EPISODE 6: Marcello Palazzi

A New Breed of Entrepreneurs
 

 

In this episode we talk about the rise of conscious entrepreneurs, the B-corp movement, the systemic challenges we’re facing, how to re-evaluate profits, the role of the ego, the #MEtoo movement and the rise of feminine leadership – with one of the most seasoned and experienced social entrepreneurs in the world: Marcello Palazzi.

Marcello is a progressive economist, entrepreneur and leader. Marcello began his career as a young entrepreneur in his 20s, he has 2 MBAs and degrees from LSE, London Business School, Harvard, MIT and Stanford. But as he said he: " had the shivers thinking of having to wear a grey suit and join the army of executives". He is the founder of Progressio Foundation, that is dedicated to help develop the "civic economy", an economy focused on citizens' interests, as opposed to one serving private or public interests alone. 

Marcello has always been guided by a desire to transform entrepreneurship to be a force for good. So when talking about how we see the rise of a new breed of entrepreneurs - I couldn’t think of a better man than Marcello.

 

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WHAT WE COVER:

-       The B-corp movement (B for benefit + positive impact)

-       The systemic challenges we’re facing

-       How to re-evaluate the concept of profits to a more holistic concept

-       A new definition of success

-       The role of the ego

-       The #metoo movement and how that helps to change the perception of how to act as a leader

-       the rise of feminine leadership and feminine leadership traits 

 

-       How corporates are waking up to a new reality

-       How investment bankers are parasitic

-       How we have allowed the financial system to be the ruler of society

-       The need for a new financial system

-       How we today need to go back to ancient values

-       The rise of conscious enterprise and leaders

-       How to reinvent the educations system to nurture the individual talents 

 
 
 
 
 

SOME OF THE GOLD FROM THIS EPISODE:

 
 

“You have to make a profit to survive and to prove you’re delivering value but it all depends on how you make the profit and then what you do with that profit and who earns that profit. These are questions that every society, every enterprise has to address”

“ We are out of balance. We have to strive for balance in our companies. Of course it’s not OK to take money away from the planet the way have been doing in terms of nature and the environment. We have basically been sucking all these resources out of the planet and we haven’t been putting them back….if you’re screwing the planet and killing people you can make profit but what kind of profit is it?”

A person who is disrespecting women is also the same person who is disrespecting people in general and not acting out of collaboration, compassion, respect or generosity towards others. These are the same traits we see in all primitive leaders compared to an enlightened leader.

“Life isn’t only about what you achieve externally. It’s also about your inner peace, your inner journey, the legacy you leave behind and the wisdom that comes from the ages - hundreds of thousands years ago. Look for that wisdom or you’re missing out.

“We are not a wise society. We are an immature society. We are acting like  small  school boys. Who has the most toys? Who can be the loudest or the strongest? That’s very primitive”

 

RESOURCES:

About Marcello Palazzi  

Marcello is a serial entrepreneur for human progress.  Following 11 years as co-head of his international family business in environmental technologies from Italy and the UK in the 80s and early 90s, he founded Progressio Foundation, which has completed 300 projects in 30 countries with dozens of partners under his leadership, in pursuit of the ‘civic economy’, ‘civic enterprise’ and ‘civic innovation', which Palazzi wrote about in 1990 in a book which has proved prescient, predicting the rise of CSR, sustainability, public-private partnerships, ethical investments, social enterprise and other forms of a more ‘integrative’ economy and enterprise. From 2014 to 2017, Marcello has been leading the B Corp movement in continental Europe from Amsterdam. He is currently the B Corps’ Global Ambassador, Chairman of SIX, the worldwide social innovation exchange | www.socialinnovationexchange.org, Member of the Advisory Committee to the board at DanoneWave in the USA | www.dannon.com and remains President of Progressio Foundation.  


Alma Maters: University of Buckingham (’79-'81), LSE (’83-'84), LBS (85-87), Harvard (’13), MIT (’14), Stanford (’15), Erasmus Rotterdam (’93-94) and Saïd Business School, Oxford (’14).