When life is comfortable, it’s easy to equate security with the amount of stuff we have, both personally and professionally. But when the economy tightens, when jobs are lost, and when certainty disappears, something quieter and truer begins to surface. In those moments, true wealth shows up.

To me, wealth, including organizational wealth, is wrapped up in relationships.

Yes, companies exist to make money. Profit matters. Growth matters. Scale matters. But none of it happens in isolation. Revenue is the outcome and relationships are the infrastructure. Without trust, care, and mutual respect between people, even the most well-funded strategies eventually erode.

Simplicity has a way of stripping away what was never essential in the first place. It brings us back to presence, intention, and meaning. In leadership and in life, bare-minimum moments like a clear conversation, a fair decision, a human response, are often the most sustainable ones. They compound quietly over time.

You’ve heard the saying before: some people are so poor, all they have is money.

It’s confronting because it exposes a gap many organizations feel but struggle to name. True wealth has never been about what can be purchased alone. It’s revealed in what leaders and teams offer when there’s nothing to perform and nothing to prove; it’s steadiness, clarity, time, and attention. Relationships that aren’t transactional, but grounded in genuine care, mutual respect, and shared understanding. That’s what keeps people engaged when things get hard.

This season, the most powerful gifts are often the quietest ones. A moment of recognition when someone feels unseen. A kind, direct word when morale is thin.

Make the call. Have the conversation. Sit with a colleague long enough to remind them they matter. Be proof that the most meaningful kind of love, even at work, doesn’t cost a thing.

When Jesus entered the world, He didn’t arrive surrounded by excess. He arrived in a simple way, accessible, human, and present. God, the Creator of the universe, with the ability to have anything, chose relationship over spectacle. That choice reframed the concept of wealth forever.

Less noise. Less pressure. More meaning.

During the holidays, presence may be the most groundbreaking and generous thing a leader can offer. And receiving it and making room for others, may be just as transformative.

May this season gently shift how we measure success, and remind us that the greatest luxury in life and in business has always been found in the way we treat each other.

Media Recommendation

If you’re looking for a song that tenderly captures the shift between childhood expectations to grown-up longing for what truly matters, “Grown-Up Christmas List” is a beautiful choice.

Merry Christmas,

Carrie

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