Table of Contents
To Carrie, Peter, Paige, and Grace
with much love
Acknowledgments
One of the joys of writing a book is thanking all of the wonderful people who worked with me to make it happen. I greatly appreciate their support and friendship.
First and foremost, I am grateful to the men and women that I interviewed at DaVita, Mary Kay, Inc., Resource One, Starkey Labs, and World Wide Technology who took time from their busy schedules to share their views with me. They were gracious, warm, and hospitable. I feel honored and privileged to know these fine people.
As always, my wife, Elinor, is my biggest supporter. She never complains about the times when I work on weekends and into the night. I am blessed to have her as my lifetime partner.
My longtime literary agent, Al Zuckerman, founder and president of Writers House, is my close friend and best advisor. His counsel and friendship mean so much to me. I also thank his wife, Claire, who assisted me in the writing of my book proposal.
It is my good fortune that Al sold my book to BenBella Books, a boutique publishing firm in Dallas. Although a small publishing firm, BenBella is rich in talent. Publisher Glenn Yeffeth is a seasoned professional whom I rank among the best of the best publishers that I have worked with over the years (this is my 55th book). BenBellas production people who worked with me are: Debbie Harmsen, editor-in-chief of general non-fiction books; Rebecca Green, my copy editor; and Yara Abuata, production manager. Each did excellent work. Debbie, Rebecca, and Yara, you are terrific! As marketing manager at BenBella, Adrienne Lang plays an important role. Without Adriennes insight and marketing talent, Heart & Soul would have no chance in todays competitive marketplace. In this capacity, her job is crucial to this books ultimate success.
As she has done for many other Shook books, Debbie Watts transcribed all of the tape-recorded interviews I conducted doing the research process for this book. As always, Debbie did her usual excellent work, and she is a truly delightful person.
There were also some fine people I met at the five companies featured in this book who worked with me, and I appreciate their cooperation. They are: Patti Carr, Brett Cohen, Geri Colesworthy, Rachael Kuiken, JD Myers, Mark McCarthy, Yvonne Pendelton, Wanda Poling, Heather Sauber, Holly Schainker, Wendy Schutz, Areina Seay, Blaise Tracy, and Neil Waingrow.
All of the above individuals made valuable contributions to this book, and I am grateful to them all.
RLS
Introdution
CYNICS SAY A CORPORATION cant have a heart and soul. They claim that its hard enough to identify these qualities in an individual, let alone in a collective body of people. I disagree. I think Henry David Thoreau got it right when he said: It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience.
Because of its elusive nature, the absence of heart and soul is more easily observed than their presence. You cant see or touch them; you can only sense them. But be assured that you will know when they arent there. Companies that lack character are easily spotted. Their flaws are mostly apparent. And because youve been so exposed to them, you know what to look for.
The premise of this book is that a company with a heart and soul will ultimately be more successful and competitive in the marketplace. What better time than now for us to take notice of such a company? We are just recovering from a period of greed and corruption that brought on the nations worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Certainly, if there is a lesson to be learned from all that went wrong, it is that there must be a better way to do business.
Heart & Soul offers a better way. This book is an eclectic collection of stories about five extraordinary companies, each illustrating how caring for others is not only an acceptable way to run an organization, it is good business. Through extensive research, I have identified five companies with uncompromising values. Each has a strong corporate culture that fosters treating everyoneemployees, customers, and vendorswith respect. The successes of these companies dispel the common belief that to get ahead in a dog-eat-dog business world, you must always be looking out for number one. As you will discover in this book, there is a gentler way, in which caring for people is a strength and should never be perceived as a weakness.
I acknowledge that the cynics will accuse me of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. Unfortunately, there are many who think that accenting the good in others is Pollyannaish. I assure you that the doubting Thomases are wrong. The proof is manifest in these five stories, because this is not a book based on theorythese are five real companies, each a leader in its field. The companies I selected are diverse in industry and size and are based in different areas of the country.
Certainly I am aware that one can argue that five is too small a number to prove anything. I disagree. If five companies can succeed with high values and business plans dedicated to doing the right thing, others can follow suit. Each of these five stories provides a business model that can be emulated, and because no two are alike, this is not a one-size-fits-all message. You can pick and choose to determine which of these business models (or combination of them) works best for you.
My research to identify which companies to feature in this book included doing online searches and reviewing business magazines and journals. I also communicated with local and national associations and chambers of commerce. And I reached out to my network of personal contactsbusinesspeople, writers, and so on. After giving everyone a thorough explanation about my book, I asked them to help me identify a business that met the high criteria I had set. Can you give me a lead on a company in your city, or one that stands head and shoulders above others in your industry (association, etc.)? It was considerably more difficult to find five companies than I had anticipated. Admittedly, Id set a high standard. I was in search of companies with management that believes, as I do, that each of us has a fundamental duty that is first and foremost as a human being. We must treat our fellow human beings decently or otherwise be held accountable. This standard is not only applicable in our personal lives but also must be adhered to in our business lives.
I concluded that although there are American companies with a heart and soul, their numbers are few, and consequently, finding them was a difficult undertaking. All the while, I became aware that I was engaged in an important mission. I concluded that we need large numbers of companies that possess a heart and soul, which could lead the way for others to follow. I am hopeful that this book will help meet that goal by encouraging more compassionate business practices.
When you read Heart & Soul, you will observe that doing good is prevalent in each of these stories. It is deeply ingrained in each companys culture. To the men and women who manage these five companies, success is measured by how others benefit. They believe that if you enrich the lives of others first, you shall reap the fruits of success
