We had a singularly awful presenter come in this morning to profess on the topic of "Sustainable Leadership". Allegedly born in Germany but with an air of extreme uppercrust British, he had a tendency to speak while slowly polishing his glasses and... pausing... dramatically... on delivering each pearl of wisdom. Twenty whole minutes spent slowly asking us to consider why we are are here. "Truly."
That wasn't even my issue with the class, though. My issue is just how much I simply disagree with the topic. Or rather, I don't disagree with it, I just think it rarely shoud be a firm's priority focus. Okay, yes, we need to save the world. I won't argue this. Pollution needs to be stopped, harsh fines put on those who choose otherwise, and companies large and small need to contribute to their communities. Our lifestyle needs to become more sustainable, and we need better education worldwide.
Let's just accept those as givens.
I just found this pic calming.
But now let's consider all the more universal issues facing most of today's companies:
- Finding the most efficient means of structuring your organization and generating profit
- Making sure employees are encouraged and empowered and able to profit from their own innovative ideas
- Building a corporate culture that attracts the best customers and the best workers
- Determine the best means of motivating employees
- Reduce employee churn
- Grow a small business into a mid-sized business without losing what made your smaller company special
Given the relevance of each of these, I don't see why our MBA would start with leadership in the context of environmentalism and social responsibility. Let's go to those later, sure, but first let's make all our ducks are in a row internally. Family first. Community second.
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