Passion before Power: Horizontal Loyalty

What does Horizontal Loyalty mean for Social Enterprise? April 14 Associate, Jacquelyn Guderley, wonders how Robert Krulwich’s concept might apply to the SE sector.

“Think about turning to people you already know, who are your friends, or friends of their friends and making something that makes sense to you together, that is as beautiful or as true as you can make it.” — Krulwich

Those words were Robert Krulwich’s, spoken as part of his commencement speech on Horizontal Loyalty to the UC Berkeley Journalism Class of 2011. Though I wasn’t fortunate enough to hear the speech in person as part of that graduating class, I was lucky enough to be introduced to his concept of Horizontal Loyalty by Ann Friedman, another fabulous journalist, early one morning at Google Campus.

Horizontal loyalty is the belief that there is no “right time” for going out and achieving what you want to, and there is no “right group of people” to do this with- despite the fact that we might often be tempted to look to people in higher places who can join the dots, make the connections and give us a helping hand in getting to achieving what we hope to. I see Social Enterprise as a space that very much relies on, and fuels, this concept of Horizontal Loyalty in two significant ways.

“Not waiting your turn”

Social enterprise and entrepreneurialism can be many things, but at their core, both are about identifying a problem and setting out to solve it. Working outside of the traditional profit-driven economy, they can focus on cause and values as the main agent in inciting change. In order to do that, some amazing people have accepted that the system won’t invite them to change the way social issues are tackled. Instead, they need to forge their own space and innovate.

“The era of Friends in Low Places”

This is the power of the bottom-up approach; shifting our understanding of where “power” and force for change really come from. It’s about appreciating the strength that comes from our grass-roots networks — from groups of people who have found themselves drawn together to solve social issues that have affected or resonated with them. It’s also about valuing and maintaining the link with beneficiaries to ensure greatest impact — even when the investors’ purse strings are calling.

As my time at On Purpose has gone on, I have become more convinced that social enterprise and its way of operating needs to stay; that it is a cornerstone for a healthy future economy and a world that is sustainable far beyond our own short-lived lives. Yet at times, it’s hard not to doubt how and where this kind of thinking and a harmonious interplay between business and social good, can fit into, not only our economy, but the hearts and minds of the people that live in that economy. When asked about my chosen career path I still have to explain what social enterprise is. My hairdresser still can’t understand why I would spend my time working on a business that, in her words, “doesn’t want to make a profit”. Corporates still often see a partnership with a social enterprise as a tick in a CSR box.

Yet what keeps me strong is that at On Purpose I am in a room full of people who believe in what we are doing. We don’t necessarily all have the connections, we don’t have all the solutions, we don’t have any kind of fast track ticket to helping one another make our mark on the world. But what we do have is the passion to have left our previous careers and to start out on a journey in social enterprise, and the desire to help each other make that a reality. And that, to me, is the power of Horizontal Loyalty as a force for change — in social enterprise, but also at On Purpose.

“Instead of waiting for power to grant us seats at the table, we create our own tables and work to help each other out” — Centre for a Stateless Society