Book Review on Mother Teresa, CEO: Unexpected Principles for Practical Leadership

About Authors:
Ruma Bose is a successful entrepreneur and executive in the consumer industry with over 15 years of experience. In 1992/1993, Ms. Bose spent eight months in Kolkata working with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity. Currently, she serves as President and CoCEO of Sprayology, a homeopathic and vitamin Wellness Company. Her career in business includes developing strategies that have raised millions for profit and non-profit ventures. Louis Faust, III is a businessman with more than 25 years of corporate experience. Most recently he was President of Newdea, Inc., a collaboration platform for philanthropic impact. He also is the Managing Partner and Co-founder of Colorado Technology Partners, LLC. Over the past 15 years, Mr. Faust has held a number of board and senior management positions, having run three institutionally funded companies during this time

Why Mother Teresa, a CEO?

In the early 1990s, at age 19, author Ruma Bose worked as a volunteer in Calcutta (now Kolkata) with Mother Teresa. Now Bose and co-author Lou Faust have identified eight key leadership principles Mother Teresa practiced diligently as she built the Missionaries of Charity into a global organization with billions of dollars in revenue. The authors include stories from their entrepreneurial and corporate experiences, easy-to-follow discussions, and incidents from Mother Teresas life to show how each principle can benefit you personally and professionally. When reflecting on Mother Teresas unique life and single-minded dedication, you may be tempted to view her gentle spirit, charitable work, and lofty goals as inspired by faith and somehow not relevant to the modern world. That would be misguided thinking. In fact, you dont have to be a saint to gain from the fundamental tenets of her leadership, which are useful to managers at all levels. While some may think this short book is a bit simplistic, getAbstract finds that its very simplicity is a large part of what makes it so powerful

Review:
Mother Teresa was called as a friend of poverty, rather than the poor, and a Catholic fundamentalist. The Authors referred Mother Teresa as CEO, a paean to the leadership talents of historys most famous Albanian. She risked her credibility by taking money from former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier, and let herself be trivialised by the many who sought to bask in her reputation as a modern saint. Leadership lessons from here life that we must learn from her life: (Teresa principles)

Dream it simple, say it strong To get to the angels, deal with the devil; wait, then pick your moment Embrace the power of doubt Discover the joy of discipline Communicate in a language people understand Pay attention to the janitor Use the power of silence

The first step to leading like Mother Teresa is to decide what are you Mother Teresa of? What is the vision we are capable of bringing to reality? Dealing with devils to get to the angels is the authors way of excusing her taking Duvaliers money. The cause was right, even if the source of the money was tainted. They suggest Mother Teresa had an ethical framework that allowed her to make such decisions, and that we should do the same. Likewise, we should develop a framework for dealing with doubt, as successful leaders find courage in the face of fear so that they can lead their organisations forward. The authors dare not say it, but obviously Mother Teresas framework was her Christian faith, beliefs that would never make it into an executive two-by-two. Mother Teresa also possessed what Peter Drucker called the bias toward action. Bose and Faust say that she believed if something needs washing, wash it. If something needs fixing, fix it. There are moments in the book when you realise how vast the gulf is between business writing and normality. Bose compares Mother Teresas devotion to discipline to her own commitment to jogging. And Faust recommends keeping a book of office malapropisms to generate the kind of joy in work shown by Mother Teresas nuns. Other tips are worth being reminded of, such as the importance of good manners and taking time to think rather than endlessly acting. The books greatest merit may be its brevity. Unlike many business books, it does not gas on for 200 pages more than it should. But to get a real sense of the joys and travails of Mother Teresa as CEO,