in this issue..
R Announcements and News from SiB
R A Note from our Chairman
R An 'Oblique' Approach to Profit-making
R Report on Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Conference
R Collaboration: Managers who Share Power
R Starbucks joins Good Index Series
R Socially Responsible Investing: Measuring Integrity
R Stanford Study Finds Graduates Seek Ethical Employers
R Spirituality in the Office
R A Moment for Meditation

Dear Spirit in Business Friends,

It is with great pleasure to present to you this eletter from Spirit in Business. Two and half years since our groundbreaking conference in New York, and five years since the founding meeting in Amsterdam, you are now part of an ever growing community of people in business looking to improve the way business is being done, for the sake of themselves and the planet as a whole.

The context of business has shifted radically in the last decade. Customer service, productivity, the bottom line or GNP are no longer the only yardsticks of economic success. Today’s leaders need to embrace ‘new’ phenomena such as accelerated change, increased complexity, globalization, social responsibility and sustainability. In addition, business success requires leaders to focus on human factors such as visionary leadership, diversity, emotional intelligence and inspiration in the work place. SiB is dedicated to help leaders in this radical shift.

Collectively, as an emerging community of business people who care, we can create a better world by fully developing human potential and transforming business into a force for the common good. It may be difficult, but there is no reason why it cannot be done.

I welcome you to join us in this endeavor.

Sander Tideman
Co-founder/Chairman

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Report from Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Conference

We promised a report on the Bhutan conference that Sander Tideman and Frank Dixon attended in February, along with 400 other individuals, including senior professors, research fellows, journalists, lawyers, medical professionals, religious leaders, managers, environmentalists, economists, social activists, financiers, civil servants and students from around the world, and we're as good as our word!

This extraordinarily rich report, compiled by Sander Tideman, includes a declaration written by the attendees, based on their findings at the conference, an interview with the Prime Minister of Bhutan by Times of India journalist Rajni Bakshi, an article by Sander Tideman, entitled Gross National Happiness: Towards a New Paradigm in Economics, about this radical new way to measure wealth, and an equally stimulating and informative piece by Frank Dixon, entitled Gross National Happiness: Improving Unsustainable Western Economic Systems. Download the pdf here

Starbucks joins Good Index Series
by Lisa Roner, from Ethical Corporation, 2 September, 2004

Starbucks Coffee has met the FTSE4Good criteria for human rights, environmental actions and social and stakeholder engagement, qualifying it for listing in the FTSE4Good series of indexes; Starbucks has been added to four indices: the FTSE4Good Global 100 Index, the FTSE4Good US 100 Index, the FTSE4Good US Index and FTSE4Good Global Index.

The FTSE4Good Index Series is a group of tradable and benchmark indices created and managed by FTSE Group, an independent global index company, which show the performance of the equities of socially responsible companies. FTSE Group contributes income, including licence fees for FTSE4Good, to Unicef, the global children’s charity.

Socially Responsible Investing: Measuring Integrity as well as Dollars
Aug 24, from The Gay Financial Network

A survey by Harris Interactive, commissioned by Calvert in November, 2003, found 59% of investors were less confident about the safety of financial markets than they were two years ago. However, 71% of those surveyed agreed that companies operating with higher levels of integrity carry lower investment risk ... More >>>

Review: Zen and Business Newsletter
It loads a little slowly, but it's worth it for the book and product reviews, articles, and interviews on spirit in business related topics (this issue’s meditation came from it). Check it out.

Study Finds MBA Graduates Seek Ethical Employers
Stanford, Calif., July 28, 2004
taken from Greenbiz.com

The fall of WorldCom, Enron, and Arthur Andersen, and the public humiliation of Kenneth Lay, Dennis Kozlowski, and Richard Grasso have caused the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, prompted the New York Stock Exchange to create new corporate governance standards for listed companies, and spurred major firms like the Walt Disney Company to adopt new, stringent, and wide-reaching guidelines for corporate ethics.

These events also have dramatically changed the way that MBA's view their job choices.

A survey of more than 800 MBA's from 11 leading North American and European schools found a substantial number were willing to forgo some financial benefits to work for an organization with a better reputation for corporate social responsibility and ethics. More>>>

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A Moment for Mediation
A Simple Meditation
from ZenWise Selling, by Lee Godden

This brief time out is a gift to yourself; a simple, one-minute meditation that can be done privately, in your chair, at work.

Sit up straight and breathe slowly and deeply, allowing your belly to swell with each inhalation. Smile as you breathe. Think or softly say the words following to yourself in time with your slow, deep breaths.
1) Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
2) Breathing out, I smile.
3) Breathing in, I notice this moment.
4) Breathing out, I enjoy this moment.

Repeat the four steps for a minute or so. Acknowledge any "pop-up thoughts," then gracefully let them go.

 

Forget How the Crow Flies: An Oblique Approach to Profit-making
Contributed by Alan Harpham, this story by John Kay is taken from the Financial Times:

If you want to go in one direction, the best route may involve going in the other. Paradoxical as it sounds, goals are more likely to be achieved when pursued indirectly. So the most profitable companies are not the most profit-oriented, and the happiest people are not those who make happiness their main aim. The name of this idea? Obliquity.
More>>>

Collaboration: Managers who Share Power, Have More Power
Avril Reed sent in the link to this story, from Enterprise Networks and Servers

Today we operate in a knowledge economy, In this type of environment, you can't simply order people to work harder, smarter, or faster and to ignore the information that surrounds them.

Monopolistic managing doesn't work, People need to be free, encouraged and constantly reminded to adapt and innovate. Effective individuals and teams that are empowered will drive the success of their separate organizations, functions and activities. If their collaborative efforts aren't constantly encouraged, the organization's future is in jeopardy.

But collaboration doesn't just happen, More>>>

The Many Delicate Issues of Spirituality in the Office
by Eileen Zimmerman, New York Times, August 15, 2004

Every three weeks or so, Buddy Brandt, a partner at the Manhattan law firm of Brandt, Steinberg & Lewis, closes the door to his office, turns off the phone and sits down to study a facet of Judaism.

Mr. Brandt said this kind of study - it might be a book in the Old Testament, the history of Zionism or an aspect of Jewish law - brings "peace and relief" in the middle of a hectic day. On a deeper level, he said, "It fills an important spiritual niche in my life. And it helps put life's difficulties in proper perspective."

With Americans spending so much time on the job, some of them are finding ways to bring spirituality to the office, rather than relegating it to weekend religious services. This can mean simply trying to treat others well, saying a prayer to start the day or thinking about the sermon heard on Sunday. More >>>

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SiB ANNOUNCEMENTS

Spirit in Business 2004 Conference:
Good Leaders * Great Leaders Oct. 1 & 2 - Zurich, Switzerland
REGISTER NOW!
More Details
Download the full 1.1MG conference brochure ...

The Spirit in Business Web site is constantly updated with changing topics of interest, featuring international news, interviews, profiles, book reviews, articles, and more...
Bookmark this url and check it often!

The 2004 Spirit at Work Awards have been announced, honoring ten extraordinary companies from around the world whose innovative practices explicitly nurture spirit in the workplace. This year’s honorees are …

Unmögliches wird möglich Nicht-lineare Führung & Zen Klausur
A conference with
Miki Walleczek & Anna Gamma
September 19 -22, 2004
at the Lassalle Institut in Switzerland
More information and a downloadable pdf on the program

 

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