Leadership

4 Ways CEOs Can Conquer Short-Termism

Tell a story that’s bigger than quarterly earnings.

by

and

Russell Eisenstat

by

and

Russell Eisenstat

February 24, 2017

In a recent survey, 70% of respondents said that CEOs focus too much on short-term financial results, and nearly 60% said that they don’t focus enough on positive long-term impact. These findings mirror the growing chorus of voices in business and academia that point to short-termism as being a major threat to business.

New!

HBR Learning

Leading People Course

Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Leading People. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.

What you need to know about being in charge.

Start Course

Learn More & See All Courses

Kate Isaacs is a lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and an executive fellow at the nonprofit Higher Ambition Leadership Alliance. She does research and strategy advising with nimble, innovative companies and stakeholder partnerships that enable people and places to thrive.
David Langstaff is an Executive Fellow at the Center for Higher Ambition. His work centers on corporate purpose and short-term versus long-term value creation. Mr. Langstaff is a business and community leader with extensive experience as Chief Executive Officer and Director of advanced technology and professional services companies. He is a seminar moderator on values-based leadership with The Aspen Institute, and is a senior moderator of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He also chairs the Advisory Board of the Aspen Institute Business and Society policy program and is on the boards of several non-profit organizations in the arts, education and environment.
Russell Eisenstat is Executive Director of the Center for Higher Ambition Leadership and a former member of the Harvard Business School faculty. Russ has written extensively for Harvard Business Review and other publications and is co-author with Michael Beer, Nathaniel Foote, Tobias Fredberg, and Flemming Norrgren of Higher Ambition: How Great Leaders Create Economic and Social Value. For more information, visit www.higherambition.org.

New!

HBR Learning

Leading People Course

Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Leading People. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.

What you need to know about being in charge.

Start Course

Learn More & See All Courses

4 Ways CEOs Can Conquer Short-Termism

Partner Center

Explore HBR

HBR Store

About HBR

Manage My Account

Follow HBR