The term “hero” may be overused in our modern age, and we rarely hear it used in the realm of business – as in “business heroes.”

But if we consider that a hero is someone who strives against great odds and achieves something extraordinary that betters the lives of thousands – if not millions – of people for subsequent generations, then certainly there is room in the pantheon for explicitly business heroes.

Why?

Because of immense wealth creation, employment for millions of workers, a panoply of incredibly useful products at prices the average person can afford and which are sold in convenient locations.

Business Heroes Create Wealth

The heroic efforts of entrepreneurs and managers over generations have generated fabulous wealth in our free enterprise system, resulting in the richest and most advanced societies the world has ever known.

Societies in which the lower middle class live lives of luxury that King Edward in 1901 could only imagine . . . and envy.

For too long, the critics of business have dominated the narrative about commerce.  From the sidelines, they have dictated the terms of the conversation.  Dictated from seats of comfort constructed from the minds, hearts, risk and innovation of those engaged in wealth creation.

From Aristotle to Thomas Aquinas to Karl Marx to Barack Obama, those who do not understand what goes on inside the business black box of wealth creation nonetheless presume to declaim on how business should be conducted.  On how it should be hamstrung.

On how wealth should be confiscated.  On how that wealth should be “distributed.”

It’s time now for a new narrative, replete with Business Heroes.