It took retail giant Costco less than thirty years to become the second largest retailer in the United States and the seventh largest in the world—without advertising. How? By growing a worldwide base of intensely loyal customers and employees, many of whom wouldn’t shop or work anywhere else.

The highest level of engagement is loyalty. Loyal workers and loyal customers are worth their weight in gold. A talented worker who gives her heart and mind to your enterprise can generate ten or a hundred or a thousand-fold more in revenue and goodwill than she will ever cost you. A customer who gives you a lifetime of return business and word of mouth support is the ultimate competitive lever you can use to move the world.

The older paradigm was “customer and employee satisfaction.” It’s great to have satisfied customers and employees, but it’s no longer enough. The new paradigm is “intense loyalty,” and shifting to that paradigm is the job you must do now…