Not all organizations need to be transformed, but sometimes there is no other alternative. If the company does not transform, it will either stagnate or die. NYU Langone Medical Center was in such a situation 12 years ago. Today, they are thriving.  Why?  

Let me provide a high level three point summary of an article I co-authored and sent out last week published in Strategy and Business. For many of you, a short summary is exactly what you are looking for.  

In my last leadership post I published the Davos Compact which CEOs were asked to sign at their most recent conference in January.  I asked for your feedback on the Compact: Would you sign it?  Is it complete enough?  Is it clear?  What don’t you like?  

As a refresher, the underlying premise of the Compact is that both business and society are best served if they have aligned, long-term interests that serve the long-term goals of a community.  Short-term financial gain should not distract a CEO or board from the long-term economic prosperity and social welfare business can bring to their communities and the world at large. 

Simple enough?  Yes, but extremely complicated to execute.  If you’ve been a CEO you know how tough it is to think simultaneously about making money and making a better world.  The pressures are enormous to optimize the economic engine and quarterly financial reports.  Russ Eisenstat, the Executive Director of The Center for Higher Ambition Leadership, calls it “the simultaneous solve.”  It requires a grounded way of thinking, anchored in a moral framework.

The World Economic Forum in Davos just completed their winter conference.  One hundred leading businesses signed a compact as a framework for the role of their business in society.  The Forum’s International Business Council will now work on a way to measure long term progress.

I’m greatly encouraged about the positive vision these companies are embracing for the future.  CEOs are investing in meaningful ways to not have government be the answer to some of our greatest challenges.  Instead, business must take the lead in partnership with many stakeholders, including government. I believe it’s the only way we can adapt to the dramatic changes ahead.