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Fan Male: Social Bottom Line
Celebrating men who advance the causes of women and children
by Charles Molineaux
March 1, 2007
Poring over the ledgers of a multi billion dollar institution like Atlanta Life Financial Group could make some people's eyes glaze over. It makes CEO Ronald Brown see double. Brown says he watches a “double bottom line,” that includes the less-tangible social profits he can leverage into the community. At Atlanta Life's headquarters on Atlanta's historic Auburn Avenue, Brown sits on a legacy which started in 1905 with Atlanta Life's founding by a former slave. Today it's one of the largest black-owned financial services companies in the country.
Brown says it was that legacy which, in 2004, lured him into the job, one he describes more as “ a calling.” The call for community involvement is one he answers often. In January, he joined the board of directors at the Atlanta Business league, and that was just one in a sequence of boards, including the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Power, the Carter Center, Emory University, Philander Smith College and the African-American Experience Fund. Still, he says his family, his wife Deborah and his high school age sons Jarrod and Jordan, remain his N&¯ 1 priority.
Atlanta Woman: How do you measure achievement on this “other bottom line” of yours?
Brown: That one is difficult. When I was running publicly traded companies, all the analysts would measure you based on what your quarter looked like and what the quarters in the future were going to look like. That was much easier to do because it was fairly finite.
But when you talk about your other bottom line, which is really a social bottom line, it expands over much more than a quarter and much more than a year. In some instances it can last an entire lifetime because it can have the kind of impact that only shows up several years later.
As you can imagine, there's no shortage of requests for resources from a firm like Atlanta Life, everything from “can you sponsor us with physical cash?” to “can you have people come and spend a day or two training our people?” So the different opportunities to enhance that social bottom line cover a pretty broad spectrum. You don't measure them all the same way, but at the end of the day, you make decisions about what you do and don't do based on what's going to help the largest number of people over the longest period of time.“
AW: What community involvement stands out for you?
Brown: Well, I think there's a natural one with the mentorship that I do at Morehouse, my alma mater. I can certainly remember when I was there. Boy, would I have liked to interact with someone that was in a position similar to mine now during that time period. So that one is really near and dear to my heart.
At the end of the day I think it's something we all have bred into us and that is to make a difference in something that's bigger than you are.
In some instances it's as simple as providing education so that people are in a better position to make decisions about their lives, their livelihood or their children's college expenses. The measurement becomes something that is not always immediate.
What I do at the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is very close to me because it ends up impacting all of Atlanta. I take it very seriously to be on the executive committee. From the committees for how we deal with transportation issues in the city, to education for Atlanta public schools, those are things that affect the quality of life for all Atlantans.
AW: In January, you joined the Atlanta Business League's board. It seems you're in demand, but how do you handle all those?
Brown: Well, at some level, it's gratifying to be wanted. At another level entirely, though, you have to recognize what is your highest and best use. That's always the question that I ask myself before I agree to do anything: “Is this my highest and best use?” Some people just want you to be on boards simply because of name recognition. Well, if I don't actually believe that I can bring something to the table, that's an invitation that I'll turn down.
AW: How do you fit your family into all this? Brown: They are a huge part of everything I am. First of all, they come first
Jarrod is a senior at Westlake High School and he's receiving all his acceptance letters from different colleges. Jordan is a freshman at Westlake. They both have strong desires for continuing their education and making a difference wherever they end up. My belief is that they will far surpass anything I have done in my working career. I love that.
Deborah is a huge impact on everything I do. Having been in corporate America as long as I have, it's easy to become jaded. When you deal with people who are, for lack of a better term, unscrupulous, it's easy to always look at people with a watchful eye. She's helped me to be objective and give people the benefit of the doubt. She's very good at pointing out the good in people. That's a balance that helps me.
AW: You're a New Yorker, but you talk about Atlanta Life and Auburn Avenue as icons. Do you have a personal feel for that history?
Brown: Oh yeah. My mother actually did her graduate work at Atlanta University and while I was growing up in Manhattan, she used to talk to me about Atlanta and Auburn Avenue and all the great things that had happened here and were still happening here. So even as a child, I knew about Atlanta Life and Auburn Avenue, even though I was living and going to school in Manhattan.
AW: What are some of your other civic activities? Brown: I'm involved with the Boys & Girls Club of America, the Butler Street WMCA, The Minority Entrepreneurship Education Inc., and the Young Leaders Unlimited/Young CEO Program.
AW: What do you see in the city of Atlanta now?
Brown: An awful lot of history, for starters, and an awful lot of opportunity. Auburn Avenue was once the greatest street for African Americans, not just in Atlanta, but in this country, from a business standpoint. What I'm seeing now is the rebirth of that.
And, more importantly, it's the rebirth of opportunity for all people. There's this belief that what happens on Auburn Avenue is only good for, or is specific to African Americans. I don't go along with that. I think that everybody's boat rises when things get better, and I'm seeing a real renaissance in downtown Atlanta.
From when I was a freshman at Morehouse in the early '70s, I viewed Atlanta as a very large town, but it is truly an international city today. What we have to do as citizens here is make sure we don't lose the character of Atlanta.
One of my pet issues is what I refer to loosely as a lack of personal responsibility today. Everybody I come into contact with that wants to see things be better overall for everybody, I always say that it starts with your own personal responsibility.
It's a question that I ask all the people on my senior management team.
I always say to them, “what kind of company would this be if everybody did their job the way you do yours?“
And that really makes people think.
