“For companies to truly make good on their lofty promises, they will need Wall Street to embrace their idealism, too. Until investors start measuring companies by their social impact instead of their quarterly returns, systemic change may prove elusive.” ~ The New York Times   “Lofty Promises” made by today’s most successful CEO’s, such as Apple’s Tim Cook, Julie Sweet of Accenture, and the world’s wealthiest person, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, were recently proclaimed to a surprised public as the new standard of leadership in Corporate America. What is the NEW Promise? The New York Times reports: “Business Roundtable issued a statement on “the purpose of a corporation,” arguing that companies should no longer advance only the interests of shareholders. Instead, the group said, they must also invest in their employees, protect the environment and deal fairly and ethically with their suppliers.” To those born anytime after, say, 1970 this is a shocker, as it was assumed (at least by me) this type of policy was already in place! A Promise to deal fairly and ethically?   A Promise to invest in employees?   A Promise to measure success by social impact rather than quarterly returns?  Excuse the naiveté of those among