In his 1997 publication, The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur, Charles Leadbeater, a thinker popular with the New Labour government, outlined the overlap between characteristics of entrepreneurs in general, and social entrepreneurs specifically: "They (entrepreneurs) are driven and determined, ambitious and charismatic. Social entrepreneurs are driven by a mission, rather than by the pursuit of profit or shareholder value."
Leadbeater's social entrepreneur was based on existing ideas, from the US in particular, adapted for a UK audience. For Ashoka, an international support organisation for social entrepreneurs founded in 1980: "Social entrepreneurs often seem to be possessed by their ideas, committing their lives to changing the direction of their field. They are both visionaries and ultimate realists, concerned with the practical implementation of their vision above all else."
While there are plenty of great people who others might describe that way, there's clearly a strong possibility that someone who looks in the mirror and sees a visionary and ultimate realist will ultimately deliver more hot air than positive change. But this heroic idealised vision of 'the social entrepreneur' – whether as local hero or international superhero – remains popular and there are now plenty of courses and organisations offering to help turn you into one.
A recent blog post by Sarah Dunwell of Leeds-based social enterprise, Create, points out some of the other potential difficulties.
She says: "I have never been a big fan of the cult of the social entrepreneur, the idea that we inspire and initiate great ideas or change by putting all our collective resources into identifying (or worse still, creating) individual leaders who epitomise and drive forward change."
Adding that: "Great ideas, structures, strategies and teams are all as important as the one founder or driver and if we lose sight of this we damage not only the great idea but also the people we place on pedestals to deliver them."
Social enterprises need great leaders but there is a danger is that characteristics that, in many situations, are vitally important in inspiring positive social change become indistinguishable from the social goals themselves.
The end result being that political leaders in particular end up believing that what they need is find or train up a new generation of charismatic social entrepreneurs who will then turn up in disadvantaged communities and perform a series of magic tricks to solve major social problems.
A potentially far bigger problem is that – even when their limitations are understood — the heroic social entrepreneur is primarily relevant to a particular part of the social economy. At their best, heroic social entrepreneurs see a social problem, find a solution to it, and use their drive and charisma to implement that solution – often in the face of inaction, fear or outright opposition from a range of stakeholders. When this works it can lead to the creation of relatively small social enterprises that have a relatively high level of social impact.
The Big Issue is one of the best examples of this in the UK. Though others provided cash and expertise, founder John Bird was the right leader to make the business happen – helping many homeless people but also changing attitudes to 'self-help' in the process.
On the other hand, the UK's biggest social enterprise, The Co-operative Group, with an annual turnover of £13 Billion, isn't seeking to come up with and execute a bold new idea to solve a social problem. Its vision is "To serve our members by carrying on business as a co-operative in accordance with co-operative values and principles."
Many of us might feel that The Co-operative Group does offer bold alternative vision of how business should be done but it's unlikely that the best choice for chief executive of the company – charged with balancing the needs of members, staff and customers, and wider co-operative ideals – would be the Leadbeater vision of an unpredictable maverick who sometimes bends the rules but always get results.
While it's unlikely that the UK's leading social enterprises — such as bus operator HCT or leisure company GLL – would have got where they are today without the vision and determination of inspirational individuals, it's equally unlikely that they would be able to win contracts and deliver services on the basis charisma and rhetoric.
It's not sexy but some social enterprises need skilled managers who know what they're doing. Equally, many smaller local social enterprises will succeed based on the fact that they're a group of people coming together to get something done – rather than following a hero with a big idea.
Charismatic, individual social entrepreneurs have a lot to offer in particular situations but it's important that we don't let the heroic vision of the 'social entrepreneur' overshadow a broader movement for social change, driven by a wide range of different people and structures.
David Floyd is managing director of Social Spider CIC. He writes the blog, Beanbags and Bullsh!t.
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