Grand Circle’s Corporate Leadership for Social Change Blog

Here is a new blog on leadership from Grand Circle that offers stories and examples of how their leadership principles “helped Grand Circle Corporation grow over 15% per year from a small travel business to a major global company that systematically delivers on its motto to "change people's lives."  The three major strategies of Grand Circle are: invest in people over systems and structures, integrate philanthropy into the business strategy, and relentlessly measuring the quality and excellence of everything they do.  There are posts covering each of these themes.

The first and third are positions I certainly agree with, but I was especially interested in the creative application of the second and they way they create win-win situations by integrating philanthropy into the mainstream business. Many organizations support philanthropy, some more than others. Grand Circle turns it into a competitive advantage. Here is a post on the blog that provides an example, How doing good creates value for Grand Circle.

Grand Circle took a tour to a small village in Tanzania in 1999. They saw a one-room schoolhouse with over 100 students. The travelers asked the villagers why they did not move the school to a larger abandoned building nearby. They were told that to fix the roof and restore the abandoned building would take far more resources that the village could afford, around $20,000. The travelers agreed to raise that money on the spot, but with the condition that they would return the following year to see what progress had been made.

Grand Circle brought the group back the next year and the school was finished. The town was justifiably proud of their accomplishment, as were the travelers. They asked what else could be done. The village chief mentioned that it took almost a day's walk for the villagers to get medical care. Physicians were willing to drive to the village but only if there was a facility in the village where they could see patients. The travelers readily agreed to raise the money for a medical clinic and Grand Circle matched their contribution. Within a few years those investments had expanded further to other projects and other villages.

Grand Circle Foundation now routinely matches the gifts of its travelers and associates and has a distribution model to assure that the money is used for exactly what it is designated for. Knowing this practice motivates local people to provide a great experience for Grand Circle clients and encourages repeat trips by these clients.

This just one example of the stories found on the Grand Circle’s Corporate Leadership for Social Change Blog. Here is a post on their six business values, Using the right values to build an empowered culture. I encourage you to take a look to find some innovative business practices and an excellent set of leadership principles.