Maurie Cashman has some interesting thoughts about linking employee goals to an organization's exit strategy.  The quotes he's pulled from Lou Dubois' piece in Inc, get at goal setting.

I continue to think it is important for owners to drive as much value creation as possible so that their exiting value extraction leaves a strong organization behind. This gets to maximizing long-term stakeholder value instead of just maximizing short-term shareholder value. I'm not suggesting this is an either-or choice, but, rather, finding a way to maximize the exit value AND the ongoing value of the organization to its new owners, employees, customers, and community.

What do you think.