Four types of bosses in danger of extinction

It is their fault to continue paying salaries that are around 15 dollars, for example. Even when the profit margin does allow for salary increases?

In days when Uber takes even food to a home, it also changes the way people work and shop. That creates new businesses for those who innovate and destroys entrepreneurs who thought nothing would change.

Larry Fink proposes this week a self-criticism in defense of capitalism. In his annual letter to company directors, the president of the world's largest investment company, BlackRock, implicitly reviews which business practices have already died or will die soon, as a result of decisions by his leader.

Those who don't talk to their people. Employees need to know what their boss's mission is. Why does he do what he does? Also, understand through the eyes of the business owner. What affects the environment? Why and how does he try to dodge the blows?

“Political activists, or the media, may politicize things your company does. They may hijack your brand to advance their own agendas. In this environment, facts themselves are frequently in dispute, but businesses have an opportunity to lead. Employees are increasingly looking to their employer as the most trusted, competent, and ethical source of information – more so than government, the media, and NGOs,” says Fink.

Those who believe that everything remains the same. In this part of his letter, Fink is emphatic:

“While turnover and rising pay are not a feature of every region or sector, employees across the globe are looking for more from their employer – including more flexibility and more meaningful work. As companies rebuild themselves coming out of the pandemic, CEOs face a profoundly different paradigm than we are used to. Companies expected workers to come to the office five days a week. Mental health was rarely discussed in the workplace. And wages for those on low and middle incomes barely grew. That world is gone”.

Those who are not humble. Many people who used to work in the office may now be sitting at the dining room table listening to the noise made by one of their children and tending the stove while the food is ready. The pandemic highlighted intimate relationships and issues such as social equality, child care and mental health.

“These issues are now in the spotlight for CEOs, who must reflect on how to use their voice and connect with the social issues important to their employees. Those who show humility and stand firm in their purpose are more likely to develop bonds that last throughout someone's career."

Those who ignore the environment. Here, the ESG, which brings together the current concern of people in the world: The environment, society and the governance of each company. The director of Blackrock states that two years ago he wrote that climate risk is investment risk and in that period, sustainable investments reached 4 trillion dollars.

“This is just the beginning – the tectonic shift towards sustainable investing is still accelerating”, warns Larry Fink. “Every company and every industry will be transformed by the transition to a net zero world. The question is, will you lead, or will you be led?”.

Did this staunch advocate of equity capital growth have an epiphany?

Rather, he joins a list of directors and rulers who perceive that now, yes, the wound reaches the bone. This is how he explains it:

"It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not 'woke'. It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper. This is the power of capitalism.

In today’s globally interconnected world, a company must create value for and be valued by its full range of stakeholders in order to deliver long-term value for its "shareholders”, says one of the most capitalist men in the world.