In 1970, Milton Friedman famously wrote, “There is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits….”. For this kind of thinking, Friedman was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1976. But times change. Friedman’s oft-repeated assertion has since been described as “The World’s Dumbest Idea”. Today, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine our potential as leaders and as stewards of the world’s resources—an opportunity to change the way we run organizations and modern capitalism. We are hungering for fresh ideas that will help us to reimagine our potential and recalibrate our ideas about our roles as leaders. If we wish to be relevant to the leaders of today and tomorrow, we need to move away from the superficial and the legacy models of the past, away from the “flashing lights, sirens and whistles” of motivation and “rah-rah entreaties”. It is time for leaders to heal the wound of the heart that Covid did not bring about, but brought into sharper focus. There are organizations and thought leaders who will step into the space that has now been created and lead with the necessary passion and intellectual rigor that will elevate our consciousness and our capacity to contribute to a better and safer world. This is the world of STEM of course, but more importantly, it is the world of the spirit—of empathy, collaboration, service, humility, openness, candor—and, most importantly—love. It is time to ask ourselves, Am I capable of doing this? Do I wish to do this? Am I tweaking and amplifying the paradigms of the past, or bringing about the new thinking necessary for a sustainable future? Big questions. Big responsibilities. Big stakes. PS. Please join me for a conversation every Thursday about this and other important leadership issues of our time: www.secretanzoom.com
A Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity
by Lance | Aug 4, 2020 | 18 comments
THANK YOU LANCE for your ongoing authentic voice summoning a world in crisis to seize the kairotic win-win opportunity (not only for profits, but) toward “the world of the spirit—of empathy, collaboration, service, humiltiy, openness, candor—and, most importanlty—love.”
Thank you Ronald. We have much work to do, don’t we?
Thank you lance for provoking an alternative narrative …to a quieter and more thoughtful approach …a place for the open minded, open hearted and purposeful. I think it was a professor from the Judge Business School who recently wrote that profit is a by-product of business when it successfully meet the needs of society and not an end in itself…. how do we meet the needs of our society seems at the heart of your blog ….quite the challenge.
You are so right Ian. As Gandhi said, “There is more to life than increasing its speed”. It seems to me that when we are faced with a crisis, thinking and feeling are just as – perhaps more – important than doing. As a kayaker and canoer, I have been put in some life-threatening situations. I learned a long ago that moving quickly can kill you; slowing down, thinking things through, connecting carefully with one’s emotions, and then converting all that into an action plan ensures that we don’t drown. I think this was a lesson from Aesop’s Fables, wasn’t it – the metaphor of the tortoise and the hare?
Thanks again for a grounded and intelligent message to be conscious and awaken our hearts. Every time a smart person says something wise, the world opens it’s eye just a little more!
Appreciation for what you do in the Coherence space of business. I experience a little more collaboration and love in the midst of this crazy pandemic, so all our voices and intentions can come to bear to move the needle of progress.
Come and join us for a conversation along these lines every Thursday Atom – it would be great to have you. http://www.secretanzoom.com
Lance, as always you are at the forefront of collaborative relationships. Your passion for putting people first is heart warming. You give us all hope that there will be better leadership in the next decades.
Lori thank you for this. I hope you are thriving in these challenging times!
As always, incredibly relevant, thought-provoking, and challenging! Thank you for continuing to push leaders to reimagine who they are and could be. Bravo, my friend!
Thank you Gennifer. I hope to see you on our Zoom calls – http://www.secretanzoom.com
Thank you, Lance. One problem, it seems to me, is that we can take a very great deal of harm (witness, Covid and Beirut) without feeling truly harmed, harmed to the point of having to do something about it now. Also, what is it exactly that you, personally, are willing to change, give up, now, for the betterment of the life of specific others? I’ll try to join, no matter the time difference. All the best, Bruno
That’s a great question Bruno. It’s one that we should all be asking ourselves. Personally, I have devoted my life to helping leaders become more inspiring and organizations to become stewards of people and the environment.
Our “Inspiration in the Cloud” meetings occur at both 11 AM and 7 PM EST on Thursdays – I look forward to seeing you there.
Great blog Lance. In my opinion, if a leader loves and truly cares for the organization and the people within it, they will strive as servant-leaders to ensure it thrives and remains sustainable. Stakeholder capitalism is a move toward systems thinking and stakeholder capitalism is a move toward system sustainability. It is, in fact, a movement toward re-balancing the inequities of runaway capitalism – a self-reinforcing, positive feedback loop, paradigm of exploitation that, unchecked, will destroy our planet and kill off other species including us humans most likely. I agree with you that we need to bring the idea of love and soul back into Western science and organizational development. Western science, both natural and social, made a cardinal error when they threw the notion of the soul out with religion. This is changing but too slowly. I will ask your audience here: Do you believe that soul, your soul, exists? If you do, how does that inform how you lead?
Claude, I am giving my book, “Inspirational Leadership” away for free until next Tuesday. The first words I wrote to begin the Inroduction were, “People often ask me to define the soul. I cannot do it. So many others have also tried. But this I know: the soul is bigger than any single corporation, government, community, family, healthcare facility, law enforcement, religious, or learning institution. No single organization is big enough for the soul. Of one thing we can be sure: our soul is infinite and part of the largest Universe we can imagine — and then some”.
Lance- as always, I greatly appreciate your wisdom, your perspective, and your great heart and soul. IMHE, anyone who “can” define the Soul has already boundarized, limited, and diminished it – and their own possibilities for expanding far beyond their own experience. In the 1970s, there was a half-in-jest “law” that physics and astronomy talked about: “if you cannot prove it cannot exist, then it must exist.” The same is true for Soul, Love, Heart, and so much more. Judaism was not Einstein’s foremost value, yet he said, “my sense of God is a child’s sense of wonder at the Universe.” IMHO, we must all (return to) awe, to focus on understanding over proof, and (again) become open to the many Universes, the many sentient co-created consciousness/es, the many possibilities of past/present/future/no-time that all exist in synchronicity. Those in no way diminish or refute logic, science, math, and more….I believe they simply enhance them. Thank you, Lance, for how you live and how you impact.
Love your thoughts Marc – elegant and erudite, as always!
Thanks, Lance, for your sage wisdom and usual clarity. Couldn’t agree more.
Thank you David. I am glad we are on the journey together!