The heart of a company is not the assets it owns, the services it provides, or even the products it produces. The true heart of a company is the content of the character of the employees it employs.
I have said a version of this every time I have gotten the opportunity to speak to my fellow employees from a position of leadership. It’s such an important point to remember as AI and other forms of automation try to simulate the human touch. No matter how advanced AI gets, it will never replace the human spirit, that spark that makes us, us.
Sometimes the bottom line overshadows the true nature of this world. This world is all about people and relationships, whether it’s the people you serve, the people you employ, or the ones working next to you in person, or virtually. Companies don’t work without people, real, genuine people. People who care more about the people they serve than they do the bottom line. I’m not saying that those things aren’t important, but none of it works without the people. Every great leader I have worked for or studied knew this to be true and treated their employees accordingly.