A Higher Purpose

Depository Library Program.

Two distinguished scholars offer eight steps to help organizations discover and embrace an authentic higher purpose—something that will dramatically improve every aspect of any enterprise, including the bottom line. What does a lofty notion like purpose have to do with business basics like the bottom line? Robert E. Quinn and Anjan J. Thakor say pretty much everything. Leaders and managers are taught that employees are self-interested and work resistant, so they create systems of control to combat these expectations. Workers resent these systems, and performance suffers. To address the performance issues, managers double down on the coercion, creating a vicious cycle and a self-fulfilling prophecy. But there is a better way. Quinn and Thakor show that when an authentic higher purpose permeates business strategy and decision-making, the cycle is broken. Employers and employees see themselves as working together toward an inspiring goal, not just trying to hit quarterly targets. They fully engage, become proactive contributors, and, ironically, easily exceed those quarterly targets. Based on their widely acclaimed Harvard Business Review article, Quinn and Thakor offer eight sometimes surprising steps for shifting from a transaction-oriented mind-set focused on constraints to a purpose-oriented mind-set focused on possibility. This iconoclastic book will help any organization discover its authentic purpose and weave it into the fabric of everything it does, leading to unprecedented levels of personal satisfaction, service and product innovation, and economic growth.

This is a book of thoughts. I've always been intrigued by thoughts. And now, in my mid-sixties, after a few successful careers, watching my kids grow into adults and having celebrated my 40th wedding anniversary, it has become clear to me that my life is definitely a direct reflection of the thoughts that I have held over all those years. I have read about this notion; and while intuitively it made sense to me, I now can say, with clarity, that my life is living proof that the emotional intensity and amount of time that I applied to a thought had a direct relationship to what results showed up in my life. My life has been a search for meaning and significance. The thoughts and quotes in this book have provided me with the greatest inspiration for reflection. I hope you take this book home - pick it up, put it down, reflect - and pick it up again and again.

What if you could improve your physical health while deepening your spiritual life? In Running for a Higher Purpose, Most Rev. Thomas John Paprocki, Catholic bishop of Springfield--a marathon runner and hockey player--shares how the simple discipline of running can help you unlock profound spiritual benefits. Paprocki took up running as a teenager for his health; he ran his first marathon in his forties. Along the way he discovered that improving your physical health through running is a way to honor God and grow deeper in your spiritual life. Perfect for those who want to try running for the first time as well as for more experienced runners who want to set goals for a new challenge, Running for a Higher Purpose offers eight steps to reach spiritual and physical fitness. Review - Review where you are. Reform - Identify how to improve. Resolve - Resolve to put change into effect. Repeat - Don't quit. Renew - Renew your physical and spiritual wellness. Relax - Balance physical and spiritual exercise with the need to rest. Reward - Feel personal satisfaction and reward by achieving your goals. Rejoice - Integrating a sound mind in a sound body leads to eternal happiness. Each chapter includes an inspirational quotation, a personal promise statement, and a prayer.

In these fascinating pages, author Luanne Zurlo shows that, contrary to popular opinion, single life is often a holy, joyful vocation lived out, sometimes in a hidden way, by souls who have had an authentic encounter with Christ. Here she sheds light on this little-understood vocation discerned and embraced by a growing number of single persons who neither marry nor enter religious life. These souls are joyfully single for a greater purpose, nourishing both the world and the Church with the unique spiritual strengths and graces that God gives to souls who deliberately remain single for Him — in the world but not of it. Read these pages to learn: Why dedicated single life is uniquely suited to our times How it builds on our baptismal vocations The special role that dedicated singles have in the Church How the dedicated-single vocation complements marriage and religious life How celibacy for the sake of the Ki

As Tom Whittaker struggled to keep conscious the night of 27 November 1979, his thoughts focused on a singular plea: Please, don't let them take my legs. Earlier that evening, a drunk driver struck Tom's VW van on an isolated, snow-covered road in Idaho and shattered his legs -- and his dreams. When he awoke from emergency surgery, the 31-year-old mountaineer's right leg had been amputated at mid-shin and his right kneecap removed. Devastated, he pondered suicide. Finally it occurred to him: you don't need your lower leg to kayak. Seven months after the accident, Tom hobbled down to the south fork of the Payette River, and began paddling. In the years since then, Tom has not only taken his life back, he's taken his family, his fellow sportsmen, and hundreds of thousands of disabled and able-bodied people to the top of the world. In May 1998, Tom became the first amputee to summit Mount Everest. The climb and his inspirational story, as well as his work on behalf of disabled people around the world, have earned him the recognition as one of America's most courageous heroes.

Maxwell's down-to-earth candor combined with scholarly insight is designed to inspire and enlighten her library peers and colleagues. Drawing from history, sociology and philosophy, Sacred Stacks voices the importance of the library profession and libraries as community institutions in a secular time.

When we sow our seeds in the garden of life, do we settle for a meager display of two or three flowers? Or do we aim for a pageantry of rich colors and breathtaking beauty? So asks author David Bruce in the exquisite essays inspiring us to live an active spiritual life. Fresh and concise, he discusses themes such as living with purpose, spiritual practice, digital distractions, reincarnation, the human condition, and offers advice on books and reading. Free of dogma, he helps the open-minded inquirer find ultimate meaning.