Leadership

Over the years, we have watched many companies grow, and we have watched many fall apart. The corporate culture often lacks authenticity, accountability, diversity, ethics, and integrity. Of course, you will be given pamphlets with beautiful images and sugary words to fatten you up, but the reality behind closed doors tells a different story. Many will emphasize that Human Resources (HR) is the center of an organization and is there to look out for the employees' best interests. Remember that HR is there to protect the business, so you have to do your best to protect your own interests as an individual and a business professional.

The carnivorous corporate folks care so much about headcount and short-term profit that they will waste money and time forcing a fish to climb a tree to make their investors happy. In the process, they alienate skillful workers. They do not align the right people, with the right skill sets, in the right positions to serve the organization. This trend is not going anywhere soon, so those who care about those same values must learn to deal with corporate culture creatively.

We need to restructure the corporate culture so that you, as an individual with power, can become the Change Agent who lifts up the people who work with you and still makes a profit. You can provide a practical solution to the problem most companies only talk about, by refusing to waste valuable resources and by being willing to act humanely. Nothing is more important than human capital. Even if you become dependent on automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), you will still need skilled people.

If you add up the money corporations spend on leadership and business consultants who mostly waste time, you would be horrified. It is very similar to the trillions spent on geopolitical conflicts and space missions while people living in poverty lack fundamental human rights and the resources to live humanely. It is essential to allocate resources to support everyone, because not doing the right thing today will backfire in the long run.

Businesses can spend money directly on employees to lift them up personally and professionally, and still have plenty left over for whatever else they want to waste it on. Companies need to invest in employees and drop the bureaucracy, the politics, and the gossip. Provide a living wage, education, training, and the resources each person needs to do the job well, so the organization can operate cost-effectively and efficiently.

Realistically, HR is there to protect the business, and that is okay. But improving people's lives will help the organization tremendously. You get more productivity, fewer lawsuits, less wasteful spending on hiring and firing, and far less of the legal drama that HR has to manage. Let's drop the theatrics and invest in people. A CEO is only as good as their janitor, and if the two of them can't sit at the same table to eat lunch, then there is a problem. When you depart this world, your money, fame, and title will not go with you, so do what is humane and ethically practical, and do it with integrity.