Writing in a recent (April 10, 2009) Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Peggy Noonan calls for a restoration of business as a “noble endeavor.” She describes the fall of Wall Street, contrasting it with the raising up of the financial sector after 9/11, when firms were decimated and the Stock Exchange brought to its knees, yet those who remained brought the Exchange back up and running the Monday following the 9/11 devastation.
She writes, “Wall Street is a stage, a platform on which men and women can each day take actions that are ethical or not, constructive or not. When their actions are marked by high moral principle, they heighten their calling—they are not just “in business” but part of a noble endeavor that adds to the sum total of human happiness.”
Turning businesses into noble endeavors can do even more than “add to the sum total of happiness”. Such an approach can also turn them into highly prosperous endeavors. This is the theme of my recent book NOBLE ENTERPRISE: The Commonsense Guide to Uplifting People and Profits. The Noble Enterprise approach can turn companies from trending down to thriving by revitalizing them, from their people to their profits.
In fact, just this past week, I had the pleasure of addressing three groups of people on the Noble Enterprise approach companies can use not only to get through the downturn “in one piece” but also to get stronger and poised to thrive by tapping both the wisdom and spirit of organizations and their people. These groups included:
- Human resource professionals attending a meeting of the Human Resource Association of Southern Maine. These people of course already see the human dimension as the key and precious resource of business, but now have the Noble Enterprise business model and an illustrative case example to use in helping their management lead their companies as if people truly are their “most valuable asset.”
- Senior-level executives in an Olin Business School at Washington University in St Louis one-day seminar that I and two colleagues lead for Olin’s highly regarded non-degree executive program. Our seminar this year, “Revitalizing Performance and Motivation During Difficult Times – the Noble Enterprise Approach”, featured the case example of a company (led by Bill Catucci) that rose from near death to become one of the top companies in its industry by using principles of Noble Enterprise.
- Mid and senior-level executives in a Turnaround Management class at Fordham Business School’s highly regarded Executive MBA program, which provides students with copies of the Noble Enterprise book. I lectured on “Leadership in Challenging Times – the Noble Enterprise Approach” and found participants open to the Noble Enterprise model and eager to discuss strategies for implementing it.
With people like Peggy Noonan writing in the Wall Street Journal about business as a “noble endeavor” and our book on Noble Enterprise getting out there, as well as our presentations at leading business schools, those executives who are learning about the Noble Enterprise approach are eagerly exploring it and beginning to run with it.
If this way of doing business calls to you, you can find more information about the Noble Enterprise business model (and the book about it) at: www.noble businesssolutions.com/NobleEnterpriseBook.html .
If you have a story of Noble Enterprise you’d like to share, please either post it in the Comment section or write us directly at info@Noble BusinessSolutions.com.
If you’d like to learn more about our seminars and keynotes on Revitalizing Companies using the Noble Enterprise approach, go to www.noblebusiness solutions.com/keynotes.html.