There is a line in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol that has stayed with me for years.
Jacob Marley, condemned to wander in chains after a life devoted entirely to business, tells Ebenezer Scrooge:
“Mankind was my business.”
He goes on to explain that his business should have been the common welfare, charity, mercy, patience and benevolence.
It is one of the most powerful observations about business and leadership ever written.
Because Marley eventually understands something that Scrooge has forgotten.
Business is not the purpose.
People are.
What Are We Really Building?
Business naturally focuses attention on numbers.
Revenue.
Profit.
Growth.
Market share.
Productivity.
Efficiency.
Those things matter.
Organizations cannot survive without financial discipline. Businesses need to be profitable. Leaders have a responsibility to shareholders, employees, customers and other stakeholders.
But numbers are a means of measuring an organization.
They are not the reason the organization exists.
Behind every number are people.
Employees who depend upon their jobs.
Customers who depend upon the products and services we provide.
Suppliers who depend upon our business.
Communities that depend upon organizations for employment and investment.
Owners who have entrusted their capital to the enterprise.
Leadership requires us to see the people behind the numbers.
The Responsibility of Leadership
Over the course of my career, I have had responsibility for people, organizations, financial resources and significant operating decisions.
That responsibility has always involved more than achieving a financial result.
Every decision affects someone.
Hiring decisions affect families.
Capital decisions affect employees and customers.
Operational decisions affect service.
Cost decisions affect people.
Strategic decisions can determine whether an organization grows, contracts or survives.
That does not mean leaders should avoid difficult decisions.
Quite the opposite.
Leadership sometimes requires making decisions that are unpopular or difficult.
But there is an important distinction between making a difficult decision responsibly and treating people as simply another line on a spreadsheet.
Good leadership understands the difference.
People Are Not an Expense
Organizations naturally account for people as a cost.
That is necessary for financial management.
But a good leader understands that people are also an investment.
Knowledge is an asset.
Experience is an asset.
Trust is an asset.
Reputation is an asset.
Relationships are assets.
Culture is an asset.
An organization can purchase technology.
It can acquire buildings.
It can invest in equipment.
But none of those things can replace committed people who understand the organization and care about its success.
That is why leadership is ultimately a human responsibility.
Business and the Community
Businesses do not operate in isolation.
They exist within communities.
For many years, I have believed that successful businesses have a responsibility to contribute to the communities in which they operate.
That contribution can take many forms.
Employment.
Investment.
Volunteerism.
Mentorship.
Charitable support.
Community leadership.
Professional service.
Sometimes it is simply doing business honestly and treating people fairly.
Not every contribution needs to appear on a balance sheet.
Some of the most important contributions never will.
What Does Success Mean?
There is nothing wrong with ambition.
I have always believed in setting goals, pursuing opportunities and building successful organizations.
Success matters.
But I have also come to believe that success needs a broader definition.
How many people did you help?
How many careers did you develop?
What kind of organization did you build?
What relationships did you leave stronger?
What did you contribute to the community?
What did people say about working with you?
What did you leave behind?
Those questions may not appear in an annual financial statement.
They should still matter to a leader.
The Lesson of Marley
Marley's tragedy was not that he was successful.
It was that he eventually realized he had measured success by the wrong standard.
He had spent his life focused on business while neglecting the people who gave that business meaning.
His chains represented everything he had valued while he was alive.
Money.
Commerce.
Possessions.
Transactions.
And when he died, he discovered that none of them could accompany him.
His regret was not that he had worked hard.
It was that he had failed to understand what his work was ultimately for.
“Mankind was my business.”
That is a powerful statement for anyone in business.
Leadership Has a Longer Horizon
A leader's influence extends beyond the immediate financial result.
The decisions we make affect people long after the decision itself has been forgotten.
A manager who gives someone an opportunity may change that person's career.
A business owner who develops an employee may influence an entire family.
A leader who creates a culture of accountability and respect can influence an organization for decades.
Those outcomes are difficult to measure.
They are not insignificant.
In many cases, they are the most important outcomes of all.
The Business of People
I have spent much of my career thinking about operations, strategy, governance, financial performance and organizational effectiveness.
All of those things matter.
But none of them exist independently of people.
Organizations are built by people.
Organizations are led by people.
Organizations serve people.
And organizations are ultimately judged by the value they create for people.
That is why Marley's statement remains relevant.
Mankind was my business.
Perhaps the modern version would be even simpler.
Our business is people.
The numbers tell us how we are performing.
The balance sheet tells us what we own.
The income statement tells us what we earned.
But the people we develop, the relationships we build and the communities we strengthen tell us what our leadership was actually worth.
That is a measure worth remembering.
Especially when business is going well.
And perhaps even more when it is not.