ABSTRACT
Responsible Management Education (RME) anchored in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires a scholarly determination that challenges the underlying assumptions of business-as-usual to bring about transformational change. In this chapter, I contend that scholars who reflect on their ‘calling’ are more likely to contribute to transformational RME. Employing my journey, as an illustration, I define what finding my ‘calling’ as an SDG-marketing scholar is, guided by the ‘Narrative Model of Authoring an Identity as a Called Professional’ (Bloom et al., 2021). Specifically, I reflect on two aspects of this model: 1) finding my calling and 2) living my calling. The discernment journey of finding my calling included reflecting on lived experiences such as the sacrifice demonstrated by my parents as doctors in an Indian Christian missionary non-profit hospital, the kindness showed by my living kidney donor, and my desire to do my best to tackle gender inequality, as the father of two daughters. Living my calling includes reflecting on crafting personal authenticity and achieving professional legitimacy. For example, I attempt to develop personal authenticity by proactively reflecting on and constructing a compelling narrative for becoming an SDG-marketing scholar. I also detail how I attempt to achieve professional legitimacy through creating innovative SDG curricula in both management and marketing, as well as calling for marketing scholars to engage with SDG research, proactively and strategically. Lastly, I present the key learnings from this journey to find my calling as an SDG-marketing scholar, to encourage other scholars to reflect on their calling, and engage in transformational RME.
