It Really Does Take Two To Tango

Ah! The intricate dance between membership and funding, and how one is dependent on the other.

Great organizations think about building enduring institutions. They invest in the future while being aware of the need to build people & society.

The value that a company creates should be measured not just in terms of short-term profits but in terms of how it sustains the conditions that allow it to flourish over time. This delivers more than just financial returns; it builds enduring institutions.

Rather than viewing organizational processes as ways of extracting more monetary value, great companies create frameworks that use societal & human values as decision-making criteria. They believe that organizations have a purpose & meet stakeholders needs: by producing goods & services that improve the lives of users; by providing jobs & enhancing quality of life; by ensuring financial viability, which provides resources for improvements, innovations, & returns to investors.

All groups require capital to carry out business activities and sustain themselves, but at great companies', profit ensures longevity of returns.

If companies are to serve a purpose, leadership must expand their investments to include empowerment, emotional engagement, values-based leadership, & related societal contributions.

Athletic training is trying to grow in our breadth of settings, globalization increases the speed of change; more competitors from more places produce surprises & shocks. Competition places a high premium on innovation which depends on human imagination, motivation, & collaboration.

A Common Purpose

Great organizations identify something larger than transactions to provide purpose & meaning. A coherent identity deters from uncertainty.

A Long-Term Focus

Thinking as a social institution generates a long-term perspective that can justify any short-term financial sacrifices required to achieve the groups purpose & to endure over time.

Emotional Engagement

Institutional values can evoke positive emotions, stimulate motivation, & propel self-regulation or peer regulation.

Partnering with the Public

Crossing borders and sectors to tap new business opportunities must be accompanied by concern for public issues beyond the boundaries of the firm, requiring the formation of public-private partnerships consider societal & group interests.

Innovation

Articulating a purpose broader than making money can guide strategies and actions, open new sources for innovation, & help people express organizational & personal values in their everyday work.

Self-Organization

By trusting people & can rely on relationships, not just rules and structures, they are more likely to treat members as self-­determining professionals who coordinate and integrate activities by self-organizing & generating new ideas.

How Great Companies Think Differently (hbr.org)

Shelby 7/2024