333 / DECIDE / SELL / DELIVER / ENABLE
Strategy
Culture
Dr. Gaylen Paulson frames “defining our we” as a core leadership responsibility: leaders must be explicit about who is included when they say “we,” because that boundary determines how decisions are made, how negotiations are conducted, and what success means. A narrow we typically includes only the internal organization, or even just one department and optimizes for short-term wins, while a broader we deliberately includes customers and key suppliers, shifting behavior from transactional, zero-sum thinking to shared value creation and joint problem-solving. When customers and suppliers are inside the we, negotiations become more durable, trust increases, and outcomes are optimized across the system rather than for one party—leading to stronger partnerships, more resilient ecosystems, and better long-term results.