Customer Reviews

Mother Teresa, CEO: Unexpected Principles for Practical Leadership (Bk Business)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book to be read more than once. A casual reader might feel somehow "tell me something I do not know", but this is precisely the point. If these simple principles can enable Mother Teresa to build a global organization, it sure will help average Joe. Not everyone is a manager or a wanna-be entrepreneur. But everyone is a leader; you lead yourself. This book is very simple but may takes time to understand. For example, "Joy of Discipline". How do you feel joy out of discipline? Well, read this book.

There is a part of us that realizes that those religious leaders who have built large orders with multiple institutions must have some sort of management skills, yet is is generally their faith and their good works, not their leadership for which we remember the saints. However Ruma Bose and Lou Faust have analyzed Mother Theresa as a leader and tried to determine why she was successful and how that success could be imitated and transferred to business enterprises.

The book is divided into chapters by the principals described. They are:

Dream it Simple, Say it Strong

Dealing with the Devil to get to the Angels

Wait! Then pick your moment

Embrace the power of doubt

Discover the joy of discipline

Communicate in a language people understand

Pay attention to the janitor

Use the power of silence

The chapters begin with a story either describing an encounter the author had with Mother Theresa or telling a story about her life. The story is then tied into the principal and then the author tells how that principal was used in a business situation.

I enjoyed the stories about Mother Theresa and her sisters. As far as the management end of it, well, I'm not a manager, so I have a hard time saying whether the advice is good or not. The book was interesting reading. The only problem I had was that I thought the business examples were just too vague. I know it is hard in a book like this to walk the line between giving advice in a manner that it seems only good for widget making or whatever other particular business you are using as an example, and giving advice so general that it is hard to figure how to employ it in a specific situation. There were at least a couple of occasions on which I thought to myself that it would be nice to have had a better idea of what the problem was and how the principal in question was used to solve it. Grade: B

As a not-so-young entrepeneur and practicing Catholic I had to pick up this book! Ruma Bose & Lou Faust collaborate in an inspiring book. They present Mother Teresa as a powerful leader and servant. One could say this is a contradiction, but after reading this book you understand that there is no true leadership without service, and no true service without leadership. Bose & Faust manage to verbalize the work of the Holy Spirit that moved Mother Teresa in the contemporary language of today's leaders thus demonstrating one of Mother Teresa's principles: COMMUNICATE IN A LANGUAGE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. This proves that both authors have internalized the spirit of Mother Teresa, and perhaps that is the biggest impact of this book, that in writing it the authors demonstrate that Mother Teresa's -unexpected principles for practical leaders- ARE achievable. Definetively not another "leadership book", this book is daring and in my opnion a classic. Why? Because Mother Teresa's message is timeless. Thank you Ruma Bose for bringing Mother Teresa to those of us who never had the honor of meeting her.

Little did I know about this amazing Mother Teresa. Very interesting to read this academic analysis of altruistic work. Well documented in clear and simple language for anyone in a leadership role to utilise. Make a vision and said it loud!!!!

Excellent book that shed light on extremely difficult organizational challenges, which include people management, navigating through a large number of resource constraints, and maintaining the culture in the organization through rapid growth, Mother Teresa mastered over decades. Authors, with their vast array of experience with business challenges, articulated remarkably well how businesses can exploit the Mother Teresa's solutions that are proved in western and emerging societies. I also feel that this book is a must reading in business schools, which are loosing focus on the human side of the business problems.

In the early 1990s, at age 19, author Ruma Bose worked as a volunteer in Calcutta (now Kolkata) with Mother Teresa. Now Bose and co-author Lou Faust have identified eight key leadership principles Mother Teresa practiced diligently as she built the Missionaries of Charity into a global organization with billions of dollars in revenue. The authors include stories from their entrepreneurial and corporate experiences, easy-to-follow discussions, and incidents from Mother Teresa's life to show how each principle can benefit you personally and professionally. When reflecting on Mother Teresa's unique life and single-minded dedication, you may be tempted to view her gentle spirit, charitable work, and lofty goals as inspired by faith and somehow not relevant to the modern world. That would be misguided thinking. In fact, "you don't have to be a saint" to gain from the fundamental tenets of her leadership, which are useful to managers at all levels. While some may think this short book is a bit simplistic, getAbstract finds that its very simplicity is a large part of what makes it so powerful.

This book was an unexpected joy to read. It has the unique characteristic of clearly defining the life experiences of Mother Teresa with her life values. It is very applicable to our everyday lives as shown by the authors in their lives. It is a quick read and something everyone can use as a reference to developing their own basic operating principals. Best self help book I have read even though its not what it is meant to be. Or maybe it is?

Being neither Catholic nor an executive of any level, this might seem an odd book for me to pick up, but I am glad that I had the simple pleasure and gentle learning experience this book afforded me.

As a young Hindi woman, during a time of aimless confusion in her life, Ruma Bose spent an extended period of time volunteering with Mother Teresa and her Sisters of Charity in India. Ruma has subsequently gone on to become a successful business woman. A dinner party conversation during which she sketched out the leadership style of Mother Teresa was the genesis of this book, on which Ms. Bose asked her mentor, Lou Faust to collaborate.

The book's structure is very simple. It is divided into eight chapters, each of which correlate with one of eight principles found by Ruma Bose to define the leadership philosophy of Mother Teresa. These principles are:

Dream it Simple, Say it Strong

Dealing with the Devil to get to the Angels

Wait! Then pick your moment

Embrace the power of doubt

Discover the joy of discipline

Communicate in a language people understand

Pay attention to the janitor

Use the power of silence

At the beginning of each chapter Ruma recounts an anecdote from her time with the gentle woman who began and grew one of the world's largest charity organizations. These brief snippets let the reader see various sides of Mother Teresa from a CEO standpoint. Lou Faust and Ruma then draw parallels to real world business situations.

The book left me with mixed feelings. It is useful in that I do not think you need to be a CEO to apply these principles to your life, and this broadens the scope of those for whom this will be an enjoyable read. However, the book, at a scant 144 pages, does not provide any concrete suggestions for implementation, neither on a personal nor a business level. For me, the book was primarily an informative look at Mother Teresa through an alternative lens. If you are fascinated by this special woman the book is well worth your time.

I was intrigued about this book for several reasons and it delivered on all levels. It spoke to me in my work as a career counselor and trainer, in my spiritual life as an active Catholic/Christian and as an individual who has great admiration and devotion to Mother Teresa and wants to bring that energy and focus to my life. The principles are simple yet effective in providing a roadmap for one's life vision and how to make it happen. I really think this book has practical application for everyone.