Page 28 - How to Drive the Bottom Line with People

Built to Serve

prolong our existence on this planet. Most, if not all,
of the choices we make as human beings should be

made with a desire to live long, active lives followed
by exceedingly short deaths.
Likewise, sustainable organizations also focus on

the longer view. They operate in a manner aimed at
maximizing their time on the planet and giving them
long, active lives. Decision making in this context is
healthy, characterized as nurturing and supportive.
Regrettably, however, a large percentage of organiza-

tions today are created not to serve, but to sell. They
pursue a short-term agenda, resulting in decision mak-
4
= ing that is myopic, exploitative, and destructive. Typ-

ically, such organizations place a low priority on
people and seek to satisfy only a limited number of
stakeholders.
Sustainability, then, is really a process of balancing
the short-term needs of an organization’s people with

the long-term needs of the organization’s purpose. The
process requires committed leadership, but for those
leaders who are willing to accept the challenge, the

result is a competitive edge that ensures prolonged
success for their organizations.
Such is the case with Southwest Airlines. In an
industry plagued by economic turmoil, no other air-