Most of us in America have watched the events unfolding in Ukraine with disgust and revulsion. Ironically, this numbing avalanche of destruction and slaughter comes at a time when our own angst is already high due to the countless attempts to erode the very democracy we all claim to hold so dearly.

Although our Red/Blue divide almost guarantees political disagreements over specific administrative actions toward the war, there has been at this point fairly bipartisan expressions of support for the U.S. strategy employed thus far. Leadership (good and bad) is on full display as we watch how government leaders perform — whether it be Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskyy or Vladimir Putin.

But leadership in this war also comes in quieter and less visible forms, which are of major importance to how the current sanctions and future rebuilding events will be implemented. The actions of our corporate CEOs will be a major factor in how the U.S. strategy plays out. It must be responsible, authentic and decisive. This is the moment when these leaders must demonstrate that they pay more than just lip service to the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Corporate actions to-date have been impressive, but one could be excused for withholding final judgement on their authenticity. While debate over a corporation’s social responsibility has been going on since their creation in the late 18th century, it has often been more hype than genuine commitment to the public interest.

Almost 50 years ago, just post-Vietnam, public interest in the topic seemed to peak as corporations made great promises regarding their social responsibilities. Corporate Social Responsibility statements were developed, board positions were established, ethics codes were implemented, and CEO speeches were made announcing that Milton Friedman’s profit maximization was simply not the way in which much real-world business actually takes place — nor should it be.

Even the Business Roundtable, a collection of nearly 200 CEOs, declared in 1981, “The corporation must be a thoughtful institution which rises above the bottom line to consider the impact of actions on all, from shareholders to society at large. Its business activities must make social sense just as its social activities must make business sense.”

In the years since, there have been many lapses of these promises as some corporations failed to recognize or respond to general stakeholder interests: global warming, economic disparity, pay disparity, racism, sexism. The pursuit of maximum profits trumped everything else. Yet, we may be in a period of renewed focus on such corporate responsibilities. A “new” and much quoted Business Roundtable Statement (2019) signed by nearly 200 of its CEOs, once again says that businesses must rise above the bottom line to address other stakeholder interests. Even fairly new organizational structures (B-Corp, Hawaii’s Sustainable Business Corp) have appeared, designed to allow companies to legally deal with stakeholder interests on a level equal to share-holder interests. And, most recently, Hawaii has seen the emergence of a new alternative business voice — the Chamber of Sustainable Commerce.

According to The Washington Post, at least 400 companies are either withdrawing from Russia, scaling back operations there, or at least, suspending their activities. Iconic American brands like McDonald’s, Netflix, Walt Disney, YouTube, Exxon, Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Pepsi, Starbucks, KPMG and UPS are among these companies, as are similar iconic companies in Europe and beyond. While the Russian market for most of these firms is not extremely large by global standards, the actions promised are still likely to represent a not-insignificant hit to the bottom line of most who do as promised. And the consequence of Russia’s war will prevent any return to the once “normal” there for a very, very long time.

Russia’s war presents the newest test of corporate resolve to look beyond the bottom line and do what is simply right.

John Webster is an adjunct professor in the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, and a retired executive (IBM, KPMG) and professor (Chaminade University).