Business as usual is about the change. It must. That’s the key message of The Rebellion, founded by among others — Jordi Mullor, today’s guest on In the Now. He’s here to show how business leaders can make a big impact by immersing themselves in challenging experiences far away from work

Watch the full interview with Jordi Mullor here and read an excerpt from the interview below. 

Nowspeed: Welcome to this edition of In the Now, where we aim to demystify marketing and leadership with a special emphasis on unravelling myths. I’m your host, David Reske, the CEO of Nowspeed Marketing. Today, we have a very interesting guest — Jordi Mullor, CEO and founding member of The Rebellion. Welcome to the show, Jordi!

Jordi:  Thank you for the warm welcome, Dave. It’s great to be here.

Nowspeed: It’s fantastic to have you, Jordi. As a start, I’d like to dive in with a mythbuster question. Your organization, The Rebellion, is all about creating positive change and impacting the world. However, there seem to be a lot of misconceptions about the ability of individuals or small groups to truly make a difference. What’s something that people generally believe about making an impact that you think isn’t accurate?

Jordi: Dave, that’s a great question. One of the most common myths I encounter is the belief that the responsibility for substantial change or impact, especially when it comes to sustainability or community engagement, falls solely on the shoulders of governments and big corporations. I think that’s a huge misconception.

Nowspeed: Can you elaborate on that?

Jordi: Absolutely. Take the United States, for instance. Small and medium-sized businesses account for 99.9% of all businesses in the country. They’re the lifeblood of our economy, employing more than 70% of the workforce. This goes beyond mere numbers and extends to the daily lives of people — from commuting to work, buying their morning coffee, doing groceries, to sending their kids to school. 

These actions are not attached to the big corporations but rather to the smaller businesses that keep our communities running. The leaders of these businesses can and indeed do play a significant role in shaping their communities and their environments.

Nowspeed: It’s fascinating to view it from that perspective. Taking it a step further, let’s say we’re dealing with a small business leader running a 50-person team based in Cleveland, Ohio. How should they approach the concept of impact in their everyday operations?

Jordi: The concept of impact, like any other crucial business goal, should be addressed through effective measurement and accountability. It shouldn’t be considered as just a side project or something that’s done just for the sake of feeling good. Leaders need to start treating the idea of impact just as they would any other business project. They need to incorporate it into their KPIs, their decision-making framework and ensure that they assign the right resources to it. However, the reality is that, currently, this isn’t happening. Impact often doesn’t rank high enough on the list of priorities.

Nowspeed: That’s an eye-opening observation, Jordi. So, if we consider a business owner who’s motivated to make a significant contribution towards sustainability, how should they go about choosing their focus areas for impact?

Jordi: This is a very important question. From my observations, I see that the first and most crucial step is for leaders to internalize the significance of sustainable practices. If the people in decision-making roles don’t fully embrace the idea, progress will inevitably slow down or even come to a halt. At The Rebellion, we put a lot of emphasis on pushing leaders to go through transformative experiences. We want them to challenge their mental and operational boundaries and reflect on how they can infuse these learnings into their business practices.

Nowspeed: So it’s really about aligning the personal growth of leaders with the sustainability objectives of their businesses. But with every business being unique, how do they determine their priority areas for sustainable impact?

JM: You’ve hit the nail on the head, Dave. Every business is indeed different…

Don’t miss the rest of this insightful interview with Jordi Mullor. Make sure to tune in for the full conversation here.