It is very difficult to describe business as a “noble vocation”, the way Pope Francis described it in his address to a group of entrepreneurs earlier this year.
We get all the bad news about business – corruption and abuse scandals, worker exploitation, fraud, money laundering and environmental pollution. We don’t hear much about good business, but it does exist. Business leadership has faced many challenges since the turn of the century, the financial and debt crises, the pandemic that hit hard these last two years, and the economic slowdown we are now expecting.
In his address to the ‘Social Soul in Business Values Association’ last March, Pope Francis said “God [is] encouraging us to develop the talents he gave us, and has made our universe one of immense potential”. But how can this be done in practice?
Of primary concern is how business leaders treat their employees. Are employees being treated with dignity, as human beings who are being given a chance to sustain themselves and their families, and grow? There is a place for everyone in a company, even those who are conducting the humblest of tasks. How much interest is there in their lives, the challenges they face, their pain and anxieties?
How much is creation and the environment being respected? The emergence of a ‘new economy’ has to be based on the respect for the environment, with a balance between utility and aesthetics, while acknowledging that the environment is there to be shared, not exploited.
Investment in business means giving opportunities for growth and development through creativity and innovation. This has to be done while considering risk, but being reasonable in risk taking, not reckless.
Clarity and transparency generate social trust. These values should be inherent in business, which should be self-responsible rather forced to comply with rules and regulations set by authorities. Compliance must not be a matter of ticking boxes to avoid penalties, but flow from belief that these values should be a natural way of doing business.
Business creates work; investment generates new opportunities. A business that respects ethical values and is socially responsible facilitates social and economic growth.
A business that respects ethical values and is socially responsible facilitates social and economic growth
Pope Francis urges business leaders to build a new economy based on respect for human dignity and the environment; that is both economically and socially fair, for both business leaders and workers; an economy that gives a tangible return, not losing sight of what is real – the family and society. He urges business leaders to be visionary, with a purpose that goes beyond that of profit; to take decisions that consider long-term consequences and that are not short-sighted; that does not simply pursue personal interest, but that considers its vocation to have a social soul.
I conclude with the following words from the pope’s address: “Permit me to give some advice ‘as a bishop’: if you wish to be the ‘soul’ of the business world, do not neglect to care for your own soul, that which comes from God. And for this reason, it is necessary to resist the temptation of activism, and find time to reflect, to think, to contemplate”.