I've been giving a lot of thought to this lately: This recession – and its aftermath – will serve as a giant resetting mechanism for American business and the capitalist way. The excesses of previous decades will be tempered by tight control from within organizations of all sizes and stripes and with pressure from government regulation. Salaries won’t increase rapidly. In fact, employees will continue to be asked to do more with less. We’ve already seen the evidence. During this recession, many people have been fired from their jobs only to be rehired at a significantly lower salary, even half of what they were making before.

As a result, we’ll have a society of people working harder for less. Most won’t be able to chase the big fat paychecks that had allowed them to live ever larger lives, ever farther beyond their means. Since they won’t be chasing happiness with dollars, they’ll need to find it first within themselves and then in the things that they do – their own identities and their own roles in life, including work. Satisfaction, happiness and joy will be about whom they are and what they do with their life’s energy. Most of that work is completely their own to pursue. Yet, when considering that on average, work and the activity to support work takes at least half of our waking hours, the workplace must support the individual pursuit of happiness, the desire to bring congruency between personal values and our work. And so, as businesses move forward with stricter financial controls and practices, they will have to do so in a way that supports the very real human needs of everyone they touch, especially their employees. These new organizations will need to be smarter and authentic. They’ll need to provide a human context for their workers.

For me, I see this as brand strategy that is tightly linked to business strategy. It's an effort that begins with the company’s leadership and is passionately imbued through every individual who works for the business, whether it’s a tiny venture in the owner's spare room or a multinational mega employer. From there, it must reach out to all of the groups the business touches, from prospects and customers to volunteers and donors to the media and investors.

My hope is that rather than take a warlike “win at all costs” competitive stance, organizations will understand who they really are, what they stand for, what they do for people, and why it matters. And then they'll authentically live their corporate brand to connect with the right people while creating sustainably profitable business that serves community and culture.

I guess I have a dream.