On Purpose: BlackRock's Global CMO, Frank Cooper, Went From the Heart of Social Media (BuzzFeed) to the Heart of Midtown. Why?

I met Frank Cooper when we first did a deal together, Pepsi x MTV, 12 years ago. Even if you don't know the man himself, you know what he's done. From Harvard to AOL to Pepsi to BuzzFeed, and from Beyonce to Diddy to the Super Bowl, Frank's had a greater impact on music, media and culture than almost anyone. Along the way, he's tallied win after win after win, propelling business (and pop culture) forward, wherever he goes. Now he's taken his talents to midtown, as Global CMO of BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset managers, with $6.84 trillion in assets under management as of August 2019. So...why the move into financial services? What's he seeing? And how's he thriving in a #NoNeutral world?

RM: You went from the heart of social media to the heart of Midtown. How'd that happen?

FRANK: Well, I didn’t wake up and say I think I want to transform myself from technology and entertainment, to packaged goods, to financial services. But what I did know is I was energized by being in industries that were changing rapidly, with companies that either wanted to disrupt and accelerate that change, or who actually wanted to lead it. Not for disruption’s sake, but to evolve into something that's better. I always wanted to figure out how to expand people’s potential. 

RM: Yeah but financial services?

FRANK: When you think about the source of stress and anxiety, it’s often money. No matter where you stand as you climb, people always think that they need three times more. We don't have a healthy relationship with money because no one taught us how to earn it in a way that actually makes us feel fulfilled, how to spend it in a way that actually reflects who we are, how to save and invest, and how to give it away in ways that are consistent with your values. This is an industry that's ripe for disruption. You can see the cracks already happening. That's exciting.

RM: Your CEO, Larry Fink, talks a lot about “profit and purpose.” His annual letter has become almost as important as Steve Jobs standing up on stage and declaring the future. What has Larry's leadership meant to you? What does it mean to this place?

FRANK: In 2018, Larry wrote his first letter to about a thousand CEOs that basically said companies that want to thrive, long-term, have to have a sense of purpose beyond profits. That was a really proud moment because I was like, wow, we have a CEO who has the vision and courage to actually state this from the center of the financial services industry.

RM: It was a bold, unexpected move, coming from the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager.

FRANK: I knew two things would happen. One, there would be the celebratory moment where people would come out and say, “Oh my God, Larry, you've said what we've always wanted to hear from financial services.” But then I also knew that there would be powerful forces that would rise against and ask, “ Who are you to tell us?” and “What's your purpose?” and “We think you're wrong, we still believe in Milton Friedman and the sole purpose of the corporation is to deliver shareholder value.” But for me that was a really proud moment because Larry knew all of that and still made the statement.

RM: Larry did it anyway.

FRANK: Because he felt it was the right thing to do, and he believes it deeply in his heart. In a world where governments on the global stage have started to recede and corporations are as big as governments.

RM: Or in some cases bigger.

FRANK: Exactly, it fills that void. That was one of the best moments in my career, to see a leader step up and do that. And thankfully, it went viral.

RM: I think one other question people had was, well, is this just one letter and then we're not going to hear about this again from Larry and BlackRock?

FRANK: No, we mean it. We're pushing forward in two ways. On one level, we're trying to help other industry leaders who want to know, “How do I identify my purpose?” and “How do I embed purpose in my organization and measure it?” We have an entire platform supporting researchers, writers, academics, institutions to actually elevate the conversation and the thinking around those areas. It’s open source because we don't want to own the IP, we just want to elevate the conversation. We're holding salon dinners all over the world, and those conversations also feed into the research. And we're also looking at ourselves and asking “What's our purpose?” The hard part is living it, and we're now in the process of embedding our purpose in the organization, starting with our employees. This is not a short term sizzle type of event. It's not a letter. It's a movement that's happening. Larry catalyzed that.

RM: It’s why we created Blackbird in 2017. It’s amazing to see so many leaders starting to do hard work on their own systems of belief.

FRANK: Exactly. We had Indra Nooyi and her mantra, “Performance With Purpose.” You had Paul Polman at Unilever who really tied Unilever's activities to the UN sustainable development goals. And now at the heart of the financial services industry, for the largest investor in public companies to say this is actually how we think value is created.

RM: Speaking of Indra, you and I were on the committee that voted her into the Advertising Hall of Fame. Then she got up on the stage and said, "It's not just what your company makes, it's what your company's made of." Talk a little bit about being here and what the employees of BlackRock felt when they realized Larry was going to go big.

FRANK: Within the company, you had two camps. The vast majority were excited about having our purpose articulated more clearly so that employees could have a greater sense of fulfillment and know that BlackRock had its own north star. You had another segment that legitimately said this is a concern -- because most of the investors have been conditioned to think, “Who's going to give me the highest return on a consistent basis? That's who I'll trust. That's who I'm going to partner with. That's who I'll be a client of.” If I came to you said, “Look, I can give you consistently 5% returns, and it's going to be great for the world.” And another person says, “I don't know if this is great for the world or not, but I’ll give you 10%, and let me map out for you how that plays out when you decide you want to retire,” it's a hard trade off to make. The good news is, though, I think it's a false dichotomy.

RM: It is.

FRANK: Companies that will thrive long term, the ones that will be the most successful and have the most value, will have that sense of purpose. Profits are an outcome of that purpose.

RM: Led by Larry, reinforced by everybody here, you have defined a new standard. For all of your portfolio companies and anybody that wants investment from BlackRock, there are certain criteria that you must meet, and if you don't, then I'm sorry but we can't do business with you.

FRANK: You know the hard part of this though – you can state your purpose, and you can put posters all over the office, you could have it floating on your internal website, you can make people repeat it like a mantra, but there will always come this moment where there will be short term opportunity that conflicts with your core purpose. The question is, “what will you do in that moment?” Many companies fold under that kind of pressure, but some actually stand out. 

RM: Like who?

FRANK: CVS did it with cigarettes. Starbucks did a relatively good job when they had the bathroom issue, and you had two African Americans in Philadelphia. They actually stood up and said, you know what, that was wrong. No one's asking for perfection. No one believes that you will never slip up. In fact, I think people will give you the benefit of the doubt if you actually are trying to live your purpose, and when you make the mistake you correct it very quickly. I think that's going to be the ultimate question – how do you live your purpose?

RM: What’s the real danger in all this for you?

FRANK: Right now there is an enormous amount of pressure to not push purpose as aggressively as we're pushing. To kind of do it in a “purpose lite” way...

RM: Purpose Lite.

FRANK: That is actually-

RM: That's the death.

FRANK: It is.

RM: Because then you checked the box and you're like, “Yeah, we did that.”

FRANK: 100% right. I can't go down the other path because I know what we’re doing is the right thing to do. For me and for BlackRock. It's right for the world. That's the path I'm going to go down. Larry opened that door.

RM: As soon as we started doing “No Neutral” with Linkedin, a lot of people who are in corporate social responsibility reached out to me and said, “Oh, you're in the CSR space now?”

FRANK: If you go way back, we would put this all under the banner of philanthropy. Then you come into the 60’s, 70’s, you probably put it under cause marketing. Then you move forward to today, the 2000’s or so, you would say CSR. The next leap is the core of commercial operations, your ultimate goal as a business now is tied to your purpose. It's not an ancillary activity. It's not a build on. It's not like trying to have redemption by doing something good for something that you've done bad. It's that the core of what you do is now tied to that purpose.

RM: How does having a clear purpose affect recruiting?

FRANK: You and I have been fortunate in our careers, in that we've been able to work at places, start companies, where we felt like we were contributing to something bigger than ourselves. Now I think everyone feels like they deserve that. They say, “How am I going to have a sense of fulfillment if I don’t feel like I’m contributing to something bigger than myself?” Those who don't step up, they're going to find it incredibly difficult, as you said, to get the best talent.

RM: In my company, candidates now ask about our values before asking about our 401k.

FRANK: That's right.

RM: There's a sense of entitlement in a good way. The best of the best feel entitled to work at a place that they can believe in.

RM: What are the main issues you're focused on now?

FRANK: Number one is the retirement crisis. People are living longer. We've done a great job in science and medicine in terms of longevity – 50% of people born today will live to about 105. Retirement age is still technically at 65. The whole notion of retirement will have to change. We are also focused on climate change. We’re stepping up with sustainable investing. We brought on Brian Deese, who helped negotiate the Paris climate treaty in the Obama administration.

RM: Is there anything you would tell other business leaders who are still holding back and convincing themselves that they can stay neutral on the biggest issues facing societies? 

FRANK: Feel free to remain neutral on points that matter to people in culture. There's a lot of roadkill out there for people who did that. But if you actually want to get on the leading edge, and you want to attract and retain the best talent, and you want them to perform at the highest level, you can't remain neutral. You have to take a stand, live by it, embrace it. Those who agree with you will be attracted to you. Your recruiting will be easier, your retention will be easier, and you'll perform better.

LinkedIn series #NoNeutral tells the real stories of business leaders who are bravely taking brand positions that aren’t exactly safe. Ross Martin, CEO of Brand Strategy & Business Innovation firm Blackbird, talks directly to the executives who pulled the trigger and made it happen. No bullshit, no puffery, just reality. The stories of what actually happened behind the scenes…and how. For more, email [email protected].