3 Key Organizational Shifts to Bolster Profits, People, and the Planet

By Maria Brinck

Businesses can thrive globally by integrating environmental, social, and governance principles into long-term strategy, demonstrating that responsibility and profitability go hand in hand. 

In business, two things have traditionally mattered above all else: growth and profit. Everything else is often treated as window dressing. If a new CEO sought to implement voluntary safety measures to protect humanity—measures that would significantly reduce quarterly profits—she likely wouldn’t remain CEO for long. This reality helps explain why 68 percent of species on Earth have gone extinct in the last five decades, why each summer brings record-breaking heat waves, and why society accelerates toward environmental and technological cliffs as companies compete to develop AI and other high-risk innovations, consequences be damned.

This raises a critical question: is capitalism itself the problem?

The answer is both yes and no. Free market capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty, generated unprecedented innovation, and connected nations economically and culturally. This interdependence can create peace, as seen in the unlikely prospect of a war between China and the United States, whose economies are deeply intertwined. Businesses have enormous potential to advance humanity and global unity, especially those that operate across multiple countries, cultures, ethnic groups, and religions.

However, the detrimental effects often attributed to capitalism are not inevitable. They result from short-sighted greed and suboptimal leadership choices rather than any structural requirement of the system. The following are key shifts organizations must make in order to achieve profits without sacrificing the wellbeing of people or the planet.

Adopt holistic decision-making frameworks—ones that value employees, communities, and the environment as much as profits. Contrary to popular belief, there is no legal obligation for companies to prioritize shareholder profits above all else. Emerging initiatives, such as the “Universal Declaration for the Rights of Mother Earth,” challenge this notion by advocating for the recognition of ecocide as a crime prosecutable by the International Criminal Court, alongside genocide and war crimes. These movements underscore that businesses can integrate a broader perspective into decision-making, valuing social, environmental, and economic outcomes equally, not only for ethical reasons but because they align with long-term business viability.

Value stakeholders, not just shareholders. As a leadership consultant, I emphasize that the ruthless “make money while we can” mentality is not just unethical—it is outdated. Modern, effective leaders recognize the importance of valuing stakeholders rather than focusing solely on shareholders. While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they are fundamentally different. A shareholder owns stock and seeks the highest financial return on investment. Rising stock prices create profit opportunities, especially in today’s era of algorithmic trading, where many shares are held for mere fractions of a second. Investors, including pension funds, typically care less about individual companies than the overall performance of their portfolios.

By contrast, a stakeholder is anyone who can impact or be impacted by a company. Stakeholders include employees, suppliers, distributors, customers, regulators, and even external partners. Modern European and global leaders recognize that a company’s operational footprint—on air, water, land, wildlife, and future generations—must be considered alongside financial performance. Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard captured this philosophy when he famously said, “Earth is now our only shareholder.”

Embrace annual reporting instead of quarterly reporting. Prioritizing shareholder interests over those of stakeholders harms both business and society. CEOs fixated on short-term gains to satisfy shareholders may neglect the long-term health of the company and its wider impact on society. This dynamic is reinforced in the United States, where publicly held companies must report quarterly to Wall Street. Research published in The Accounting Review demonstrated that shorter reporting intervals “engender managerial myopia,” reducing long-term investments, operating efficiency, and sales growth.

Companies reporting annually, as opposed to quarterly, achieved 10 percent greater annual sales as a percentage of assets, 3.5 percent higher annual sales growth, and 1.5 percent higher return on assets. Frequent reporting pressures executives to prioritize short-term results, often at the expense of sustainable long-term strategies. By contrast, longer reporting cycles—more common in the European Union—encourage leaders to make decisions that improve long-term viability, maximize profits sustainably, and allow executives to “do the right thing.”

Paul Polman’s tenure as CEO of Unilever from 2009 to 2019 exemplifies this approach. Together with Andrew Winston, he co-authored Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take. Polman shifted Unilever from quarterly to annual reporting while embedding environmental and social responsibility into the Unilever Sustainable Living Program. Under his leadership, Unilever outperformed rivals, achieving returns more than double the FTSE index.

Alignment of profit and ethics is possible

The business case for responsible leadership is clear. Acting responsibly toward people and the planet reduces costs, mitigates climate risks, and enhances insurability and investment appeal. Long-term strategies also stabilize companies, nurture a culture of care, and cultivate employee engagement and purpose—critical factors for attracting and retaining talent, the most valuable asset in business.

European regulators and investors increasingly recognize that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are not optional but central to sustainable growth. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) exemplifies this shift, requiring companies to report their impact on people and the planet with the same rigor as their financial results. This aligns with the global trend of redefining corporate purpose beyond mere shareholder profit.

Modern leadership is therefore not about sacrificing profit for ethics; it is about aligning the two. By prioritizing stakeholders, extending financial reporting horizons, and integrating environmental and social responsibility into strategy, companies can thrive while contributing to a sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future. The leadership we need is bold, forward-thinking, and guided by the principle that long-term success requires doing the right thing for people, the planet, and profit alike.

About the Author

Maria Brinck is a top leadership training expert and Gallup Strengths Certified executive coach. She is the founder of Zynergy International and author of The Leadership We Need: A New Mindset for a Brighter Future. Maria helps leaders unlock hidden strengths, build thriving teams, and achieve sustainable success.