Take a page from the Levenger playbook: Create high-end products that matter.

Steve Leveen is the CEO of Levenger, which since 1987 has designed and sold high-end products geared toward reading, writing, and working with ideas.

Founded in Boston with his wife, Lori Granger Leveen (pictured together, at right), Levenger started doing business in Boston with its first catalog, “Tools for Serious Readers.”

Today, Levenger is headquartered in South Florida and has grown into the place to come for support in all manner of creative expression—whether it be for work or for leisure: www.levenger.com.

“Many of our products help you organize,” explained Leveen when we interviewed him at the April 2013 Conscious Capitalism Conference in San Francisco. “Others inspire, or delight, or help you pursue a passion or enjoy quiet contemplation. Our pledge is to always bring you thoughtfully designed and carefully constructed products, responsive to your needs and wishes, and respectful of the environment.”

“Nearly 200 years ago, the author of Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville, observed that Americans desired beauty but demanded usefulness,” adds Leveen, noting his company offers objects pleasing to the touch, rewarding in their function, and made to last for generations.

Levenger is also the publisher of Levenger Press, a micropublisher of specialty books, whose titles include works by Winston Churchill, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

So don’t miss a word of this podcast, where we interview Steve Leveen—and his friend and fellow CEO Laura Roberts—about the power and importance of Conscious Capitalism:

• The pair discuss the speech they gave on April 6 at the Conscious Capitalism Conference, entitled: Metrics That Matter.
• Leveen and Roberts share how the big idea of Conscious Capitalism fits into how they do business—especially in terms of having a higher purpose, and engaging stakeholders at the deepest levels.
• Leveen also shares his ambition to be a premier source of products and ideas that help people on their journeys of personal and professional achievement.
• And, he gives ideas to other firms about how they can incorporate these best practices into their businesses.
• What will he be telling his team when he gets back to Levenger headquarters?
• And what are the next steps for Levenger in terms of being Conscious Capitalists?

Listen to all of Leveen’s and Roberts’ insights when you download the podcast, at right.

• To learn more about Steve and Lori Leveen’s successful company, visit www.levenger.com.
• Are you ready to shop and save? Use the code SPRING15 at checkout to get 15 percent off of your purchase.

About “Metrics That Matter”: Steve Leveen and Laura Roberts explain.

In this rapidly evolving and global economy, there is a shift occurring in corporate-financial metrics. Trends are showing that historical financial metrics will eventually become inaccurate bellwethers. Are you steering your organization or evaluating markets based on metrics that are becoming outdated? If so, then learn how to identify, manage from, and start reporting on “metrics that matter” in order to transform your organization to bring knowledge and transparency, and most importantly to build internal and external brand loyalty.

In their session on this topic at the Conscious Capitalism conference, they explored current conditions, including the “gap” in GAAP (General Accepted Accounting Principles) and emerging investor trends, as well as new and developing common language around measuring sustainability and the “triple bottom line.” Other topics included the shift toward evaluating total life-cycle costs, which include the differences between ”cost per use” and “cost per unit.” Interactive sessions explored the identification of an organization’s potential “positive and negative externalities,” as well as the development of metrics that might be created to shape short- and long-term goals for building an organization that both reacts to and is measured by the metrics that do matter in a conscious business.

More about Steve Leveen

In addition to being the CEO and co-founder of Levenger, Leveen is also the publisher of Levenger Press, a micropublisher of specialty books whose titles include works by Winston Churchill, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Leveen’s first book, The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life, was published in 2005. Among the publications that featured it were The New York Times Book Review, Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, and the Miami Herald. The book was named a BookSense pick by the independent bookstores of America, and Leveen was part of a panel presentation at the 2005 Miami Book Fair International. It was also the basis for a series of workshops Leveen conducted for companies such as Starbucks and Target, and that focused on finding more time to read the books that mattered.

Leveen frequently blogs on topics related to the “Well-Read Life” for the Huffington Post. He has had his articles on the human side of technology published in The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times. He holds a BA in Biology from the University of California, San Diego, and master’s and doctoral degrees in Sociology from Cornell University.

Leveen serves on the board of the National Book Foundation and, through the Levenger Foundation, supports the organization’s Innovations in Reading initiative. He is active in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization-World Presidents’ Organization, where he serves as education vice chair of the WPO Southern Region. Leveen is also a member of WPO’s resource bureau for CNBC.

He and his wife live in Delray Beach, Florida, where Levenger is headquartered.