Consider one successful Orange County startup, where, until recently, the CEO's office was the first stop for every new applicant. They re doing so by writing job descriptions that explicitly include responsibility for maintaining corporate culture. Focus on quarterly numbers to the exclusion of all else. In real life, of course, people and performance are tightly linked, not separate entities. The fact is, a concern with human capital invariably translates to a boost in the organization's bottom line.
Human capital has intrinsic value, yet strikingly few CEOs say so publicly.
Latch on to a hot trend. Companies are highly malleable things. They can quickly point themselves in new and interesting directions, in technology, in products and in processes. Tempting as it may be to clean house every time you're smitten with a new strategy, you owe it to your people to consider them at least as malleable, as re-programmable, as your business goals. Go it alone.