Be a good human.

“Success shouldn’t be measured by how much you have, but by how much you give back” – Danny Villanueva.

This quote holds true to me in everything that I do, one of the things I’ve had ingrained in me from a very young age is to be a good human. That doesn’t mean I’m perfect, I’m far from that. But it does mean that I believe that if you help someone, in turn, someone will help you.

Seven years ago, I heard a story about a young girl who was pregnant, she had no support and nothing for the baby. I was also pregnant at the time, and looked around my warm home at everything I already had for the growing baby in my stomach, and it pained me, that in New Zealand, there were people out there that couldn't have that. Those who didn't have that tribe around them who would support them when they were falling, who laughed with them when they laughed and who raised a glass to say hell yeah when they succeeded.

So I put a call out, to my tribe… and wow what a response! We ended up being able to provide this young girl with a year’s worth of nappies and clothing, with some special treats for her and more than anything, the vision that she was worth it, and that while she may have felt alone she realised that people cared about her, and about her baby.

I never wanted anything back, I never expected anything. However years later I received a note saying that this young girl now was back in school and believed in herself because someone showed her they cared.

Social Good in companies is becoming more and more important, especially to Millennials. Your consumers are researching and wanting to understand what difference a corporation is making. And it needs to be more than giving your employees a day off to volunteer, or writing a big check to a charity once or twice a year. It needs to have more depth it must be spoken with actions as well as words. Allowing not only your consumer to understand and buy into it but also your employees. It needs to become a part of the ethos of a company.

By truly ingraining this into your companies vision and mission this can become a highly marketable element across many forms of social media, blogs and all forms of marketing.

The big question should be how, or what do we choose, not WHY should we do this. I would suggest to truly get buy in from the top to the bottom that it is discussed in an open forum, with your employees. Look at your brand, any company mission statements, who is buying your products and why they are buying them.

Global businesses need to start making the move towards engraining social good as part of their business models, and they need to start doing this now. Because the competition is not necessarily the next big competitor. It’s the start-up that have considered this already that are selling competing products on line who really believe in the importance of Social Good and what it means to their customers.

But it can start with you! Find a way to always try to be a good human. Give your time to help someone else grow. Show someone that they are cared about. Open someone’s eyes to a new direction that might help them to grow. Recommend and referring people without them asking to. Be a good human.