What’s Your Company’s Social Capital Footprint? Part 2

Last week, I talked about how a couple of merchants in a little medieval town created an unanticipated social capital footprint. Their decisions to uphold and propagate standards of honest weights, excellent service, and integrity had far-reaching consequences for themselves and their community and the world.

It is little surprise, then, that out of that unintended stock of positive social capital grew a flourishing trade that yielded the fruit of leaders who made London into the center of banking and commerce for a growing empire.

Conversely, what does a shrinking social capital base look like?

Consider how (more…)

What’s Your Company’s Social Capital Footprint? Part 2 was originally published to American Business Advisors

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Season’s greetings to you this holiday season!

Dear Clients and Friends: Season’s greetings to you this holiday season!            As is our tradition during December, we want to publicly thank our Creator God for His love and faithfulness! The Holiday Season is a very special time for the Jewish and Christian faiths because they share spiritual beliefs rooted in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and they both celebrate the experience of faithfulness of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Following is a brief summary of why each celebrates. HANUKKAH           In Hebrew, the word “Hanukkah” means “dedication.” In 168 B.C.E. the Greeks seized the Jews’ holy temple and dedicated it to the worship of Zeus. Some Jews were afraid of the Greek soldiers and obeyed them, but most decided to take back the temple and rededicate it to the worship of God. After three years of fighting, the Jews defeated the Greek army, despite having fewer men and weapons. After rebuilding the Temple they decided to have a large dedication c
Read more

Facing Your Ultimate Liminal Dimension

Image
Last week, three events reminded me that every one of us will eventually cross one particular terrible and terrifying liminal dimension, or threshold. This week I hope to help you deal with death in a way that brings clarity and greater moment-by-moment living in what you do every day. Last Thursday, my wife Susie and I attended the funeral of the mother of our daughter’s high school classmate. She was even a bit younger than we are. It’s always unnerving to attend a funeral of someone your junior. As we sat in that church, I felt an eerie sense of being disembodied, taking in the emotions of the hundreds in that building, looking at the woman’s widower and two sons, wondering what’s next for them. Upon leaving the service, Susie and I stood in the parking lot awaiting friends. We asked each other,  “What do you think people would say at our funeral?” That night, while we were sleeping, the most horrific tragedy since the 1999 Columbine shootings erupted across town at the midnight
Read more

Liminal Dimensions: Completing “Theory U”

Managing our companies provides the most strenuous leadership challenge: though owners must lead by example, they in fact cannot lead others where they themselves have not gone! Your competitive advantage as a firm is to harness the nascent future within your employees. Go beyond respecting to encouraging, celebrating and liberating your employees to bring their full selves to your firm. (more…) Liminal Dimensions: Completing “Theory U” is available on American Business Advisors in Denver
Read more