Page 219 - Appreciative Leadership

192 Appreciative Leadership

In a similar vein, Google—known best for its search engine

software—is widely recognized for its employee perks and benefi ts.

In addition, the company makes high-profile environmental eff orts,
including adopting a goal to be a carbon-neutral company. Its phil-
anthropic arm, Google.org, was created to find ways to fi ght climate

change, poverty, and emerging diseases.
What do all of these organizations and communities have in com-

mon? They are on the vanguard of valuing and accounting for the

“triple bottom line—people, profit, and planet”: 12
In practical terms, triple bottom line accounting means
expanding the traditional reporting framework to take into
account ecological and social performance in addition to
fi nancial performance. The concept of the Triple Bottom Line
demands that a company’s responsibility be to stakeholders
rather than shareholders. In this case, “stakeholders” refers
to anyone who is infl uenced, either directly or indirectly,
by the actions of the fi rm. According to the stakeholder
theory, the business entity should be used as a vehicle for
coordinating stakeholder interests, instead of maximizing
shareholder (owner) profi t. 13

By measuring performance according to this triple bottom line,
organizations and communities institutionalize the concept of integ-

rity: of creating a world that works for all. This is an ancient concept,
poignantly articulated in the Great Law, or constitution, of the Iroquois
Nation: “Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people, and have
always in view not only the present but also the coming generations,
even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground—the
unborn of the future Nation.” 14
Operating from a stance of integrity—of consistent and conscious
concern for the whole—appreciative leaders operate from a place of
discernment. They take the long view, and they strive to make choices

for the good of the whole, both now and in the future.