HARD WORK, TRUST, INGENUITY, LOYALTY & INCLUSION
American business has come a long way to achieve global leadership and respect. But serious chinks in our armor have developed despite our surging economy and employment rate. America’s middle class is evaporating, and an oligarchy is pulling the strings of government and business alike … making the expression “Power to the people” just that – an expression.
This Fourth of July, Corporate America should redirect the underlying calculus of our nation’s economic trajectory by once again driving prosperity where it belongs – to its workforce, the middle class. It is from the ranks of the middle class that our global leadership reputation was earned in the first place.
If Calvin Coolidge was correct in 1925 when he said during a then booming economy: “The business of America is business,” we need to continue doing it right. Otherwise we will spiral out of our reliable current ascent by having driven the people who power it into extinction – the middle class. In fact, the “American Dream” is being part of the middle class for most citizens. It provides the reason to work hard and pour ingenuity, loyalty and passion into your job ... and to payoff your mortgage, pay for your kids' college tuition, and then retire happily. Despite our currently strong economy, that American Dream is rapidly eroding, and with it so will America's business leadership.
So today, on Independence Day, you who comprise the Boards of Directors, the C-suites and the Executive Committees of our major corporations … reflect on your mission and who is really driving the outcomes of your business goals. Are they capturing a commensurate benefit? Or are you squeezing them out of their lifestyles and dreams, thereby disempowering the very engine of growth you rely upon for progress?
Help bring back the middle class at your corporation, and in your dealings with other companies. It’s straightforward thinking and action once you make it your priority.
Meanwhile, on this Independence Day, celebrate your new commitment in true middle class fashion. Enjoy the fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, and family reunions that the middle class has made synonymous with the Fourth of July. They also made growth and world leadership synonymous with American business.