Business for Good is Good for Business

Turns out that Consulus as a Changemaking model is the way to thrive in a VUCA world. Here is my 4Ps formula of building a business for good that is also good for business.

This article was first published on substack

On June 21st, Consulus celebrated its 21st anniversary, and I felt a profound sense of vindication. My belief that changemaking could be a viable business model has proven to be true. Back in 2004, sharing this vision in Singapore was a challenging endeavor. Consulting industry veterans I sought advice from dismissed it as a non-viable business model, while others argued that Singapore’s economy thrived on transactional approaches rather than niche endeavors. They predicted that I would be a minority with limited traction, facing a seemingly negative outlook.

However, from our Consulus Global School held on June 9th in Rome, leading up to the 20th Shape the World Summit, the first time we have held this outside of Asia, I can confidently say that our changemaking business model has matured, much like an adult at 21 year old. We now boast a highly diverse global network with a significant impact worldwide. We successfully brought together 200 changemaker leaders from esteemed institutions such as Microsoft, Korn Ferry, Tzu Chi Foundation, and the Vatican.

In a rapidly evolving VUCA environment, only by being a business for good can we attract high-impact and high-quality leaders. In an era where AI can replace many white-collar jobs, the only thing that AI cannot replicate is human connection and compassion. A business with changemaking at its core, like Consulus, embodies this essence. One of our new global partners expressed genuine joy to Chee Yung Kuan , one of our managing partners after attending our global school, stating, “I had no idea that Consulus truly prioritizes the human spirit first!”

The 4Ps to build a business model for good that is beneficial to both business and society.

Many people assumed that when I set out to build Consulus, I was being overly idealistic. If I ever was, I would never have made it this far. Just as climbing Mount Everest demands strategic discipline, purposeful decision-making, and evidence-based approach, building Consulus as a changemaking business required a similar playbook. So here’s my four-pronged approach towards business sustainability to be able to shape global impact:

First P: Perfect your Corporate Purpose that truly unite and guide

Refined through deep reflection and reality, our corporate purpose has been a constant guiding light.

Twenty-one years ago, we were four distinct partners with varying perspectives on business management. Age, culture, and approach to business divided us. One was finance-based, another artistic, another operational, and myself, the youngest, strategic. Despite these differences, we shared our individual goals and aligned them with each other. However, the need to make money and survive constantly tugged at us. Initially, we envisioned building an international consulting firm that would benefit society. But it was so generic that it could be applied to any consulting practice.

Personal inspiration from UNESCO Peace Prize laureate Chiara Lubich fueled my desire to create a different kind of business—one of purpose and unity, towards an Economy of Communion. But as the youngest, I decided to wait and observe the partnership’s trajectory.

Providentially, when we realized that a design practice without strategic decision-making shaping capabilities wouldn’t be viable, we pivoted towards management consulting with design capabilities. This shift marked the beginning of our journey twenty-one years ago, when we introduced a strategic planning method to help companies discover their purpose. This process elevated us in terms of value chain and aided our own discernment of our purpose. Since purpose is existential and core to our business, we constantly questioned whether it is indeed our true north.

This had its positive effects because we were constantly discerning. We attracted a different type of talent and partners. And because we practiced the 5 Whys of existence in our purpose discovery approach, about whether our purpose truly mattered, we gained a closer and deeper understanding about what truly mattered.

And over the years, whenever we were honest enough to confront parts of our purpose that are no longer true and embraced a more existential and honest form, we grew as a company and expanded globally. The most important shift for us happened in 2017 in our meeting with Pope Francis as part of the global economy of communion meeting at the Vatican. When he challenged us to do more than being Good Samaritans and worked instead to change the rules of the socio-economic system.

This led us to update our purpose to the current form:

“Shaping a better and inclusive economic system, by helping leaders, companies, and cities discover their better selves by enabling them to become the difference they are meant to be from the inside out.”

Second P: Quality of persons drawn by an existential purpose

How then do you know if your purpose is true? The one thing I have learned over these two decades is that the quality and ambition of the persons you attract is linked on the existential value of your purpose. How much does it matter to the people and to the state of the world if you are successful?

In the beginning, we attracted people who simply liked being part of a company with a meaningful purpose. Then, as we refined and understood our purpose as we grew, we can see the quality of persons from either staff or partners. They do improve in terms of quality and ambition.

As a startup, I used to worry about losing talent, but when I realised that it is the evangelisation of an existential purpose that attracts better and better quality of talent, I stopped worrying because better ones drawn by our purpose do come along.

This year marked our 7th Global School since 2019, when we began to welcome international delegates and friends of Consulus from all over the world. Before 2019, we only had an internal school and we did not include our global partners.

Since then, the reach of our network has expanded to the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe, it is also the most diverse group of Consulites, Changemaker Organisations and Impact Partners ever. From impacting the lives of thousands of Nigerian farmers through regenerative agriculture in Africa, to launching the world’s first interfaith social impact fund, the network’s impact and influence of Consulus has become truly global.

Third P: Providence that financially sustains our work to support the causes we believe in

You may have the right persons but how about being sustainable because at the end of the day, it cannot be about charity. To be sure, an economic concept especially that of the Economy of Communion, to be proven as viable, it has to be able to generate a profit to finance the good we wish to do. Along the same lines, the practice of Economy of Communion asks us to be factual and objective if we ever received providence. Providence is defined as an unexpected material financial good or project that allowed us to finance our work and the good we wish to do.

And in terms of providence, we have received plenty over the years. We have also received increasingly bigger forms of providence as we increased the ambition of our purpose and mission. In other words we found a direct material link to the scale and ambition of our purpose to the providence we received.

For example immediately after 2017, after we committed to work on fulfilling the challenge thrown by Pope Francis, it was because of that I met Jim Funk who wanted to respond likewise. And because of that friendship, we then expanded to the United States and be able to work on an innovative leadership transformation program with Indiana University. This then resulted in a new business unit for transformative leadership and the 2nd book which Jim and I launched on 12th of June, about Creative Change Leadership.

From 2017, I started speaking around the world about what Pope Francis said, and was providentially invited to speak online to students in Sophia University during the pandemic and that was how I met Dr Andrew Kwasari who attended my talk. And now together we are now trying to help thousands of Nigerian farmers gain financial autonomy through owning their own land. And this was also how Consulus came to be present in Africa and why we will bring the 21st Shape the World Summit 2026 to Abuja next June.

Fourth P: In time, with the network and business model you have built up, discover a project that meets the ambition of your purpose

All changemaking companies have their moonshots, SpaceX, the world's most valuable startup wants to achieve the goal that humans can be a multi-planetary species. Microsoft desired to put a PC on every desk. So in the journey of shaping an economy of communion, we had to aim high and not low.

During Shape the World Summit in Rome, I shared that in 1995, I was inspired by Chiara Lubich who spoke at an international youth festival held at the Parleur Stadium in Rome; she invited us to aim high and she quoted St Catherine of Siena: “If you are who you are meant to be, you shall conquer the world.” That is why 20 years ago, we started Shape the World conference which eventually became Shape the World summit. The mission was to get everyone to aim high so as to shape the world through transforming the economy for good. Because in the early 2000, there were no conference in Singapore or even South-east Asia that was focused on shaping the common good But this was easier said than done, we had to constantly discern if our purpose is true and how we will get there.

One of the reason why we brought Shape the World Summit to Rome during the Great Jubilee of the Catholic Church, was because we wanted to report to Pope Francis what we had done to meet his call. In January the papal household sent us a note to say that he will meet us. But unfortunately a few months later, he passed away.

So in his memory, we launched the USD100 million Common Growth Fund. But the reason why we were able to pull it off was because we have spent 21 years being consistent with our purpose and sharing that with the world.

This then led to the persons we needed to meet. And this was how we met Dr Brian Grim and his amazing Religious Freedom and Business Foundation who like us believe we can certainly bring about an Economy of Communion. And through Brian, I met Matthew Jones of the FoRB foundation. Together with them, we met other partners from technology to institutional partners who are in support of the Common Growth Fund. This then confirmed our purpose because of the providence we are receiving.

So in a short time since two weeks, it is clear that the Common Growth Fund can aim even higher in its ambitions. But it has taken us 21 years to get here by being hyper-realistic and being methodical about purpose, persons, providence and then project that will shape a lifetime.

Thank you to all Consulites, Changemaker Partners for your support!

A Pledge for Creative Leadership: Social Impact and Dialogue

Dear Pope Leo XIV

We, participants of this Shape the World Summit at the Vatican, pledge creative leadership for social impact and dialogue.

Inspired by wisdom from your call for unity, we commit to championing economic inclusion, ensuring dignified participation and shared prosperity for all.

Recognizing AI’s transformative power, and guided by Antiqua et Nova, we seek to pursue its ethical and responsible development, ensuring it serves humanity and never deepens inequalities.

Our leadership will prioritize the common good through open, inclusive dialogue and collaboration. We aim for a future where justice, peace, and prosperity are realities for every person.

We wish you all the best in your unifying papacy. 

Signed and Issued by 200 changemaker leaders from 35 nations on 12th June 2025

Pontificia Università Urbaniana