“Doing good and doing well aren’t mutually exclusive.”
This was just one of many important messages LinkedIn Influencer John Hope Bryant delivered when he spoke at LinkedIn, but it is the one that really got me thinking. As a young professional in my 20s working in the private sector, I often struggle with this notion. I’ve always considered myself someone who cares deeply about community and youth empowerment. But what a huge contradiction it is to claim this while spending Monday to Friday juxtaposed between catered meals and ping pong tables. Sure, I try to justify it by working for a company with a socially driven vision, but is that not an oxymoron in and of itself? For me, John’s words provoked an influx of thoughts and emotions like these. But most importantly, it helped me see the bigger picture.
By all accounts, John is an inspiring figure committed to driving economic opportunity through the empowerment of underserved communities. He leads an organization called Operation Hope whose mission it is to make free enterprise work for everyone through financial literacy, financial capability, and financial dignity. His speech touched on topics ranging from global human suffrage to racial discrimination, but each subject was grounded in his dream of achieving equal economic opportunity. And with 70% of companies in America employing less than 500 workers, he asserts that small businesses may be the best way to achieve it in the US.
John Hope Bryant is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE and Bryant Group Companies, Inc. Magazine/CEO READ bestselling business author of LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass). His newest bestselling book is How The Poor Can Save Capitalism (Berrett Koehler Publishing).
Bryant is a Member of the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans, and co-chair for Project 5117, which is a plan for the rebirth of underserved America.
Bryant is the only bestselling author on economics who is also African-American.
Credit: A special thanks to Architects Of Group Genius, which produced the HOPE Doctrine on Poverty movie on a pro-bono basis for Operation HOPE.
Follow John Hope Bryant on LinkedIn Influencers here.
Posted by Natasha Eldridge, Office of the Chairman