Jack Hayhow, founder and "Chief Executive Servant" of Opus Communications, was gracious enough the other day to appreciatively cite a statement from here in his blog on leadership and business, PigWisdom.com.
I'm not just returning the favor by mentioning him now because I had already planned to draw attention to his site and his intriguing little book, The Wisdom of the Flying Pig. I like the way Jack sees human relationships as the foundation of leadership and success in business.
He's even willing to talk about community (Gasp!) as an element of effective business leadership. It's one of my favorite concepts but I've been frequently warned to avoid it in business circles. However, note this quote from one of Jack's recent posts:
So, what is a community? One definition I've run across is: a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests and goals. It seems to me that if our associates do, in fact, have a feeling of fellowship with their co-workers as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests and goals - extraordinary achievement is possible, maybe even predictable.
Our fragmented society is in need of leaders who understand that business has an obligation not just to profit margins but also to humanity. What if businesses were willing to sacrifice some of their financial bottom line in order to nurture community internally or stand for social justice externally? What if Fortune 500 top executives were willing to ratchet back their unconscionable compensation packages and plow those resources into health care or social services for their workers? What if employees looked deeply within their company and found a caring, corporate heart?
I think Jack Hayhow understands that and I'm sure many other business leaders do as well. Let's get their faces on the front pages instead of Kenneth Lay and Dennis Kozlowski. America needs to see the human face, not the greedy face, of business.
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