"People first."

Companies exist to generate profit for shareholders — Friedman said it plainly in 1970, and it still holds. The moment you put people above that reason-to-exist, you've made a promise reality will force you to break. Employees feel the gap between the slogan and the behaviour, and that gap quietly erodes trust and drives out talent. The AI-layoff wave of 2025–2026 is the loudest proof yet: plenty of self-described "People First" companies have shed staff and credited automation. You can't say people are everything on Monday and blame AI on Tuesday.

Don't fake the hierarchy — align it, or be honest about it. Five concrete moves, in order of impact:

Kill the slogan, make a keepable promise. Stop saying "People First" where it isn't structurally true. Replace it with one commitment you can keep in a bad quarter — e.g. "we'll always tell you the truth about where the company stands."

Give people a real stake. When employees share in the upside, "People First" and "shareholders first" stop being opposites. Full ownership is the strongest form; profit-sharing, phantom equity, or real performance-linked bonuses are where to start. Test: does an ordinary employee materially win when the company wins?

Open the books. Share real numbers on a regular cadence — revenue, runway, margins, pressures — so hard calls land as context, not betrayal.

Give voice without faking democracy. Build employee input into real decisions and always explain the why. Even the most radical versions (letting staff elect leaders) show the rule: voice must be real, and must keep evolving rather than harden into ritual.

Pre-commit to the hard times. Decide and state now how you'll handle a downturn — notice, severance, communication. The promise that survives reality is "we'll be honest and fair when it's hard," not "you'll always be first."

Do all five and you look like a People First company — but an honest one, which is the only kind that survives a downturn.