The Mormon Way of Doing Business

I just finished reading Jeff Benedict's The Mormon Way of Doing Business. Although it shared the fault of every other business book I've read (it repeats the same things over and over in an effort to make it long enough for a book instead of a pamphlet), there were definitely parts I would like to share:

"'There is this notion among some Mormons that if you are aggressive in your position that is somehow offensive,' said Dave Checketts [former CEO of Madison Square Garden Corporation]. 'In the world of business, you have to defend your point of view.'" (Isn't that true? Page 26.)

"'The key is not to allow your sense of who you are and your sense of self-worth to get tied up in your title,' said Quigley [CEO of Deloitte & Touche USA]. 'Because when the title is gone you don't want to lose yourself.'" (Page 102.)

"'As a bishop you are at the beck and call of every person in your congregation,' explained American Express CFO Gary Crittenden, who has been a bishop. 'Paradoxically, even though you are the leader, you really are the person who is responding to the needs of everyone else. Typically, people think of business leadership as being the exact opposite, that you sit in a room and tell people what you need and they bring it to you. But the model that you get from a bishop's perspective is that you are here to facilitate and serve others, to take roadblocks away for people who work for you in order to help them be successful. In a church setting, those roadblocks may be sin, an inability to live commandments, or a whole variety of personal issues. In a work setting, roadblocks can be insufficient talent, inadequate training, or the wrong person in the wrong job.'" (Page 103.)

Cathy Crittenden, wife of Gary, set up these ways to avoid frustration between her husband's career and her being a stay-at-home mom:

1. Develop interests independent of his career to have things to discuss and to avoid frustration in his absence.
2. Surround yourself with positive and strengthening women. (Don't criticize the hubby.)
3. Remind yourself that you are a team, working for the same purpose.
(Page 159.)

I got a really nice sense of the importance of family before career from this book. I also enjoyed the perspective of Mormon businessmen on September 11th, 2001.