During a recent coaching conversation with the CEO of a global company I asked him, “Supposing we have come to the end of growth?”

This is probably not the kind of question he wanted to hear – and you probably don’t either.

But consider the following facts: We’ve had at a tech bubble  and a real estate bubble, we have a huge and growing trade deficit, and we are  running record budget deficits. This has been the fuel driving our recent “prosperity”. Of course, the pundits advise us to tame all these beasts. But if we were to reduce our debt and our trade deficit, and if we were to avoid future bubbles we would almost certainly choke much of the artificial oxygen that has been fueling the economy-a Catch-22. What if we have reached the end of the consumer boom anyway,  because many people either feel they have enough already or they can’t afford any more – real incomes for Americans have not risen in 15 years. Population growth is slowing and so is the working age population. All of this leads to an economy with insufficient demand, which leads to continuing high levels of unemployment, resulting in people ultimately    holding back on the purchase of homes, cars, appliances and the like. If this scenario is anywhere close to being accurate, then we may have arrived at the new normal where unemployment remains stubbornly high and profit and growth are only achieved through cost reduction and productivity increases (both of which have finite limits anyway).  After all, the Great Recession ended four years ago, and yet, it feels like we are still in it.

And it isn’t just us.  Similar patterns can be found in Europe  and many other parts of the world.

Of course many companies will grow, especially those who are innovating  and who inspire their employees and customers.  And that takes us to the heart of the matter……

If we run companies that are not going to grow enough  to return the country to full employment, provide rising earnings and profits, and a balanced economy,  then how shall we lead? The answer is that we must turn our attention to a new currency:   meaning and fulfillment.  There is much to be learned from the nonprofit sector here:   many people work in this field  for absurdly low incomes  because they are inspired, work for great leaders,  feel they are making a difference and that what they do in their lives matters.  The more we concentrate on being  inspiring leaders, and  building  and growing inspiring employees and teams who inspire customers, the more successful our companies and organizations will be  – even in a stagnant economy. And here’s the good news:  suppose the economic assumptions I have outlined above are wrong  – we will still win,  because we  will have both economic and spiritual growth –  the profane and the sacred,  and that is worth striving for!