The best leaders understand they should be held accountable for long-term outcomes before they are rewarded for immediate results.

The pastor who envisions reaching his whole city will be more effective than the one concerned about making a glowing report at the next conference gathering. A fund-raising professional who desires to build relationships matching donors with their passions will raise more money than one striving to meet an urgent campaign goal. Even an administrator who fixes the nagging plumbing problems will be appreciated more than the one who spends that same money to install new carpeting.

A report from the Harvard Business Review ("If Brands Are Built over Years, Why Are They Managed over Quarters?") explores why short-term thinking dominates business marketing today, even though branding is an extremely long-term process. The researchers determined that companies have shifted their focus to quarterly outcomes over long-term success because of three factors:

(1) There is ...