NEW METRICS -
What is your organization’s most important asset? CEOs often respond that the organization’s people are its greatest asset. But if this is true, where are people accounted for in the financial statements? Today, people are generally classified as expenses on the income statement and liabilities on the balance sheet – not as an investable asset. Thus, when CEOs seek to increase profit, they cut costs – like people – rather than investing in assets – like people – that can appreciate. What Is Your Organization’s Most Important Asset?
PRESS RELEASE -
Rhode Island is a small state with big challenges - high unemployment, declining income and limited choices…. but a group of Rhode Island business thought leaders and consultants in collaboration with the Rhode Island State Society of CPAs and the Social Enterprise Organization of Rhode Island have decided it’s time for a change.
LEADERSHIP -
2011 has been a rough year for leaders. Popular revolutions toppled dictators in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya; the Occupy movement attacked corporate leaders who led us into recession; Europeans tossed government after government; and Americans watched in horror as their political leaders led the nation to the brink of default. We shook our heads as global summits failed to make any si
LEADERSHIP -
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Like most clichés, this one conveys some truth, as do words attributed to ancient Greek poet Hermesianax: “As within, so without.” Those who have endured inner-work fully enough to enjoy the outward results will attest that self-awareness leads to empowerment, which in turn leads to voice. Leadership, expressed thro
LEADERSHIP -
Whether you are a business leader or a MapQuest user, knowing where you are and where you want to go is important. But if you’re a leader of a sustainable brand, this is only the beginning. Who you are at your core now counts more than ever.
LEADERSHIP -
I did not think about it before sitting down this evening (January 16, 2012), but to write about leadership on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is to feel one’s own limitations.
LEADERSHIP -
When was the last time you saw the CEO of a world-class company wading knee-deep in the specification and design of sustainability metrics? Dr. Richard Stammer of Agri-Mark, Inc. (d.b.a. Cabot Creamery Cooperative) is one such person.
Did I read that right? Eighty-two percent of Americans think being environmentally responsible is “feminine?” Let’s grab a beer and talk about this.
LEADERSHIP -
We use the word leadership easily, as if we really knew what we are talking about. But do we? We often view leaders as the ones who ride in on a white horse to save the day, to slay the dragons, to lead us out of the woods.
A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to grab lunch with our good friend, renowned business guru Bob Bloom, to seek his advice as we looked ahead to the New Year.
LEADERSHIP -
The great transformations in the history of humankind began with a vision -- a powerful vision that inspired and engaged people to collectively transform their reality. We have always had visionary people in our world -- some have used their vision for the good of all -- others for greed, exclusion and destruction.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Most of us who visit these pages are quite familiar with how Walmart used its influence to drive sustainability improvements in its supply chain. But were the gains really about sustainability at all? Strictly speaking, no.Indeed, the most anyone can say about the effects of Walmart’s strategy on its supply chain is that improvements in eco-efficiency, ethical sourcing or what have you may have been made (all good things), but not necessarily in sustainability performance, per se. Costs, too, may have declined and that's always a good thing as well. But to equate decreases in, say, the carbon or water intensity of products with improvements in sustainability performance is to make a serious category error.
LEADERSHIP -
This month two of us - Andrew Winston and Chris Laszlo - begin 2012 with an inquiry into how personal and brand leadership is evolving to serve both thriving businesses and a flourishing world. The question of what leadership really looks like is vital;