The Manager and the Monk E-Book

Jochen Zeitz

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 271

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

An exploration of spirituality, values, and sustainability in business When Jochen Zeitz and Anselm Grün first met onstage as "the manager and the monk," Zeitz was CEO and Chairman of Puma, and Father Grün was a monk serving as cellarer, the business manager of his Benedictine abbey. They came together to discuss their shared goal: what it means to lead and manage responsibly and sustainably in today's shifting world. Available for the first time in English, The Manager and the Monk features these topical essays and dialogues, drawing on sources as diverse as the Bible, contemporary religious thought, psychological theory, and the innovative "environmental profit & loss account" Zeitz developed for Puma. Together, Zeitz and Gr??n explore their intersecting definitions of prosperity, values, sustainability, among a host of other topics. * Jochen Zeitz was CEO of Puma for 18 years and is founder, with Sir Richard Branson, of the B Team, a global initiative aimed at transforming the future of business * Anselm Grün is cellarer (business manager) of Münsterschwarzach Abbey in Germany, overseeing a staff of 300 in crafts such as beekeeping and brewing; and an internationally best-selling author of more than 300 books available in 35 languages * Translated from an award-winning German book, Gott, Geld, und Gewissen, which has been translated into 11 languages The Manager and the Monk is a thoughtful, impassioned plea for how to manage responsibly in the modern world.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1: Success

The Success Pyramid

Having or Being

Success in a Group

Personal Success

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 2: Prosperity

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 3: Culture

Puma’s Culture

A Good Leader also Inspires

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 4: Values

Justice, Courage, Moderation, and Practical Intelligence

Faith, Hope, and Love

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 5: Acting Ethically

Ethical Guidelines

There is Still much to Do

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 6: The Environment

The Benedictine Way: Deep Roots and Paradise Gardens

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 7: Commerce

The Human Element

A Model Firm

You Reap What you Sow

The Limits of the Market Economy

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 8: Sustainability

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 9: Strengths and Weaknesses

How Managers can Turn Weaknesses into Strengths

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 10: Responsibility

The Responsibility to Act

Personal Responsibility

Toppling the Next Berlin Wall

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Chapter 11: Awareness

Knowing yourself—The Good and The Bad

Dialogue: Manager and Monk

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Index

Cover design by Adrian Morgan

Cover image: Copyright © Thinkstock

Originally published in 2010 in German as Gott, Geld und Gewissen

Copyright © by Vier-Türme GmbH, Verlag, D-97359 Münsterschwarzach Abtei.

All rights reserved.

English translation by Susan Thorne

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and is on file with the Library of Congress.

ISBN 9781118479414 (cloth); ISBN 9781118554913 (ebk);

ISBN 9781118555002 (ebk); ISBN 9781118555866 (ebk)

For Dr. Bernd Deininger with grateful acknowledgment and thanks for his assistance in the development of this book

PREFACE

In choosing to read The Manager and the Monk, you have chosen to accompany us on a journey to exchange ideas, challenge long-held belief systems, and discover new possibilities in us all. In fact, you have now become an integral part of this journey of discovery, and as we continue our dialogue, you will foster, deepen, and expand on your own inner dialogue as well.

Our conversation first began in 2008 at an onstage discussion in front of an audience in Nuremberg. As “The Monk” and “The Manager,” we faced one another from opposite ends of the spectrum. On one end, Anselm Grün represented a life lived in spiritual practice, and on the other, Jochen Zeitz embodied a life synonymous with business and financial success. On that fateful day we confronted such challenging questions as: Do core values stand a chance in the world of business? To what extent does a monk think like a manager? How much consideration and empathy can a manager afford to show? What do money and success mean to us?

Although we did not have time that day to explore those questions in detail, something intangible but necessary seized us. We were able to gain a basic impression of the other’s ideas and instinctively knew that we had happened upon pieces of a puzzle we had both been trying to solve but couldn’t finish individually, based just on our own focused and concentrated life experiences. We knew this would be the beginning of another level of enlightenment and knowledge in our lives if we continued our conversation. Since then, we have repeatedly met in person and exchanged e-mails and phone calls. Over time, we developed a unique relationship, one always based on respect and a desire for mutual understanding.

Before our first meeting, we knew a little about each other, thanks to the media:

Anselm Grün was “The Monk,” a Benedictine monk from Münsterschwarzach Abbey near Würzburg. He was a renowned author of numerous books on spirituality and counseling and a prominent clergyman. As Cellarer of the abbey, he was responsible for the financial and business management of a community of three hundred monks and staff, overseeing approximately twenty workshops and several hectares of farmland, meadows, and wooded areas.

“The Manager” was Jochen Zeitz, a “citizen of the world” who had, at that time, been chairman and CEO of PUMA, the publicly listed sporting goods and lifestyle company, for eighteen years, since the young age of thirty. The company is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Franconia, near Nuremberg, and is just 70 kilometers from Münsterschwarzach Abbey. PUMA is a globally recognized brand directly employing over nine thousand employees and providing work for over fifteen thousand people through factories that produce PUMA products. The group has annual sales of over € billion.

We were aware that the missions and goals of our organizations and our lifestyles were worlds apart; this is exactly what drew us together. As people—and as authors—we were initially surprised and intrigued to find that there is more that unites us than divides us. We both wish to protect the environment, improve society, and employ sustainable methods, both within our “companies” and beyond. As managers, we must learn to conduct business without harming people or the environment. As spiritual human beings, we look for ways to find ourselves and create more unity without losing sight of the need for efficient management.

During this journey, we did not simply exchange opinions: we also exchanged roles to experience each other’s world. The Manager spent some time in the monastery, where he was able to find peace and see his world from a different point of view—and where many things fell into perspective. In return, The Monk expanded his knowledge of “virtual” companies such as PUMA and the fast-paced, electronically networked world of targets and numbers by visiting the group headquarters and attending conferences.

To this day, we continue our exchanges because our main objective is to improve ourselves and our environment, every day and in every way we can. We hope that in reading our book, you too will feel encouraged and inspired to seek the same goal and open your world and mind, continuing our conversation within yourself.

Anselm Grün and Jochen Zeitz

CHAPTER 1

SUCCESS

With an Introduction by Jochen Zeitz

When I was asked to take over the helm of PUMA at twenty-nine, I inherited a company nearing bankruptcy. Three CEOs had failed in the previous three years and the company had lost money for eight consecutive years. In my first two years at PUMA, the company had nothing to show in terms of success. During this time I felt tremendous happiness when at least our athletes won. Following drastic cost-cutting measures, the only three well-known athletes whom I had been able to keep under sponsoring contracts all won gold medals in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Years later I had the same feeling of deep satisfaction when Serena Williams, one of our PUMA athletes, rose up in the tennis world and became the first African-American to lead the world rankings. I was glad four years ago when Italy—sponsored by PUMA—unexpectedly won the world championship after a sensational scandal in the Italian soccer league.

I was just as pleased about Usain Bolt, whom we had put under contract as a seventeen-year-old. Winning the Olympic gold medals for the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, Bolt has often been dubbed “the fastest man ever.” Running against other mortals Bolt does give the impression of moving so fast that he could reach liftoff and fly. And he has become all but a superhero to his fellow Jamaicans—he won half of their Olympic gold medals in both 2008 and 2012. Bolt, whom I have been privileged to know since he became affiliated with PUMA, had been written off by many track experts when he was injured, and when he seemed not serious about training early on in his career. Others sometimes encouraged me to drop him as one of our PUMA athlete representatives. And yet I stood behind him as he set world records again and again. Bolt has always rebounded from setbacks to become even faster. This triumph over the odds raises the bar for what is possible in the realms of national and personal athletic success.