Entrepreneur Voices on Effective Leadership by The Staff of Entrepreneur Media Inc

Author:The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781613083772
Publisher: Entrepreneur Press
Published: 2017-12-07T05:00:00+00:00

ENTREPRENEUR VOICES SPOTLIGHT: INTERVIEW WITH JASON HABER

Before Jason Haber wrote his 2016 book, The Business of Good, he sold a real estate firm, one from which each completed deal also funded the construction of a clean-water well in a developing part of the world. Haber, who has remained active in the New York real estate market, believes that social entrepreneurship should be inherent in any business enterprise. He illustrates such principles in his book with historical and current examples and anecdotes.

It should be noted that businesses that are socially responsible are also often those that have a servant leadership culture, whereby the leaders are serving the people. There are commonalities that start with leaders not putting themselves or the bottom line ahead of what is best for the people and / or the community at large. They present leadership as examples for people to follow.

In an interview with Haber, we began by asking him how the book came to fruition.

Jason Haber: I wanted to write the book, having gone through the process of starting my own entrepreneurial firm from scratch. We had no office, no clients, nothing . . . we started in my living room. It took about four years to build a company that we were able to sell. It was during that time that I learned a lot and read a lot of “what” books, which were biographical—mostly profiles that explained “what” social entrepreneurs had done, which was all well and good. But I wanted to write a “why” book that talked about “why” we do the good things we do in business.

Entrepreneur: How did you find the businesses that you included in the book—ones that answered the question, “why”?

Haber: I looked at the narrative I was constructing, did a lot of research, and had interviews with people from a lot of businesses. When I started narrowing it down to certain companies I wanted to discuss, I saw that the common thread was that social entrepreneurship was in their DNA. The idea or business of doing good was in their core—they wouldn’t be in business if they weren’t doing this from the start.

Entrepreneur: From a leadership perspective, are there characteristics that you see in social entrepreneurship?

Haber: Definitely. For example, you have to surround yourself with good people that you can trust. Being a good leader means understanding that you don’t have to do everything. Good leaders don’t do everything. They lead by example and do certain things very well. The leader is going to set the tone and set how we get to “why.” Then, it’s up to the team to see that same vision. I also noticed that the mark of a good leader is having people who have been around them for a long time—leaders who have a revolving door of people—are not usually good leaders. People who understand the “why” do not pick up and leave, and such leaders encourage them to stay through their commitment to social entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneur: You have a passion for history.

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