Triple bottom line
I am in the ethics section of my classes right now and it is fascinating. The things I should have known
but never thought about amaze me. For one, there are so many leadership styles and ways to lead people. From a top-down approach to a bottom-up approach. From giving orders to empowering people. From dictating to serving. As we always say at LifeLine, "what you see depends mainly on what you look for." Most of us will go with our default leadership style, never even aware that there might be other
ways. So, this learning has been great for me.
I grew up in an era in Germany, where perfection was expected and you only got talked to when you did
something wrong. There was seldom encouragement and praise, seldom that people would acknowledge your work. But those times have changed. I don't know any more about Germany, but here in the US all that has changed and people want to be part of making decisions. They want to (and should) use their gifts and talents and not just be a peg in a hole. People also expect to be encouraged in their personal growth. All good things, as long as they don't go over the top. I hear from more employers how difficult it is to get people who want to work and show up, and not be on their phones, but really serve their customers. We live in a different world.
We also live in a different world where we can no longer just see our personal profit but have to honestly look at the triple bottom line: people, profit, planet. We can no longer run our businesses in isolation and self-interest. We need to look at the people we work with, how do we treat them, how do
we empower them, how do we acknowledge their human rights? We need to look at the profit, who is the recipient of the wealth, does it trickle down the staff or is it only stockholder driven? How is the money earned reinvested? And we need to look at the planet. Are our products and services doing the least harm possible, are we thinking through the impact we have on the planet and what we leave for
the next generation? No matter where we stand politically, religiously, or ethically, we need to think through things and plan accordingly.
Merced is an amazing place to live. We are close to the mountains and close to the ocean. We have access to the best fresh fruits and vegetables in the country. We have nature all around us, and we have
people who care to make Merced a great place. If we look at the triple bottom line, we can thrive caring
for our people and our planet.