Stewardship Perspective

CORE DEFINITION

The stewardship perspective holds that a person managing resources, whether land, capital, an institution, or a role, is a temporary custodian rather than an owner, and is accountable for handing the asset on in at least as good a condition as it was received. The core proposition is that shifting the frame from what I can extract to what I can leave behind changes which decisions look correct, because it extends the relevant time horizon and the set of parties considered. The key qualification is that stewardship does not mean preserving everything unchanged, since renewal often requires difficult changes, and the obligation is to the asset's long-run health rather than to any particular arrangement.