The Soul Of The Organization

Download or read book The Soul of the Organization written by David B. Zenoff and published by Apress. This book was released on 2014-03-01 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the opportunity to describe Apple as a company in just a word or two, most would respond with adjectives like: Innovative. Design-conscious. Iconic. Some would probably even say: Secretive. But here's another: Soulful. Yes, Apple has a soul, and it is not alone in that respect. A select few organizations can similarly be said to exhibit similar qualities of soul that inspire passion in their employees and set them on the path to high levels of sustained organizational performance. But, given that most organizations are plagued by low levels of employee engagement and lackluster organizational performance, how do high-performing organizations do it? How do they ignite and sustain employee engagement and boost individual and overall organizational productivity? That is exactly the question that organizational expert David B. Zenoff sets out to answer in The Soul of the Organization. Based on the author's extensive experience consulting to and observing some of the best-known organizations in the world, The Soul of the Organization (www.souloftheorganization.com) journeys into eleven high-performing organizations operating in both the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds to determine the underlying elements of soul that foster strong employee engagement at all levels. What Zenoff finds in his inquiry is that organizations as different as home goods retailer Williams-Sonoma and not-for-profit group Larkin Street Youth Services all share in common five key elements of soul that, taken together, are powerful forces for fostering employee engagement, satisfaction, and meaning. And he doesn't stop once he has identified the five core elements of an organization's soul. Instead, he goes on to offer both a conceptual framework and a practical primer on how to leverage these key ingredients to create, sustain, and nourish a soul in your organization. Organizations of all stripes and in all industries and domains have great difficulty motivating their workforces to demonstrate a strong commitment to giving their all in the workplace. As a result, these organizations' overall productivity and growth are compromised, and their employees cannot find meaning or satisfaction in their work. If your organization struggles with sub-par employee loyalty, commitment, and drive, you will find the guidance you need in The Soul of the Organization, a guide to infusing into your workplace that "special something" that engages employees, drives their productivity, and taps into their collective well of potential so that your organization can make its mark on the world.

Download or read book Stirring of Soul in the Workplace written by Alan Briskin and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 1998 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essential reading for those who'd like to find more meaning in their jobs, "The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace" offers ways to balance a personal spiritual path with job realities and expectations.

Download or read book Liberating the Corporate Soul written by Richard Barrett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two most critical issues for business today, according to CEO's Barrett has worked with, are: "How to tap the deepest levels of creativity and the highest levels of productivity of our employees." In a world where competition has become global, successful companies are learning to build competitive advantage through their human capital. In the 21st Century, even that will not be enough. Success will also hinge on whether, in the eyes of the employees and society-at-large, the organization is a trusted member of the community and a good global citizen. Developing a values-driven approach to business is quickly becoming essential for financial success. Who you are and what you stand for are becoming just as important as what you sell.

Download or read book Restoring the Soul of Business written by Rishad Tobaccowala and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From old-fashioned bricks-and-mortars to cutting-edge startups, businesses are moving into uncharted territory as they determine how to move from an analog past to a digital future effectively. How can you make sure not to leave human instinct behind? Businesses are leaving behind traditional meetings in favor of virtual ones, transitioning from surveys and studies to analytics and algorithms. The startling and often unacknowledged truth is that?the promise of digital transformation can only be realized when we find a way to balance it with the promise of people.?In the end, it’s the people that matter, and companies must never forget the soul that drives them. In Restoring the Soul of Business, business leader Rishad Tobaccowala?teaches you to: Understand how to unleash the significant benefit that can be realized by combining emotion and data, human and machine, analog and digital. Spot the warning signs of data-blinded companies: cold cultures with little human interaction, poor innovation stemming from discouraged employees who don’t contribute ideas, and poor customer service due to automated, robotic processes. Explore how organizations of various sizes and from different industries have successfully reoriented their thinking on how to fuse technology and humanity. Gain skills to become an expert in connections critical to growth and success, including the connection between being creative and using technology. Everyone working in an organization will find penetrating observations and guidance about how and why establishing the proper balance between human intuition and creativity and data-driven insights can lead to increased revenue, profitability, retention—and even joy—in their careers and business. Restoring the Soul of Business provides practical tools and techniques that every organization can and should implement, and challenges you to move forward with the kind of balance that capitalizes transformation and produces one great success after another.

Download or read book The Soul of the Corporation written by Hamid Bouchikhi and published by Pearson Prentice Hall. This book was released on 2008 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Drawing on real-life stories from the world's most prominent companies, the authors show how identity can be an extraordinarily valuable asset - and how, if not properly managed, it can become a huge liability. Discover how your firm's identity is related to - and different from - its organizational culture, brand positioning, and reputation. Learn how to diagnose and manage the often unconscious shared beliefs that constitute your company's soul, how to face the enormous identity challenges that arise in mergers, alliances, spin-offs, and the creation of new brands, and above all, how to lead and inspire in this new Age of Identity."--Jacket.

Download or read book The Soul of the Firm written by C. William Pollard and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 1996 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Bill Pollard speaks with a voice of experience. His book deals with the practice of leadership- over time, under pressure, living with reality, getting the desired results. The Soul of the Firm tells how ServiceMaster has successfully grapple with the key issues of leadership. That is why it is so worthwhile.' -Max De Pree 'Bill Pollard demonstrates in great detail ServiceMaster's value system, a system that emphasizes the importance of the dignity of the individual. Readers will benefit greatly from Bill's wisdom. This is an important book that should be widely read.' -W. Earl Sasser, James L. Heskett, and Leonard A. Schlesinger 'Rarely are we given an open and generous look inside the corporate leader who is the embodiment of the mission and values of the enterprise. . . A powerful book.' -Frances Hesselbein 'A fascinating story about servant leadership and an extraordinary culture at ServiceMaster.' -Richard L. Thomas 'A remarkable book. . . . ServiceMaster invented 'lea production' for the service sector by listening to and empowering its employees on the front line. This book is the moving story of the wellspring of that culture and philosophy, told by a reflective, modest corporate leader.' -Elmer Johnson

Download or read book Deep Purpose written by Ranjay Gulati and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2022-02-08 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thinkers50 Top 10 Best New Management Books for 2022 A distinguished Harvard Business School professor offers a compelling reassessment and defense of purpose as a management ethos, documenting the vast performance gains and social benefits that become possible when firms manage to get purpose right. Few business topics have aroused more skepticism in recent years than the notion of corporate purpose, and for good reason. Too many companies deploy purpose, or a reason for being, as a promotional vehicle to make themselves feel virtuous and to look good to the outside world. Some have only foggy ideas about what purpose is and conflate it with strategy and other concepts like “mission,” “vision,” and “values.” Even well-intentioned leaders don’t understand purpose’s full potential and engage half-heartedly and superficially with it. Outsiders spot this and become cynical about companies and the broader capitalist endeavor. Having conducted extensive field research, Ranjay Gulati reveals the fatal mistakes leaders unwittingly make when attempting to implement a reason for being. Moreover, he shows how companies can embed purpose much more deeply than they currently do, delivering impressive performance benefits that reward customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and communities alike. To get purpose right, leaders must fundamentally change not only how they execute it but also how they conceive of and relate to it. They must practice what Gulati calls deep purpose, furthering each organization’s reason for being more intensely, thoughtfully, and comprehensively than ever before. In this authoritative, accessible, and inspiring guide, Gulati takes readers inside some of the world’s most purposeful companies to understand the secrets to their successes. He explores how leaders can pursue purpose more deeply by navigating the inevitable tradeoffs more deliberately and effectively to balance between short- and long-term value; building purpose more systematically into every key organizational function to mobilize stakeholders and enhance performance; updating organizations to foster more autonomy and collaboration, which in turn allow individual employees to work more purposefully; using powerful storytelling to communicate a reason for being, arousing emotions and building a community of inspired and committed stakeholders; and building cultures that don’t merely support purpose, but also allow employees to link the corporate purpose to their own personal reasons for being. As Gulati argues, a deeper engagement with purpose holds the key not merely to the well-being of individual companies but also to humanity’s future. With capitalism under siege and relatively low levels of trust in business, purpose can serve as a radically new operating system for the enterprise, enhancing performance while also delivering meaningful benefits to society. It’s the kind of inspired thinking that businesses—and the rest of us—urgently need.