As a follow-up on the theme of living courageously, I’ve
been studying some ways to practice the message in my daily living. It is
important to live courageously with the family at home, but it is equally
important—if not more vital—to do so in the workplace. It is within the realm
of enterprise that most people spend a significant portion of their waking
hours holding a job and conducting business. It is the habit of some people to
spend more time at work than they do with their families. The ideas shared
below come from my recent reading of the book, Doing Virtuous Business: the Remarkable Success of Spiritual Enterprise,
by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch.
Contained within the pages of this book are treasure troves
of wisdom focusing on the benefits of spiritual capital in doing business. In
each chapter, different companies are analyzed to find out what made them as
successful as they are or to identify where the business went wrong and brought
disaster upon itself. This book does much more than simply state the need for
business ethics—it spells out the benefits for virtues such as faith, hope, and
charity and what can happen to businesses (or people) who lack the qualities
that invoke trust from others. Other characteristics that must be cultivated
are leadership, courage, patience, perseverance, discipline, as well as the
softer virtues of justice, forgiveness, compassion, humility, and gratitude.
I would recommend this book to everyone who interacts with
other people in their line of work (which would be just about everybody).
There’s a saying, “those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat
it.” Reading this book will help the reader learn from the CEOs who made wise
choices and avoid the mistakes of those who went down the wrong path. In the
back of the book is a lengthy appendix of businesses who have done the right
thing, including the likes of Chick-Fil-A, IBM, Habitat for Humanity, Wal-Mart,
and others. After reading this book, I’m more likely to give my business to a
company that possesses and practices the spiritual capital discussed in the
pages of this book. I think you will too, after you give it a read.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Doing Virtuous Business through Book Sneeze, in exchange for my honest review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Doing Virtuous Business through Book Sneeze, in exchange for my honest review.
