He believes givers receive

Mitch Joel of Twist Image doesn't spend a lot of time in the office, giving about one-third of his workday to the community

STEPHANIE WHITTAKER, Freelance
Monday, January 31, 2005

Mitch Joel has a philosophy that has guided how he runs his life and his business. "There are people who can give and those who must receive," he says. "I'm damn grateful that I'm one of the people who can give."

Joel, a partner in Twist Image, a Montreal marketing and communications firm, spends about one-third of his workday giving his time and efforts to the community.

"I work for about 10 or 12 volunteer organizations and spend a lot of my day doing that," Joel said.

He's discovered the karma of business. "Givers gain," he said.

His approach has been a two-way street. While Joel, 33, is out of his office doing community work, the goodwill it generates attracts business to his company.

Joel discovered the joys of community volunteerism about 10 years ago.

A university dropout, he's had a varied career that includes publishing a rock magazine and freelancing for alternative weekly newspapers. He also spent two years editing In Montreal magazine, a publication that focused on young Jewish Montrealers, which led him to a gig with search engine Mama.com.

"I met someone who was in business development at Mama.com. I helped build the company and was there through several buyings and sellings of it."

What followed was a series of positions, first as director of marketing and communications at Airborne Entertainment, the co-founding of a music label and a gig with a public-relations firm before he met Aubrey Rosenhek and Mickael Kanfi, the founders of Twist Image, 2 1/2 years ago.

"I thought of working as a consultant for Twist Image, but within two weeks, the partners and I realized we had the same vision and goals and we decided to work together," he said.

Housed in a hip open-office space in the Plateau, the company has attracted such clients as Bombardier, Insight, McGill University, iPerceptions, Mount Sinai Hospital, SNG Chartered Accountants and K-Way, which Twist is rebranding.

"We do everything from branding and advertising to marketing, communications and Web," Joel said. The company now employs about 10.

Joel doesn't spend a lot of time in the office, though.

Back when he was working for In Montreal magazine, he discovered he wanted to dedicate time to his community.

"When I left that job, I knew that I would continue to do volunteer work for Federation Combined Jewish Appeal," he said. "I had never done any volunteer work at all, but I started getting involved in events and various other nonprofit groups.

"I would meet people and it felt very liberating. Once you start doing that, it's like a tectonic shift. You almost want to quit your day job."

His community involvements, which have won him a raft of awards, are many and include working for Youth Employment Services, Federation CJA and the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

How does business gain from giving time to community causes?

"The community benefits," Joel said. "If I ask someone to speak at the Youth Employment Services entrepreneurship conference, I'm getting that person involved in community. They get to network and we grow our connection."

"I call this kind of work being socially responsible," said Stephen Goldberg of Optimus Performance, a West Island firm that does training and development and coaching in the corporate milieu.

"When we work with business leaders, we encourage them to adopt social responsibility. How much importance they place on it depends on the health of their businesses. When a company is in survival mode, it can't always focus on the community."

But healthy companies that can afford the time and resources to shore up their communities do benefit, Goldberg said.

"Your ability to generate business depends on the health of your locality," he said. "We have to look at creating healthy environments to nourish businesses."

He said healthy communities produce productive workforces.

"But even if business owners understand that concept, how much they'll devote to improving the community depends on their values," Goldberg said.

There is, however, a big payoff for businesspeople when they network through community work, he said.

"Anytime you're out with people, you're exposing yourself and your business," he said.

"All things being equal, people will do business with people they know and trust and, all things being unequal, people will do business with those they know and trust."

Working for one's community also demonstrates to potential business contacts "that you're genuine," said Goldberg, who also gives his time to various kinds of volunteer work.

"And the rule of abundance is that whatever you give, will come back to you."

What's more, volunteering can forge deeper connections with others than those gained from simply attending networking events and handing out business cards, he said.

Like Joel, Goldberg believes that helping the community is its own reward.

"The idea is we can create a better world by starting as individuals," he said.

Ann Coombs of Vancouver-based Coombs Consulting Ltd. and the author of The Living Workplace (Soul, Spirit and Success in the 21st Century), applauds people like Joel who devote their time to community pursuits.

"Social responsibility hit the corporate world about 15 years ago and everyone got on the bandwagon, giving employees time off to do volunteer work.

"Now, this encompasses other things, such as employee-wellness and environmental issues.

"I think the essence of creating living workplaces is that you can't ask people to leave their life purpose and values behind when they arrive at work. Organizations have to become sensitive to what people feel rather than just what they think.

"After doing volunteer work, people bring a renewed perspective on compassion, listening, dialogue and empathy to work."

When the example starts at the top, it percolates down.

"Shortly after the tsunami in southeast Asia, one of our employees suggested instead of going out for lunch, we should brown bag it and donate what we would have spent on lunch to the tsunami victims," Joel said. "The employees collected $250 and the partners doubled it to $500."

Joel's other key philosophy is that "we have a short time on this Earth. That's why I do what I do. I want to make sure that when I draw my last breath, I'll have made a difference.

"My business life and my personal life are intertwined. I can't pull the wires apart and say that one part is separate from the other."