The opening paragraph of Kouzes and Posner’s open chapter 5 discusses the idea of enzymes as “nature’s activists� and that enzymes are able to increase the rate of reaction without being consumed by it. (103) Roddick would definitely be in that category, and I believe she would appreciate the acronym of CEO falling more closely to the definition of “chief enzyme officer� (143) than chief executive. Since readings on Anita Roddick were not specifically designated, perhaps a brief description of her life based on my online search is in order as the foundation for my reflections.

Anita Roddick was a member of the “Greatest Generation� and the child of Italian Jews in postwar England. She grew up in an English seaside village, and described her childhood: “We didn’t know about additives. There were no fast snacks. Coffee was hard to get…Being Italian and eating lots of tomatoes makes you pathologically optimistic.� (France, 2006) On her website, launched in 2001, Roddick described herself as a “natural outsider, drawn to other outsiders and rebels…I had a strong sense of moral outrage, which was awakened when I found a book about the Holocaust at the age of ten.� (Roddick, n.d.)

Anita taught briefly and then toured the developing world, spending time in Israel, Tahiti, Australia, South Africa in the 1960s (when she was in her 20s). She married a Scottish poet in 1970 when she was pregnant with their second child. Her husband set off to ride horseback from Buenos Aires to New York and Anita opened her first store in Brighton in 1976 to provide an income for herself and two daughters. She based her first few products on recipes her mother had used, as well as the skin and hair care practices of the indigenous peoples she had met in her travels. But she is quoted in her New York Times obituary as saying, “I have never felt that beauty products are the body and blood of Jesus Christ…Nothing the Body Shop sells pretends to do anything other than it says. Moisturizers moisturize, fresheners freshen and cleansers cleanse. End of story.� (Lyall, 2007) Anita arbitrarily selected the deep green of the Body Shop brand because it was the only paint color that covered the mold on the walls of her first store – just at the time ‘going green’ was building awareness. (Roddick,n.d.) She described her success to writer Lee Glendinning: “The original Body Shop was a series of brilliant accidents. It had a great smell, it had a funky name. It was incredibly sensuous. We recycled everything, not because we were environmentally friendly, but because we didn’t have enough bottles.� (Glendinning, 2007)

Gordon Roddick returned as the start-up business continued to grow through franchise agreements (his idea) covering more than 2000 stores in 50 countries. The Body Shop went public in 1984 and Roddick was one of the first female chief executives of a publicly traded company in the UK. Julia Finch, city editor of The Guardian described Anita as “contemptuous of the City and its focus on the bottom line, believing that business had a responsibility to consider its impact on society, from civil rights to recycling.� (Finch, 2007) So – my investigation into the innovative business idea of Anita Roddick turned out not to be the main story. Rather, the woman as an activist, and leader of change became the focus.

Roddick used her wealth and her business to start a variety of ventures serving the homeless, poor, orphaned, and ill. These include “The Big Issue,� a magazine produced and sold by homeless people, and COTE (Children on the Edge) that supports orphaned children in Romania. I printed out a booklet from www.AnitaRoddick.com, entitled “I am an Activist� that provides photos of Anita in action and lists linkages for 35 social justice websites that it appears she endorsed during her lifetime. I must admit that the sheer number of causes listed makes me wonder for which she had served in a leadership capacity, or played the role of financial backer or celebrity participant. It appeared from my reading that Roddick had many of Nodding’s characteristic of the “one-caring� – “When we see the other’s reality as a possibility for us, we must act to eliminate the intolerable, to reduce the pain, to fill the need, to actualize the dream.� (Noddings, 1984, p.14)

As a leader, I was less sure of Roddick’s role.  Did she communicate a compelling, shared vision of positive future, or was she using personal resources to force others to action?  Was she genuine and emotional and passionate?  Without a doubt.  In Kouzes and Posner, leaders are described as those individuals who can urge you to think bigger than you think you can (112) and Roddick had that ability.  She was an enzyme, increasing the individual reaction.

I look forward to your comments. - nan

References Finch, J. (2007, September 11). Exotic executive. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from The Guardian Web site: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/sep/11/business.ethicallliving/print France, L. (2006, January 29). Dinner with Anita Roddick. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from Observer Food Monthly Web site: http://observer.guardian.co.uk Glendinning, L. (2007, September 11). Anita Roddick, pioneer whose dreams turned the high street green, dies at 64. Retrieved February 22, 2008, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/sep 11/ethicalliving.lifeandhealth/print Lyall, S. (12). Anita Roddick, Body Shop founder, dies at 64. New York Times. Retrieved on 2/18/2008 from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/world/europe Noddings, Nel (1984). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education. Berkeley: University of California Press. Roddick, A. (n.d.). Dame Anita Roddick. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from http://www.anitaroddick.com