Managing with the Wisdom of Love

Make a change for the better

Why do the best-laid plans for organizational transformation go awry? In this compelling work, Dorothy Marcic tells managers that no prescribed formula is ever complete without factoring in the human side of the equation. She asks, How would the workplace change if we acknowledged that spiritual values are as important in the operations of organizations as they are in the lives of the people who work there? The answers -- garnered from real-world examples -- banish the notion that a business can't be both spiritual AND successful, and show what it means to act as a manager with virtue. 1. Spirituality in the Workplace
2. Moving Towards Balance
3. Love and the New Management Virtues
4. The New Management Virtues at Work
5. Acting with the Wisdom of Love "A gutsy book. Marcic has spoken honestly about the responsibilities and motivations at work in a way no one has dared before. [This book] should be read by everyone interested in management and organization." -Lawrence M. Miller, President, Miller Howard Consulting Group

"Dorothy Marcic has found some men and women in business who are chasing sales and profits like everyone else, but who are living in a different world than many of us -- a world of trust and faith and love and even serenity! This book shows us how that is possible." -Peter Vaill, author of Learning as a Way of Being and Managing as a Performing Art

"With the discipline of a good scholar and the insight of a sage, Dorothy Marcic has extracted the most profound lessons from the world's wisdom literature, and has synthesized them into a compelling guide for those who would manage with the wisdom of love. But don't expect wispy new age idealism here, because Ms. Marcic has illustrated her material with persuasive, specific examples from today's American workplace." -James A. Autry, former CEO of Meredith Corporation and the author of Confessions of an Accidental Businessman, Love and Profit, and Life and Work

"Moves the reader beyond today's poverty stricken business to a business of well-being....It also provokes the inevitable for everyone: the discovery of self." -John Hormann, coauthor of Creative Work

[For use on front cover:] "It is a time of virulent change. Many are being left far behind. Cynicism is rampant. But Dorothy Marcic offers a message of hope and, yes, love. Work...Virtue...Love. The three can -- and should -- fit in the same workspace. Read this book, then ask, 'Why Not?' " -Tom Peters

"This book is a must for those in leadership positions who are committed to establishing people- and team-centered organizations that are truly empowered." -Carl M. Skoogland, Vice President, Ethics Director, Texas Instruments Inc. DOROTHY MARCIC is director, graduate programs, human resource development, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. She also heads her own company, DM Systems, Ltd., and has consulted to organizations including AT&T Labs, the U.S. Department of State, and the Czech Ministry of Finance. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Disappointing reengineering and downsizing efforts have prompted many managers to realize that prescribed formulas and materialistic solutions are not the total answer to organizational problems. But what more is there? In Managing With The Wisdom Of Love, author Dorothy Marcic explores that question from a fundamentally different perspective as she poses an intriguing question of her own: How would the workplace change if we acknowledged that spiritual values are as important in the operations of organizations as they are in the lives of the people who work there? As the author brilliantly shows, love, justice, dignity and respect are more than just traditional spiritual ideas; they are also The New Management Virtues needed in the contemporary workplace.Speaking directly to those managers who are "trying to figure out why their elaborately planned programs don't work, why morale is low or trust is absent, why worker motivation just isn't what it ought to be," Marcic presents concrete evidence -- taken from real-world examples -- that breaking spiritual law, in business as elsewhere, elicits predictable results. She also outlines practical workplace applications for the Anduring principles she discusses, and provides checklists and charts that help operationalize spirituality and internalize what it means to act as a manager with virtue.Banishing the outdated "tyranny of the OR" -- the notion that a business can be spiritual OR successful -- Managing With The Wisdom Of Love gives business people the insight they need to thrive instead with the "genius of AND." Disappointing reengineering and downsizing efforts have prompted many managers to realize that prescribed formulas and materialistic solutions are not the total answer to organizational problems. But what more is there?
In Managing With The Wisdom Of Love, author Dorothy Marcic explores that question from a fundamentally different perspective as she poses an intriguing question of her own: How would the workplace change if we acknowledged that spiritual values are as important in the operations of organizations as they are in the lives of the people who work there? As the author brilliantly shows, love, justice, dignity and respect are more than just traditional spiritual ideas; they are also The New Management Virtues needed in the contemporary workplace.
Speaking directly to those managers who are "trying to figure out why their elaborately planned programs don't work, why morale is low or trust is absent, why worker motivation just isn't what it ought to be," Marcic presents concrete evidence -- taken from real-world examples -- that breaking spiritual law, in business as elsewhere, elicits predictable results. She also outlines practical workplace applications for the enduring principles she discusses, and provides checklists and charts that help operationalize spirituality and internalize what it means to act as a manager with virtue.
Banishing the outdated "tyranny of the OR" -- the notion that a business can be spiritual OR successful -- Managing With The Wisdom Of Love gives business people the insight they need to thrive instead with the "genius of AND."