Page 11 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

PREFACE

as well as positive psychology, she helps clients examine
the patterns that have shaped their past so they can bet-
ter choose their future. Her clinical practice and change
workshops include both people with everyday struggles and
people facing trauma or serious adversity. Some people in
each group see primarily the senselessness and deficits of
their lives, while others manage to find a sense of meaning
and abundance. Her M.B.A. reminds her that real change
means institutionalizing, not merely individualizing, abun-
dance and meaning.
One of us works with organizations, the other with
individuals. One wants to help organizations serve their
customers and investors; the other wants to help individu-
als grow and find peace. But as we have worked together,
we have found common ground. The questions both lead-
ers and those they lead wrestle with and the answers they
develop seem to overlap and connect around the search for
The Why of Work—the search for meaning, purpose. Finding
that why infuses organizations with a sense of abundance—
having enough and to spare of what matters most.
Dave had a personal encounter with abundance a few
years ago while we shared responsibilities directing a mis-
sion for our church in Canada. One day he met with a poor
African immigrant family living in subsidized housing with
shoddy furniture and too many people for the confined
space. Despite these “deficits,” this family had forged an
emotional bond that emanated warmth and generosity. They
cared about each other and the world. They were curious
and compassionate. When it came to what mattered most,
they had enough and to spare. Later that day, we had din-
ner in an executive’s expensive, beautifully adorned home.
Although the food was tasty and the furnishings elegant, the

x