Moving away from a Primary Focus on the Shareholder

For as long as many of us can remember increasing shareholder value has been the primary objective for public corporations.  Earnings per share, economic value, return on capital employed are among the key metrics a public organizations use to assess their ultimate value ¹.  Yet, there are growing questions as to whether such singular focus is healthy for organizations and their various stakeholders.  In part one of this entry – I will examine the history behind the rise of shareholder value and challenge its viability as the primary value creator.  In part II, I will talk about some new and more meaningful ways to assess value and examine what has to happen to make this shift.

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The Call for Leadership

In my last two entries I shared some predictions and suggestions for successfully dealing with the current economic crisis.  These suggestions and predictions were based on historical research done by William Strauss and Neil Howe in their Book “The Fourth Turning – An American Prophecy.”   The book written in 1994 predicted that we were moving towards the next great American Crisis and so far the author’s prophecies have been eerily on target.  Whether or not Strauss’s and Howe’s predictions come true or not – we can certainly agree we are in unprecedented times and one of the keys to meeting the challenges of such a time has always been strong leadership.

Why is leadership so critical now?  Because leaders ultimately are the ones who create breakthroughs, challenge old ways of thinking, help others to find the strength to rise to a challenge and ultimately to share in the solutions that ultimately can take us to new heights.  In an earlier entry entitled “Markers for Executive Success” – I outlined three overarching competency arenas for transformational leadership:

• Personal Engagement
• Interpersonal Engagement
• Organizational Engagement

I will leverage these three areas as anchors for exploring the leadership imperative for the challenging times we find ourselves in.

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Preparing for The Fourth Turning

In part one of this entry, I spoke about the historical research done by William Strauss and Neil Howe in their book – The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy. In short, Howe and Strauss examined various generations and how they congregate during specific periods of history.  Based on this the authors indicated that there are four types of generations and highlighted how these generations interact to generate four repeating historic patterns or turnings.

Based on their research Strauss and Howe predicted that during the early 2000s – we would enter a fourth turning or a time of crisis the likes of World War II and The Civil War (again, this was reviewed in detail in Part I of this article).  While many have written about Strauss’s and Howe’s predictions – few have highlighted their suggestions for preparing for the “Fourth Turning.”  Preparing for the Fourth Turning is the focus of this entry.  Part III will focus on how we need to think about leadership during this time.

I wanted to write about this because it offers a well-grounded interpretation of current events.  Yet, the point is not to generate more fear and anxiety.  The point of these entries are to inspire the leadership in all of us that will be necessary.  Regardless of how long the downturn lasts – we face unprecedented challenges that require vision, courage, and determination to see us through.

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A Prophecy

Many experts are saying we could be facing this or worse for some period of time.  On one hand, no one can tell us when we will recover.  On the other hand, most say we will recover and move forward.  The existing crisis has called upon us to use tried and true solutions yet so far these do not seem to be turning the tide.
The goal of this entry is to share a powerful interpretation that sheds light on the current crisis we are facing.  The interpretation of historic events offered here is based on research done on generational constellations.  It is an interpretation of events that is gaining a lot of credibility based on the unfolding of recent events.  I plan another article to follow shortly here after that focuses on how to lead through this and what you can do to prepare.  I also want to say  – this is not about doom and gloom.  Ultimately, any crisis can lead to a great reawakening.  Yet, to ensure we successfully navigate the crisis will take stellar leadership, common focus and an abundance of determination.

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