team, do to top your recent success? How will you master tomorrow?

Back when I was playing soccer competitively, the above mindset drove me. I was a goalkeeper; it’s become quite cliché that if you’re a goalkeeper on your team, you’re automatically a leader. But the challenge of being a goalkeeper is more than the leadership characteristics that you must embody. The challenge of being a goalkeeper has to do with what’s expected of you each day: If you make a brilliant save in the game, everyone on your team is psyched, and then … they want to know if you’ll make the next save. What will you do to top your preceding save? How will you keep the ball out of the net for the full 90 minutes?

Simply put, the expectation of a goalkeeper (namely, to perform at a high level, day in and day out) is not too different than the expectation of leaders in almost any other realm, business or otherwise. 

And so, I guess it’s no surprise that I look at great leaders with the utmost admiration and respect; I know firsthand how challenging – and rewarding – it is to be a leader and to have the weight of your team’s successes and failures squarely on your shoulders.

Thus, predictably, a recent New York Times article enthralled me: Distilling the Wisdom of C.E.O.’s.  The gist of the article (which I’d 100% recommend as a read to anyone) was that successful leaders embody 5 particular traits:  

-       passionate curiosity

-       battle-hardened confidence

-       team smarts

-       simple mindset

-       fearlessness.

Around the same time that I read this particular NYT article, I was looking closely at TOMS. While helping to coordinate Outreach efforts for Soccer Without Borders, I was talking with the director of digital marketing for a new company named Two Degrees Food (TDF). The business model of TDF is much like that of TOMS – one for one; thus, understanding TOMS helped me to understand TDF (here’s a shameless plug for TDF: you should totally check them out! http://twodegreesfood.com/).  

Consequently, with the “5 traits of successful leaders” and TOMS taking up significant mental real estate, it’s no surprise that I started to take a closer look at TOMS’ Chief Shoe Giver, Blake Mycoskie.

Minor disclaimer: I’m not a TOMS or a Blake Mycoskie fan(girl) … rather, given my close ties to Soccer Without Borders, it’s fitting that quality leadership in the emerging business sector of Social Entrepreneurship intrigues me; Blake, unquestionably, is leading the charge of a wildly successful company in said emerging sector.

There are many definitions out there for what makes a social entrepreneur, but perhaps he/she is best defined as someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to achieve social change (wikipedia). And as it turns out, the qualities that make a successful social entrepreneur are not too different than the qualities that make a successful business C.E.O.:

Passionate Curiosity: wondering why things work the way they do, whether they can be improved, and if they can, spotting and seizing the opportunity to do so.

When Blake traveled to Argentina in 2006, he shares that he saw kids without shoes, and it was the “first time in [his] life that [he] had this desire to do something besides just start another company … [he] watched as these kids who had cuts and infections and scabs were getting shoes that were not even new … and not really the right size, and [he] thought, there’s got to be a better way to solve this problem.”*

Well, there was. Namely, TOMS.

Battle-Hardened Confidence: the ability to overcome adversity due to a positive attitude mixed with a sense of purpose and determination.

Before he founded TOMS, Blake started 6 companies from the ground, up; if that’s not the makings for someone to be battle-hardened, I’m not sure what is. Where does the purpose and determination come into play? He shares that back in 2006, he was “instantly struck with the desire – the responsibility – to do more [for these kids].”

The intrinsic motivation that exists within individuals who start their own business plus the extrinsic motivation of helping others is a very, very powerful combination.

Team Smarts: knowing how to get the most out of a group by bringing them together around a common goal.

In his keynote address in Austin, TX at SXSW 2011, Blake shared that because he’s incorporated giving into his business, he’s been able to attract and retain the most amazing employees in the world. How? The culture that has been created at TOMS embodies new evidence as to what motivates us: in a 2009 TED Talk, Dan Pink explains that the best motivation comes from a “desire to do things because they matter, because we like it, because they’re interesting, and because they’re a part of something important.”

The employees that have helped TOMS to grow exponentially over the course of the past 4+ years are passionately motivated by their common goal, their common purpose to improve the lives of children around the world. That common purpose matters, is interesting, and clearly, is quite important.

Simple Mindset: laser-like focus on a core objective over and above anything else.

What is TOMS? A for-profit business with a “one for one” business model: with every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. It’s as simple as that. Thus, TOMS is a sustainable answer to “children without shoes” problem: for every pair of TOMS purchased, one of those children has a new pair of shoes to wear.

So, with commitment to the “one for one” business model, TOMS has leveraged the purchasing power of the individual to benefit the greater good. This model transforms customers into benefactors, which allows TOMS to create a sustainable business and thus, ensure the ability to continue with their cause.

Fearlessness: people who have an appetite for change and can manage the heck out of it.

Blake and TOMS have proven that the “one for one” model can succeed in both selling shoes and giving shoes away to those in need: in 2006 they gave away 10,000 shoes … and in 2010 they surpassed 1 million! But rather than be satisfied by success, Blake is choosing for TOMS to take the next step: they’re changing the nature of their business.

As Blake has recently announced, “TOMS is no longer a shoe company. We’re the one for one company.” (check out the announcement for yourself: http://bit.ly/e9U6iT).

Wondering what the next chapter for TOMS is? I am, too. And while I’m extremely excited to see how TOMS plans to further their philanthropic mission, I’m equally excited to watch closely the leadership that makes it happen. 


*(you can listen to the rest of Blake’s talk at the Clinton Global Initiative here: http://bit.ly/eQLNQB)