Carolyn Butler-Madden
Chief Purpose Activist, The Cause Effect Consultancy – Sydney, Australia
We’re honored to have such a variety of incredible social impact pros as EFG Members. Whether they’re part of a company expanding its social good footprint or a nonprofit honing its corporate partner strategies, the work they do creates a better world. Today, we’d like to introduce you to EFG Member Carolyn, Cheif Purpose Activist at The Cause Effect Consultancy. May the answers she shares spark inspiration, new ideas and help you further your path at the intersection of profit and purpose. Enjoy!
What are you working on that excites you?
We have a few projects in development and all of them excite me! They centre on helping businesses identify their Social Purpose Sweet Spot. A strategically aligned Purpose that translates into tangible social impact. We use a workshop format on the basis that you can’t manufacture a Purpose, it has to come from within. As it starts to unfold, I can always feel a shift in the room; that moment when possibilities are imagined. You can literally feel the energy in the room. Never fails to excite me!
What’s a book you’d gift to everyone you knew if you had the opportunity?
“The Desire Map Experience” by Danielle Le Porte. A self-development book, the basic premise of which is that everything we aspire to in life comes down to a feeling we’re trying to achieve. Identify your “Core Desired Feelings” and you have the key to freedom. Instead of being locked into yearning after something that may be difficult to attain, once you know what the feeling is, you can find other ways to attain it.
It’s a book that gives us the power to choose better goals, rather than some of the material things society has made us think we want.
How has being an Engage for Good member helped you?
Day-to-day – great webinars as well as access to EFG’s resource centre, especially your past Halo Awards winner case studies. But it is the annual conference that actually set me on my own path to purpose. When I attended the first time in 2012, it opened my eyes to possibilities I’d not seen before. I’m incredibly grateful for it.
What social impact project are you most proud of?
Beaumont People are an Australian recruitment agency. I worked with them on developing their Social Purpose strategy. As champions for meaningful work, they’re on a mission to connect people to organisations that enable them to do meaningful work; and create more opportunities for meaningful work.
People talk about meaningful work, but nobody has quantified what it means to different people and at different stages of their life. To that end, Beaumont People have launched the world’s first Meaningful Work Survey and are developing a Meaningful Work Profiling Tool, to help individuals and organisations better understand each other’s needs. It’s a long-term project that we hope will impact the future of work here in Australia.
What’s one digital resource that helps you do your job better?
I’m a big fan of Trello. Great for planning and organising work-flow. And it’s free!
What are you eager to learn more about?
I’m eager to allow myself to learn more about spirituality. It’s something I’ve always been interested in, but consciously chose not to explore. I think when I was younger, a fear of going all-in held me back, but I believe it’s the key to our development in this world.
Some recent experiences I’ve had have given me the belief that we have so much potential in us and we haven’t even scratched the surface of it. Now feels like the right time to go deeper.
What’s one thing you learned in the last month?
Someone once said that there are only two basic motivating forces, fear and love. In the last month I’ve learnt that to be true.
You’ve probably heard about the horrific bushfires raging here in Australia. It has taken this tragedy for Australians to feel fear and demand more action for climate change. Yet a few short months ago, the majority of the Australian people felt neither fear nor love when voting in an election for a government that was well known to be averse to climate action.
Tragically it takes the loss of much of our biodiversity and people’s homes for us to wake up. Clearly if we want to avoid more fear, we’re going to need a lot more love for our planet, our wildlife and our fellow human beings.
What’s one non-digital resource that helps you do your job better?
Tim Ferriss’ 5 minute journal. It helps me to be more conscious about what I set out to do each day and to reflect on what I’ve achieved the day before. 5 minutes each day and it gives me great clarity and grounds me into what is important.
Thanks for reading along! Interested in seeing yourself in a member spotlight and being a part of a dynamic group of social impact pros dedicated to doing well by doing good?
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