Aron Cramer: The companies that are succeeding today and the only companies that will succeed in the decades to come are those who are relentless learners.  And that starts at the top. CEOs need to listen to a diverse range of voices to understand the kinds of changes that are happening and to understand what society’s needs are.  Only focusing on what Wall Street says and what Wall Street thinks is important for the next quarter won’t get it done because if society isn’t interested in the products and services that a company is making, and if the public doesn’t accept the way companies interact with consumers, with communities, and so on, no business can succeed.

CEOs have to send a message to all of their employees no matter where they are in the world that they have to understand not only traditional commercial measures of success but also understand what society is looking for from their enterprise.  And when a CEO can have all his or her people understand those things then you’ve got a company that is aligned in a way that is going to make them maximally successful. 

So this is a more kaleidoscopic measure of business success, and the CEOs who understand that and who listen to all the voices who can shape their company’s ability to compete, those are the CEOs who are going to be most successful. 

Directed / Produced by
Jonathan Fowler & Elizabeth Rodd