CEO Today Magazine December 2019 Edition

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 33 THE ENTREPRENEUR MINDSET + SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY = POSITIVE WELLBEING! Good others, good for you. Fortunately, there is a solution that can boost your sense of wellbeing and give your creative entrepreneurial mind some stimulus. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a voluntary action businesses take to benefit the world around them, whether that be social, economic or environmental. When it first became popular in the 1990s, CSR was typically seen as a tick box exercise for large corporates to justify their bottom lines and be perceived as trendy and “in- touch”. Nowadays CSR is widely accepted, managed and assessed like any other business function, and has been proven to have many bottom-line business benefits such as staff recruitment and retention and driving innovation and productivity. CSR benefits all businesses, but I would argue that SME business owners have the most to gain from the practice in terms of their personal wellbeing. I have worked in financial markets from the age of 19 as a young derivatives broker before starting my first business in 2007. I have been exposed to all manner of stresses, disappointments and financial pains. As a driven, slightly egotistical young man I dealt with these situations by burying my head even further into my work and counting on my resolve to see me through to the other side. Unfortunately, I found that cutting myself off from others to achieve success was detrimental to my long-term business performance and sense of self. Fortunately, a strong family support network helped me understand that the creative energies I used to be a successful entrepreneur could also be channelled to help others, and in the process, myself. My story is anecdotal but the advice I received is based in fact. The NHS recommends that helping others through volunteering or mentoring has a positive impact on the giver as well as the receiver, and this has been supported by numerous charities and medical studies. How can I help? Time is a luxury that many entrepreneurs do not have but there are a number of ways you can harness your entrepreneurial drive and knowledge to help others. Whether mentoring young people into work, supporting a charity, or doing your best to make life better for your employees, a little thought and effort can be good for your mental health, your network and business. In my case homelessness has been an issue close to my heart, having experienced it twice in my life as a young man growing up on a less than affluent London borough. Consequently, I have worked with charities such as Glass Door and Crisis to raise awareness of the issues around rough sleeping - whether that be teaching boxing throughout the year to homeless men and women, or using my entrepreneurial skills to run a number of soup kitchens in London every Christmas. On a personal level, my life has been enriched having made a number of new friends from all walks of life. I have also learnt to be more emphatic, understanding of people’s problems and willing to challenge simplified explanations offered by mass media and friends for the causes of homelessness. In a business sense this translates as having expanded my network, gained a better ability to solve problems, developed a greater eye for details and have more confidence and assertiveness. CSR isn’t just for Christmas… The business world has woken up to the fact that being a good corporate citizen and paying attention to public perceptions and social consequences of their products or services makes sense. In December last year, multinational professional services company Accenture found that more than half of customers in the UK wanted companies to take a stand on issues they care about such as sustainability, transparency and fair employment practices. If they didn’t, 37% would walk away from the brand in frustration and a quarter would not return. Therefore, as an entrepreneur looking to grow your business, it is important to build it upon strong ethical foundations. In doing so, you profit financially but also reap the personal benefits that are necessary for your wellbeing, as do your employees. Christmas and New Year are perfect catalysts for change but in truth, you can start being a socially responsible entrepreneur immediately. After all, the world needs a more sustainable form of capitalism if we’re going to build a more inclusive, prosperous society. ABOUT SEZER SHERIF Sezer is the Founder and CEO of Vanguard Capital. He brings extensive experience on both the buy and sell- side, beginning his career in the City of London in 1999 on the London International Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE). He has had the privilege of working with some of the largest investment banks and also traded alongside highly revered portfolio managers and prop traders. He has won a number of awards as entrepreneur and for business growth. Sezer has a clear passion for financial markets and is a champion for future tech and ethics within financial services. In his spare time, he has a real love for supporting those less fortunate including volunteering at a homeless day centre for over 10 years, being a volunteer rescue dog walker and sponsoring/mentoring teenagers from underprivileged backgrounds.

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