Don’t Get Distracted By Shareholders

March 15, 2009 6 Comments

I’ve learned a lot from Jack Welch, especially during my tenure at GE when I first heard him say: “Deal with the world as it is, not how you’d like it to be.” Once again he’s said something that every executive should hear:

On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world. Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy… Your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products.

Welch’s words are consistent with one of my key themes: “Don’t let profits replace purpose.” This misplaced focus on shareholder value is one of the main reasons for my new mini-book: The 6 New Management Imperatives: Leadership Skills For A Radically Changed Business Environment. 

The bottom line: Make shareholders happy by ignoring them

Filed under Executive leadership, Purposeful Leadership Tagged with

About Bruce Temkin, CCXP
I'm an experience (XM) management catalyst; helping organizations improve results by engaging the hearts and minds of their employees, customers, and partners. I enjoy researching and speaking about these topics. I lead the Qualtrics XM Institute, which is the world's best job. We're igniting a global community of XM Professionals who are inspired and empowered to radically improve the human experience. To achieve this goal, my team focuses on thought leadership, training, and community building. My work is driven by a set of fundamental beliefs: 1) Everything starts and ends with human beings, so you need to understand how people think, feel, and behave; 2) XM is a discipline that needs to be woven throughout an organization's entire operating fabric; and 3) Building the XM discipline requires a combination of culture, competency, and technology.

6 Responses to Don’t Get Distracted By Shareholders

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  3. Eric Jacques says:
    March 30, 2009 at 5:09 am

    Hi Bruce,

    I really appreciate your comments and just want to give you a backlink.

    I will be reading your blog regularly as I develop the concept of Customer Excellence.

    Cheers

    Reply

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