If corporate leaders and their acolytes are not slaves to some meritorious social purpose, they run the risk of being enslaved by their own ignoble appetites.
Interpretation
Corporate leaders must prioritize social good to avoid being driven by selfish desires.
This quote by Gary Hamel emphasizes the idea that leaders in the corporate world should not only focus on profit and personal gain but also consider their responsibility towards society. If they fail to uphold a noble social purpose, they risk becoming trapped in their own greed and materialistic desires, ultimately losing sight of the greater good that their leadership could serve.
In practice
This quote can be used in a corporate training seminar to highlight the importance of ethical leadership.
The real damper on employee engagement is the soggy, cold blanket of centralized authority. In most companies, power cascades downwards from the CEO. Not only are employees disenfranchised from most policy decisions, they lack even the power to rebel against egocentric and tyrannical supervisors.
The biggest barriers to strategic renewal are almost always top management's unexamined beliefs.
To create an organization that's adaptable and innovative, people need the freedom to challenge precedent, to 'waste' time, to go outside of channels, to experiment, to take risks and to follow their passions.
If customer ignorance is a profit centre for you, you're in trouble.
It doesn't matter much where your company sits in its industry ecosystem, nor how vertically or horizontally integrated it is - what matters is its relative 'share of customer value' in the final product or solution, and its cost of producing that value.
The single biggest reason companies fail is they overinvest in what is, as opposed to what might be.
If you are a leader, you should never forget that everyone needs encouragement. And everyone who receives it - young or old, successful or less-than-successful, unknown or famous - is changed by it.
Make it clear up front what the aim of the company is. Stay true to your authentic vision.
My own experience is that the best outcomes are reached when opposing viewpoints are clearly and strongly presented before decisions are made.
A really great person is the person who makes every person feel great.
... motivating people, forcing them to your will, gives you a cynical attitude toward humanity. It degrades everything it touches.
Leaders come in many forms, with many styles and diverse qualities. There are quiet leaders and leaders one can hear in the next county. Some find strength in eloquence, some in judgment, some in courage.
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