The Mormon Way of Doing Business: How Eight Western Boys Reached the Top of Corporate America (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: church assignment, stake president, personal driver, Mormon Church, New York, American Express (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Honesty, integrity and dedication to family and church may be old-fashioned values, but Benedict shows here that they jibe with tremendous success in the cutthroat world of business. In a conversational narrative, Benedict relates the stories of seven Mormon business leaders-five CEOs (including those of Dell Computers, JetBlue and Deloitte & Touche), one CFO (of American Express), and the former dean of Harvard Business School-to discover how these devout professionals tackle modern workplace problems. In order to meet the challenge of "winning and winning cleanly," Benedict doesn't proselytize, but rather draws practical rules from his subjects' stories and actions, such as "Compete within your power alley," "Own the high ground" and "Don't put yourself in a position to be tempted." He also shows what advantages stem from the tenants of a Mormon lifestyle, such as tithing, abstaining from drugs, avoiding work on the weekend, volunteering for Church leadership positions and raising large families. With the exception of a late chapter collecting his subjects' 9/11 experiences (which includes the unfortunate section title, "Losing $150 Million in One Day"), Benedict's point is clearly and entertainingly explicated: do you need to be Mormon to succeed in business? No, but it doesn't hurt.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The picture that comes to mind when you think about devout Mormons may seem diametrically opposed to the idea of the ruthless and powerful corporate CEO, so it may come as some surprise that the heads of many leading corporations and organizations such as Dell, Deloitte & Touche USA, American Express, Black & Decker, JetBlue Airways, and Harvard Business School are Mormons. Investigative journalist Benedict (a Mormon himself) examines the lives of eight Mormon business executives, focusing on how their core values influence the way they do business. Flying in the face of the absolute pursuit of power and money, these execs put an emphasis on placing family first, keeping Sunday exclusively work-free, and not placing themselves above others or above their God. Not surprisingly, Benedict finds that the corporate environment and success rate under these leaders is outstanding. Religious beliefs notwithstanding, the examples here prove that leadership that values the human element and does not compromise integrity and the environment does not equate to a competitive disadvantage but rather the opposite. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Business Plus (March 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446696358
• ISBN-13: 978-0446696357
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #191,220 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How faith and values can provide a healthy focus on what really matters about work and family, February 13, 2007

By	Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family (Hardcover)

I like business and enjoy the company of most of the business people I know. Most of them are honest, hardworking, and have a competitive toughness that usually benefits the lives of many others. This is not the way they are portrayed in the popular media, which tends to focus on the awful exceptions and then smear all businessmen and women with the egregious behavior of the few.

Of course, no one is perfect, and many an honest person has missed the correct choice in a close call. Sometimes the shades of gray are quite hard to distinguish. Others suffer a moral collapse under tremendous pressure and give in to something they think will make things better, but it doesn't. However, let me stress again, these are the exceptions rather than the rule. This is true of business people regardless of their religious faith, if they have no faith, if they are tough negotiators, or if they have a softer style. People have to behave according to who they really are. Some folks mistake personal style for integrity or morality. This is an important distinction.

I say this to preface my review of a very good book because I want to be clear that I do not think that only Mormons are honest businesspeople or that they have some special lock on morality. This book has a contribution to make because what it shows is how these CEOs and top businesspeople have a somewhat different focus on business than one might usually find (but probably not exclusive to them) because of their faith and the experiences they had living that faith.

Jeff Benedict shows how service on a full time mission for the Church at 19-21 years old (or thereabouts) was foundational for these men. While there was some variation in what was learned, they all learned about study, perseverance, hard work, and the importance of their faith in their life. Most married young and none have divorced. Most have what nowadays would pass for a large family.

Do you recall the old saying that behind every successful man is a great woman? Benedict shows how each of these executives have benefited from a true partnership with his wife. He has to put bounds on his work, and his faith helps him do that, to focus on what all the work is for; their family! She has usually foregone working in a career outside the home for money (all volunteer and do much good work in their church and community) to care for the home and the children.

It is quite moving to see the pressure put on these men early in their careers to violate their commitment to their family, to keeping the Sabbath holy (particularly by not working on Sunday, as a rule), to violate their commitment to not drink alcohol, smoke, or drink coffee or tea. Some have experienced serious financial hardship, particularly when young and in college, and they still paid their tithing and describe the blessings of doing so.

Since several of the executives had their offices near the World Trade Center, there a few chapters that describe what happened on 9/11/01. They all focused on their people and putting their safety above their own. It is also interesting to read how they recovered from the disaster. And yet, their duties at church still had to be done, and all were very focused on their families during this time. Several of them are very close friends and even attend the same congregation of the Church.

It is a very interesting book. If you are a Mormon, as I am, you will enjoy seeing how our faith can be lived with great success and without compromise. If you don't know much about Mormons, I believe you will find this book informative and you will admire the way these executives do their business well, but not as the center or the entire substance of their lives and how their faith helps them focus on business as something as a means rather than as an end. And in our time of astronomical CEO compensation, you will find what some of these CEOs do for pay quite refreshing.

I do think Benedict does need to do a book on Mormon Women who are successful in business and still live their faith successfully. I am sure it will have a different view of things than is shown in this book, but women do work successfully and still live their faith. Some are single, but I am sure there are those who are married and with long lasting marriages and children. Yes, there would be different and difficult pressures on such women, and most Mormon women would not choose it for a variety of reasons, yet it is a story that would be interesting to read and valuable to everyone.

But I don't want to be a grouse and reviewing a book that wasn't written. What is here is very good, interesting, and will be inspirational and valuable to a wide range of people for a variety of reasons.

Enjoy!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mormon Way of Doing Business, January 14, 2007

By	Corinne Hayes (South Carolina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family (Hardcover)

I have often wondered how the corporate leaders that Jeff Benedict chose to write about actually live their lives day to day. How do they balance work and family? Why are they successful? From a multitude of interviews with the leaders and family members, the front room drapes of each home are drawn back and we see how they function. I learned about the importance of priorities - being true to the boundaries that one sets. Now, I don't let a day go by now without asking myself the question that Kevin Rollins, CEO of Dell, asks: "What do I do when I'm alone and don't have to do anything else? Do I do frivolous things? That's when you define what you are." You should see my calendar now. It's changed after reading this book.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ideal Book for my MBA Students, January 1, 2007

By	Deen Kemsley - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family (Hardcover)

As an MBA professor at Tulane, I often deal students who are struggling to find a balance between family and spiritual life on the one hand and career success on the other. And frankly, as the father of nine children, I have personally struggled finding a way to invest adequately in family and worship while trying to financially support my family as well.

Jeff Benedict's "The Mormon Way of Doing Business" addresses this concern head on, providing real stories from the lives of very successful businessmen who have also found ways to foster successful families and close relationships with God. The book is uplifting, inspiring, and practical, providing a variety of very specific ideas my students and I can implement to both succeed at work and to draw closer to God.

I highly recommend the book to anyone who has struggled to find a balance between work, worship, and home, and to anyone who desires to more fully enjoy the redeeming grace of God. I can honestly say that this book and the lives of the individuals featured in the book have helped me find my way more clearly. I give the book a full 5 stars, and an extra star if I could, for addressing an issue of such vital importance to me and my students.