Books: The Social Entrepreneur Revolution

Peter Crush, 01 May 2009

Socially-oriented leaders are growing in number, according to this book, and corporate life is set to change. This is essentially a guide to how they think, says Peter Crush. Read it and be prepared.

The Social Entrepreneur Revolution
Author: Martin Clark
Publisher: Martin Cavendish Business
Price: £14.99
Rating: 5 out of 5

To most he is a good cook, an okay TV presenter and ambassador for Sainsbury's who has cheeky-chappie charmed his way to the top. But the reality, according to author Martin Clark, is that Jamie Oliver (with his '15' restaurant employing underprivileged teens), represents a brand new type of businessmen - the 'social entrepreneur'.

Why is this important? At first Clark tells us how few of these people there actually are; about 10%-15% of Britons are thought to have the potential to be a social entrepreneur, and only 1% of those exhibit the tendency to be one. But the overriding message is that this small band of people - the men and women in business who solve social problems - is set to grow massively in the next 10 years. And although this book is not aimed at an HR audience directly, the subtle message is that HR professionals had better get to know how they can work with them.

This tome sets out clearly and concisely why social entrepreneurs are different, why they run their businesses differently, and why the people part of their business is so strong. Particularly relevant is the 'Seven types of social entrepreneur' chapter, a glossary of the types of socially-oriented leader HR directors might encounter, everyone from the social business entrepreneur (as exemplified by Richard Adams, founder of charity Traidcraft) to the corporate social intrapreneur - people who seek to change the world from within companies.

In essence this is a 'how to recognise' guide to the traits social entrepreneurs display. HR readers have to draw their own conclusions about how they need to change their way of thinking to accommodate them, but change their thinking they will need to do. Even HRDs whose CEOs do not yet display these traits will discover just how likely corporate life is to change, and this is their chance to find out how to adapt their behaviour first.