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.
I think we would be stronger if half our countries and companies were run by women and half our homes were run by men.
Never lead your soldiers to battle if you have not first confirmed their spirit and known them to be without fear and ordered; and never test them except when you see that they hope to win.
What's important is to have more women creators behind the scenes, being producers and being in charge. That will ultimately help push this boys'-club, locker-room mentality out the door.
To reporters the day after his accession to the presidency, April 13, 1945: When they told me yesterday what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars and all the planets had fallen on me.
Every time I meet Prime Minister Modi and listen to him and then see his actions, including GST, I see bold things that I don't see in any other place. I am super impressed and optimistic.
The important thing is that your teammates have to know you're pulling for them and you really want them to be successful.
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