I was listening to Hamdi Ulukaya’s TED talk on his coined phrase, the anti-CEO playbook. So many times, we’re told that a company’s profit comes from the income it makes over the costs. But there is so much more at play. I know a huge company that my friend works for in Berlin that has been taken over by an investment company whose sole goal is to make financial profits. Needless to say, they haven’t invested a cent and are simply draining its assets for profit.
What this invariably means is that the people with money, make more, even at the expense of society. A simple financial profit-based focus takes the onus of responsibility away from a CEO in so many cases.
To a small extent, I had a similar decision a year or two ago. My physical gallery was going through a hard time and the only money it made was going into paying for costs. Selling the business seemed like an easy out for me as I was semi retiring anyway. But then I thought about the people who had supported me in my growth.
Small business are the backbone of society and closing one simply because it was convenient, was very short-sighted. The staff, village and local area would be hit by the fallout which, in a fragile society, has a huge detrimental effect.
We need to change the playbook of profits above community. We have to be braver as employers and think about the bigger picture. And as investors, we have to be careful about just what we invest in. Financial gain itself as a goal has to be readdressed if we’re to grow as a society and a business. As Hamdi Ulukaya says, people are our true wealth: they should be the main focus of our corporate decisions, not simply the bottom line.