the applause you get

Profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your people.... When managers focus only on organizational indicators of vitality – such as profit – they have their eyes on the scoreboard, not the ball. Profit, a key aspect of organizational vitality, is a byproduct of serving the customer, which can be achieved only by serving the employee. So profit really is the applause you get from taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your people.

Ken Blanchard

Leading at a Higher Level: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations (Revised and Expanded Edition). FT Press, 2009.