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.
Any commander who fails to exceed his authority is not of much use to his subordinates.
I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.
The worst mistake a leader can make is to mentor no one, choose no successor and leave no legacy.
People like leaders who look like they are dominant, optimistic, friendly to their friends, and quick on the trigger when it comes to enemies. They like boldness and despise the appearance of timidity and protracted doubt.
Trust is the foundation of real teamwork. And so the first dysfunction is a failure on the part of team members to understand and open up to one another. And if that sounds touchy-feely, let me explain, because there is nothing soft about it. It is an absolutely critical part of building a team. In fact, itβs probably the most critical.
Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.