Change | FabianPattberg.com

Tag Archives - change

Your CSR / Sustainability world in 2012: What could you do different?

December 21, 20113:14 pm

A strange title I know but the purpose of this post is very simple. What could you do as a CSR / Sustainability professional in 2012 different to 2011?

I have listed three points, which I feel are very important and useful for everyone working the CSR / Sustainability field across the globe.

Point 1 : Why not strive to learn more about CSR / Sustainability?

This is what I have set myself as a goal for 2012. I have been working in the field for a long time now but I find that I also need to read more CSR / Sustainability related literature (books & ebooks) on a regular basis. My daily routine includes reading my favourite blogs via my RSS reader but I noticed that I am not reading enough published CSR / Sustainability literature anymore. This might sound like a very simple thing to do but I have noticed that during the daily routine I usually do not give myself the time to read books that provide me with a more in-depth viewpoint or information background.

I will now brush up on CSR / Sustainability classics such as Simon Zadek’s The Civil Corporation: The New Economy of Corporate Citizenship and John Elkington’s The Chrysalis Economy: How Citizen CEOs and Corporations Can Fuse Values and Value Creation, just to name two very insightful CSR / Sustainability classics.

Point 2: Write more about what you do

I assure you that once you read more about CSR / Sustainability, you would want to write more about it as well. This does not mean that you have to have a full-fledged blog. Easy does it in my view. If you do not want to have a blog then why sart email conversations with friends, colleagues, etc about CSR / Sustainability topics. This is a great way to digest the information you have just read or learned in my experience.

Point 3: Communicate more via Social Media

Communicating using Social Media is an easy thing to say, I know. But why don’t you give yourself 10 minutes each day to tweet via Twitter or post interesting information on your LinkedIn page. It does not have to be more time you spend each day or every other day. If you keep up this routine, I am assuring you that you will have a lot of fun doing this and at the same time will have the opportunity to get to know lots of likeminded people from across the globe reaching out to you and the information you are sharing.
If you are looking to get started in Social Media and do not know where to start, then this posts from a few months ago should help you with that: My current Social Media dilemma.

So what are you waiting for? Start doing something different today to change your life tomorrow for the better.

Three business lessons I learned in 2011…so far

November 3, 201111:12 am

2 Comments

Life is changing all the time around us. Even when we think it is not, our world is changing on a micro and macro level. I feel that our life has changed a lot over the past months and we will see a lot of change in 2012 again. This year I have spent a lot of time getting to know a whole new business. Getting to know this new business has already taught me a lot of new aspects how to do business. This is a post from earlier in the year to give you more details on my changes, Changes in 2011.

Despite my doubts at the start I really enjoyed the past months. Including the highs and lows as strange as it might sound. The reason for this is that these experiences have taught were very valuable lessons. Today I want to outline three of these lessons.

Use the existing business network right from the start

Use the existing contacts and relationships of your predecessor and throughout the company as much as possible. Do not shy away from the fact that you do not know these new people. Make it your goal to get to know them instead of waiting for them to come to you. Every now and then you might meet someone that is dismissive or hesitant to help you but have the courage to continue where your predecessor left off. It will show your clients and business network that you have got what it takes to continue the business.

Be respectful and show that you are different

Be nice, treat everyone with the necessary respect, do not talk about something you do not know anything about, make sure your contacts know that you are serious about making business and most importantly, that you are different to your predecessor. In my case this means that aspects of CSR / Sustainability are always incorporated into every important business decision I make. Stay true to yourself and the values you believe in. Once you do that I am sure you will be a successful.

Show strength towards your peers but be empathetic

If you have any employees or line management, then a lot of time of your working day will be spent on making sure these people are doing what their job is and are happy. I am more of an empathetic person when we talk about leadership but I had to learn this year that a leader also needs to provide the strength to lead no matter what. And this sometimes means to make difficult and unpopular decisions in order to move the business forward.

There are a lot more lessons I learned but these three stand out. But you never know what the last 2 month will bring of course.

Tolerance for other business sectors by CSR / Sustainability professionals

May 27, 20111:14 pm

6 Comments

You might have heard or read on this blog that my life has changed dramatically over the past year. We have gone from A to Z in terms of changes in our lives as a family. I will not go into detail here but we totally changed our life’s to say the least.

A a consequence of these changes, we decided to move back to Germany at the end of 2010 to start a new chapter in our lives.

I took over the family business next to my own business and Anne, my wife, recently started her new job as a Senior Manager at Accenture in the Sustainability Services team here in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Over the past weeks I had several interesting and in a way eye-opening conversations with CSR / Sustainability friends about the new role running the family business. And with eye-opening I mean, that these conversations basically went this way.

Person 1: So what do you do now?
Me: Oh, next to my own CSR / Sustainability business I run a business called PMM Services together with the rest of the family. This business is very different to what I did over the past years but in the end it is business and a vehicle to earn money to feed the complete family. I am also passionate about this topic as I helped found the company around 12 years ago and feel strongly about the necessity of this service we provide.
Person 1: (after taking a minute to look at the site): Hmm. I am not so sure about this business to be perfectly honest Fabian. I really did not think you would do this kind of thing. Defense you know……..
Me: What do you mean?
Person 1: Well, being in the defense business and all. I really need to have to think about this Fabian. Hmm…….

The conversations usually then went on to focus on other topics but the tone really changed in most conversations from that point on. I felt that this association with the new business in a way shocked people to say the least .

But what is there to be shocked about? We as PMM Services assist the German Army to properly train their staff so that they can defend German soil and their own as well as allied troops the best way possible. Someone needs to provide this service and we as a business have provided this for 12 years now.

The lesson I learned from this so far is that it is important to stand up for the changes you do in your life. No matter what they are. In my case the changes might be quite drastic but I always thought that CSR / Sustainability people in particular had a high tolerance for different points of view and would not judge as quickly as they did in many conversations.

This is a new challenge for me and my family and just because it is not necessarily CSR / Sustainability related does not mean that I am a bad influence for some people all of the sudden. My point of view has not changed and will not change either. CSR / Sustainability is what I believe in. End of story. And it is your decision whether you would like to further have contact with me or not.

I am not sure whether this is how you will react when you read this but I would be much interested in your point of view on this topic.

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/codepinkalert/2426602356

A powerful Climate Change Video: Act now!

June 9, 200911:12 pm

11 Comments

Here is another excellent example of how a video can be very effective in bringing a simple message across in a very powerful way.

If you are looking for the ultimate video to show to the Climate Change and Global Warming sceptics in your life then show them this clip:

I know whom I will show this for sure. Maybe then they will finally get it that we need to ACT NOW to save our planet.