I realized something a few days ago that I hadn’t thought of previously, do people buy something because a corporation is selling it or because of the people running the place?
What is a Corporation
A corporation is a legal entity that, as one documentary I saw a while back put it, was equivalent to a psychopath hell-bent on making profits at any cost. The reason people set-up a corporation is normally two fold, the first is legal protection in case of lawsuits which isn’t possible under a sole proprietorship and the second, to make money. If you don’t want to make money, then a non-profit designation is for you but if you have very long term objectives of one day drinking a martini on your personal comet, well, a corporation is needed.
Who runs the corporation?
Left to it’s own devices, a corporation will by definition become ruthless in the pursuit of wealth, leaving many on the wayside. The job of the CEO, or more apt, the face of the corporation, is to reign in the profit beasts. Now, if your corporation is run by an accountant, there probably won’t be much difference but if it’s run by the founder, usually things are much more humanized then otherwise possible. Take for instance General Electric. Who runs that place? I haven’t a clue, it’s just some huge corporation that builds everything from sink plugs to jet engines. Same goes with Exxon, IBM, Johnson and Johnson and the list goes on. Now, if I say Apple, you will probably instantly say “Steve Jobs”, how about Microsoft? Bill Gates, Virgin? Richard Branson, Disney? Walt Disney in his cryogenic tomb. WHY IS THIS?
Brand of the Founder
I believe that there is something special that happens when a corporation is run from scratch by the founder throughout their lifespan. For instance, Ford has been run by distant relatives and stock holders for so long that it has lost the “synonymousity” that it once had with Henry Ford. Sames goes with the now Eatons, a huge retail empire in Canada that once dominated but has since been sold too many times to count. In these cases, the kids where unable to maintain the spirit or vision that their father had for the corporation. We actually saw this happen with Apple for a brief period of time when Steve Jobs was essentially kicked out, what happened? Apple went to the brink of extinction until he triumphantly returned. There is something special that only the founder of a corporation, who has managed it’s growth like a well pruned Bonsai Tree that simply cannot be taught or passed on very well. Now for another question, do you buy an Apple computer because of Steve Jobs or because of Apple?
Synonymous Founder
Apple is a good example of hype generated by it’s founders, I doubt people run to the stores and wait for days to get their hands on the latest Vista operating system, but they will for the iPhone! Why? Sames goes with Richard Branson who is basically a demi-god in the UK, are people buying something from his 350+ companies because of HIM or because of Virgin? In these cases, the company has become the persona of it’s founder and vice versa. This may cause some big problems in the future because, although a Corporation has an indefinite lifespan, humans do not. Bill Gates for some reason never was able to become a body double of his corporation and Steve Ballmer even less so.
Corporation vs Human
Humans have emotion, passion and desires, corporations have simply the bottom line. They seem like such different things but somehow, a few select executives and CEOs have managed to turn the two into one. Another great example is Micheal Dell, he built Dell Computers into a vast empire and once he left to become a “sabbatical chairman”, his company floundered. He had to return, much like Steve Jobs decades earlier, to pick back up the pieces and begin pruning his corporation once again. I find it
What does this all mean?
Anybody can run a corporation, but it takes a very magic touch indeed to be able to actually BECOME the corporation, where the company and the person behind it (usually the founder) are one. If you are able to achieve this goal, then you really have reached a peak that few have ever climbed.
The Bottom Line
There is a human behind every corporation, but not necessarily a corporation behind every human.
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