It’s a leader that sets the tone. When a leader makes the choice to put the safety and lives of the people inside the organization first—to sacrifice their comforts and sacrifice the tangible results so that the people remain and feel safe and feel like they belong—remarkable things happen.

—Simon Sinek, “Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe”

Last August, Business Roundtable—a group of nearly 200 CEOs who head some of the largest American corporations—released a statement signaling a dramatic shift in priorities. According to their “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation,” the heads of Apple, Amazon, Boeing, Bank of America, and GM, among many others, intend to place the welfare of employees, customers, and communities on equal footing with the interests of shareholders, who often view success in the strictest terms of quarterly profits. What prompted this public course correction?

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase and chair of Business Roundtable, offered a direct explanation: “The American dream is alive, but fraying. Major employers are investing in their workers and communities because they know it is the only way to be successful over the long term.”

Some may view this announcement with a healthy dose of skepticism—and only time will tell if these newly ordered priorities will be put into action—but even as a gesture, the proclamation articulates the first steps toward envisioning leadership as stewardship. With regard to employees, Dimon and other CEOs increasingly recognize the value of trust within an organization and the need in particular for leaders to instill that trust.

To that end, we can’t expect employees to make reasonable sacrifices for an organization if leadership does not share in those same sacrifices. By suspending the current laser focus on profit to ensure first that employees are treated fairly, an organization may find that a short-term sacrifice is required to safeguard the welfare of its workers. But in exchange, companies will also discover that employees will be more willing to apply their talents to the corporate mission if they believe that their leaders are looking out for them. The loyalty this inspires will remain a permanent, reliable resource for any organization.

In his 2014 TED Talk, Simon Sinek emphasized the necessity of sacrifice among leaders who intend to foster trust within an organization. In the quote that heads this piece, he refers to a potential sacrifice of “comforts” and “tangible results” in order to make the workplace a harbor of safety and trust. But this approach is not simply a way for leaders to model self-denial. Rather, it’s a means by which leaders demonstrate that their responsibilities lie as much with the welfare of their employees as they do with the bottom line reported to shareholders.

Sinek opens his talk with dramatic stories of life-threatening sacrifices made by combat veterans to protect others in their unit. When he asked them why they’d put themselves on the line in this utterly selfless way, he’d always get the same response: “They would do the same for me.”

A workforce will rarely perform well in a workplace lacking trust, but with the belief that leaders are looking out for them, employees will go the extra mile more consistently. As Dimon and other members of Business Roundtable are beginning to realize, this commitment to values and reciprocity will create a flourishing organization for the long term.