September Reflections

Posted: Friday 19 September 08, 10.25am GMT

One day in 1999, Henk Kinds, from CPC Netherlands, with whom we had already been working for two years in the community investment area, observed that the partner network which was growing across Europe would one day be global. As we were sitting in what he claimed to be the oldest bar in Amsterdam after a day of company seminars, and it was quite late, I ascribed his thoughts to the excellent Amstel.

But he was right! It is very exciting indeed to be part of this fast growing movement, and to reflect on the potential of CSR360 Global Partner Network as an engine for focussing business resources on some of the world’s most intractable problems.

Along the way there have been some entertaining moments. I was asked some years ago by our partner in Stockholm, Mentor Sverige, to present the Roots and Wings school mentoring programme to their Board of Trustees. They forgot to tell me until 10 minutes before the presentation in Stockholm, that it would take place at the Palace, and that Queen Silvia, as an Honorary Patron of Mentor, would be there.

On arrival we were ushered into a meeting room with beautiful, very high windows, very 18th century architecture. Already in the room were the Chairmen and CEOs of half a dozen eminent Swedish companies who made up the Board. The Queen entered and was introduced to us all and then remarked that the room was very warm and could we maybe open a window? As none of the assembled men, including me, had ever been asked to open an 18th Century window, we froze. So the Queen walked to the corner of the room, picked up a long stick with a clever hook on it, and proceeded to reach up and open the window herself. Not many people have had the window opened for them by the Queen of Sweden. The presentation went off well and the programme has since been successfully implemented in Stockholm and Gothenburg.

On another occasion I called Olga Sozanska from partner Hestia to see if she could help with a major BITC member company who wanted to do a 1 day team project in Prague. “How many” she asked, “15? 20?” “Um, no, “I replied, “actually it’s, um, 250. “

It was no problem for Olga, and on the day, 250 managers from 15 European countries got together to clean up and make ready for use 5 sites in the Karlin district which were badly damaged in the floods of 2001. The sites included a small theatre, a church hall, a community centre and a children’s playground. Comments from the participants afterwards were all fantastically positive and prompted the company to implement an annual pan-European team project day.

There are many more examples of how partners can work together and with their various member companies to achieve change for the better. And it has been very inspiring to see how new partners have been joining the network regularly, and we have had the pleasure lately of welcoming new partners from India, Pakistan, Ukraine, Egypt, South Korea and China. We look forward very much to working with all of our partners over the months to come and to welcoming more new partners as we go along.

By the way, after the presentation in Stockholm, the Queen thanked me and said that if I needed to make any phone calls, I should feel free to use the King’s office next door. Which I did, of course.