Thanks for including a review of my book, “Built to Serve,” in [SN, Dec. 3, Page 31]. Apparently, my criticism of organizations that employ a profit-driven business model led [SN's reviewer] to think I'm asking readers to “write off capitalism as fatally flawed.” On the contrary, I'm a strong advocate of capitalism and the tenets of free enterprise. I view capitalism as a social system. I view a profit-driven business model as one that takes nothing else into consideration except the pursuit of profit. In my book, I advocate a people-driven business model that is profitable. My proposition to readers is that to achieve superior results (performance relative to potential, not just to historical benchmarks), leaders need to engage their people in a higher purpose of service to others. Only then, in my opinion, can capitalism truly succeed in the way that capitalism is capable of succeeding.
Dan J. Sanders
chief executive officer
United Supermarkets
Lubbock, Texas
