Bookshop
Books on Social Entrepreneurism
Growing a Business
by Paul Hawken
This book was one of my first introductions to socially responsible business. I like that Hawken didn't set out to create a business. He had a mission, a problem he needed to solve, and he created a business in order to respond to that problem because no one else was adequately doing it at the time. The business grew organically and that's very reassuring to someone like me who follows such a nontraditional career path that running my own business is pretty much the only way to do it.
Natural Capitalism:
Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
by Paul Hawken
Ex-president Bill Clinton thinks this is one of the five most important books today in terms of its potential impact to change how we think and change the world. The basic premise of the book is that it is not only desirable but financially practical—even profitable—to create or restructure existing businesses to be ecologically responsible or to even improve the health of the planet. Essentially what he is saying is that what's good for the world is good for business and here are some sound ways to make it happen!
How to Change the World:
Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas
by David Bornstein
This book is based on interviews with real people who decided to use business skills to tackle social problems on a large scale. Admittedly most of the people in this book describe themselves as "obsessed" but perhaps that's the key to any kind of business success—really caring about the mission and doing what needs to be done to see it through.
© Copyright 2007 Sheryl Karas & Paul Hood
