We the people of the private sector deserve to derive something from every State of the Union address. Between our corporate and income taxes, we pay our President a pretty penny so a 72 minute speech cannot just serve entertainment value through watching Vice President Joe Biden do his facial expression extreme routine from the gloomy-frown-and-down to that way-too-toothy-grin, or Speaker of the House John Boehner try to fight back tears, or every other public servant in attendance getting their exercise for the year with 80 reps of stand-up-sit-down-clap-clap-clap.
Putting the details of his agenda aside, President Obama’s speech featured three themes that weren’t so much a calling to Congress as they were a charge to capitalists:
President Calvin Coolidge said long ago that “the business of America is business.” Last night’s State of the Union address definitely drove this point home to the home of the brave. Whether you’re a tea party throwing Republican or a Dodd-Frank cheering Democrat, all citizens must realize that the fate of our free market economy rests not in the seats of the Capitol but in the chairs of our boards and, equally important, in the people on our teams.
We business CEO’s, management, and front-line staff members owe it to ourselves and our country to THINK BIGGER and broaden our mission, our values, and our stories beyond the walls of our office and out to the streets of our community. After all, your business is that important of an innovator.
We owe it to ourselves and our country to TAKE THE CHALLENGE and confront our fiscal fears with mindset driven confidence in our capabilities to consistently contribute value to economy. After all, your business is that likely to succeed.
And we owe it to ourselves and our country to WIN THE FUTURE and achieve our goals of growth and prosperity because doing so results in other companies growing and prospering which contagiously causes the United States to grow and prosper on the whole. After all, your business is that powerful of a leader.
Thank you and God bless America.
Kristen Zatina is a writing specialist at entreQuest who scours worldwide business news for corporate inspiration.
