Reclaiming Higher Ground: Creating Organizations That Inspire the Soul

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

In this, his fourth book on management theory, Secretan turns
conventional corporate wisdom upside down by proclaiming that the best
way to run an organization is to “inspire the soul,” by which he
means paying attention to the values and ethics that give humans
dignity.

It is not enough to work harder. Or faster. Or to become leaner or
meaner. Rather, he says, we need to consider a new paradigm of
work—one in which values replace rules, and trust replaces control. In
this revised corporate world, functional departments and structures need
to give way to “soulwork”—service, or meeting others’ needs—so
that all work becomes a sanctuary.

Through a blend of management theory, examples from the corporate
world, and excursions into philosophy, the author builds a case for
transformating the way business is conducted today. Empowerment and
teamwork are re-examined and redefined to have new meaning when control
is “relinquished with grace” and all work is viewed as sacred.
Secretan introduces the “values cycle” and the concept of primary
values (mastery, chemistry, delivery) and accelerators (leaning,
empathizing, listening) as methods of moving from a personality focus to
a soul focus.

Although the concepts are expressed in terms not usually favored by big
business, Secretan is no stranger to the obsessions of the corporate
world and thus does not neglect the bottom line. He promotes the idea
that financial success and soulwork are compatible. The book has
sufficiently dynamic concepts to merit bestseller status, in the
tradition of In Search of Excellence.

The outstanding question is whether readers will persevere with the
alien vocabulary long enough to grasp the concepts and their
applicability to business today.