Who are you?

A business built in the time of capitalism is, rightly, focused first on making a profit. That sounds naïve. Of course, a business is built to deliver a profit. Less time is spent on and less often asked is the question: How much?

“More” is too easy and too often the answer. It is an answer that draws little criticism and a lot of consensus. Answering the question in any other meaningful way opens the door to a set of more complex concepts of responsibility, ownership, long-term planning and personality.

Even these, though, are not as cut-and-dried as they may seem. Take responsibility. It can be responsibility for something (say, profits so as not to stray too far from what is safe) or for someone (admitting that employees, customers, partners, investors and others are each your concern).

Take ownership. On one level, someone owns the business trying to make that profit. But on another, is it possible for any company to succeed if people at every level do not feel ownership? It is often said that a company’s receptionist, the person who welcomes visitors and answers those who call, creates the first impression. What does the receptionist own – or, feel he owns?

Then there is long-term planning, which, in the modern era of public companies and those aspiring to be, is defined as anything scheduled beyond the end of the current quarter. The public markets are punishing to companies that do not deliver in the short-term. “Buy on the rumor, sell on the news” is an old saw that has cut many companies in two.

But personality? What does “who” you are have to do with how well you do? It turns out quite a lot, really. The negative has already been proved. Try to be something other than the markets expect and the response will be swift and largely negative. Think of the comic actor who undertakes a serious role, think of the airline that rolls up a set of acquisitions into a travel & hospitality holding company, think of a retail bank which begins chasing the higher margins of commercial borrowing, think of…well, the list is near endless.

The penalties are internal as well. Even though a foolish consistency remains the hobgoblin of small minds, a consistent approach, even to change, can go a long way in underscoring reputation, encouraging employee commitment and helping to more effectively decide where money ought to be spent to further everyone’s commercial interests.

In this way, corporate personality – or culture – is more than merely allowed to change and evolve; in fact, culture grows best in a firm that is growing. Culture and profit cannot come at the expense of each other; they are interdependent variables. They cannot – successfully or for long – be pitted against one another. And ignoring the care-and-feeding of either leads quickly to the dissolution of both.

The dynamic is most acute in a professional services firm where the products and services are largely in the vision and insight of the people who work there. Uncouple growth and culture and such firm’s lose the ability to attract, retain or grow those people. Without profit, they can’t be hired; without a consistent culture, they can’t be retained. And when either occurs, they can’t grow their careers or the company.

That’s why the answer to the question of “How much profit?” can’t just be an autonomic “More.” At some point, “More” creates an imbalance that, unchecked, leads to the end of culture and causes people to become, well, unstuck. The task facing managers is how to create the opportunity to grow the bottom line without losing sight of who you are.