Nine
CSR Skills- What you need and why
What skills and attributes are most
helpful to someone working in (or wanting to work in) the growing field of
corporate social responsibility and private sector SDG engagement?
It’s a question I’m asked often. It is
an important and fulfilling area to work in. I thought I would share some
of my thoughts on what is needed to break into this area and to develop a
successful career in it.
Beyond the basic skills you’ll need to
succeed in just about any field these days, these are specific skills that I’ve
found to be the most important to those who want to really be effective and
make a difference.
I’ve listed nine skills, but they
really boil down to three key themes
- Perspective (understand
and embrace the perspectives of others. Seek to understand before
seeking to be understood)
- Value (understand
value propositions and value creation. Always seek to create value in
a way that aligns value and interests, creating a self-interested motivation
for stakeholders)
- Engagement and Communication (pretty straight
forward. Know how to strategically engage with and communicate with
key stakeholders; both internal and external stakeholders. Hint –
have their interests and value-propositions at the heart of the
engagement)
If you have more, let me know in the comments.
1. Value-think
CSR is all about creating value for the
community, business and environment, simultaneously. Never one at the
expense of the other. Never lose site of that goal. It will help you build
an unassailable business case for every project worth doing.
2. Stakeholder-think
CSR is all about stakeholders. Learn to
identify stakeholders and make their interests your own by understanding their
value and perspectives. Understanding the needs of stakeholders helps you to
create value-alignment across interests, making them into self-interested
collaborators and partners.
3. Alignment-think
CSR is all about meeting the interests
of others in a way that also meets the interests of your business and/or
project. I like to think of this as strategic empathy -
understanding the position and interests of key stakeholders and finding
creative ways to show how your business/project will help them while also
pushing things forward for you. It is about discovering and developing
value-propositions that create alignment, synergy and self-interested
motivation.
4. Communication
Communication is a critical skill for
CSR and just about everything else we do. Clear, concise, interest-focused
and interesting communications are invaluable when it comes to developing,
implementing and managing CSR projects. Acknowledge others, tell
interesting stories and don’t brag.
5. Know business
CSR is all about business. So it’s your
job to know business. Too often CSR is done as no-business and all
philanthropy. Every CSR project must be anchored in a solid business case
that makes everyone a winner.
And, while you are at it
6. Know business-speak
If you can’t make a strong internal
business case for your CSR plan and project you won’t develop a strong internal
support base.
Without that you will be isolated,
marginalized and the first funding to be cut when things get tough will be your
project.
Build the business case and then
learn how to communicate it to key internal stakeholders and
constituents.
7. Zero-sum Be Gone
CSR is about creating and increasing
value, not simply redistributing value. One of the most valuable skills
you can develop is to learn to systematically think beyond zero-sum to discover
true value alignment.
Learn how to win by helping others to
win too.
8. Innovation
Innovation is critical. Put on a
value lens and learn to think inside, outside and around the box. Ask
yourself questions that start with; What if? Would this? What about? Could we?
Surround yourself with colleagues and
stakeholders who can ask you those questions, and be open enough to hear them
and know that these questions may help to unlock new value.
9. Think Pain Points
What are the pain points? What
does that have to do with CSR? Pain points are just that. It is what
keeps your CEO awake at night. Threats, weaknesses, obstacles, challenges,
the sorts of things that business has to address to survive and thrive.
CSR should be one of your business’s
strategic tools for addressing pain points. A key skill for a successful
CSR practitioner is to know and understand the pain points that are keeping
your C-Suite team awake at nights, and to think strategically about how CSR may
help address some of them.
There are other skills that will help
you become a CSR superstar. But you would do well to think about and try to
master these nine.
