BCC assumes that believing creates energy, and assumes that the vitality and productivity of a company will in future depend on the strength of the belief with which it strives for vision and global aims.
In February 1987, an essay on the BCC philosophy of Real Management was printed in Radar fur Trends, a German publication devoted to management studies. It was largely written by Gerd Gerken, who held a degree in Communication Techniques from Berlin University, was a management consultant for 20 years. The following summary of the 50-page article concentrates on Herr Gerken's comments on BCC philosophy, rather than his exposition of it.
The first entrepreneurs are now coming into the open on what topic: spiritualisation and enlightened management. And they are not merely theorising, but putting their ideas into practice.
Management with a human dimension has different convictions and perspectives from normal intellectual management. The principle is simple: the integration of eternal purpose into the cold environment of modem commerce.
The material world can always only be as good as awareness permits. And awareness can only be qualified by ethos and morals; for enlightened management tries to produce a new type of unification of morals and matter.
Financial success is the offspring of the highest ethics. The greater the role of applied ethics, the greater the success: to managers who tend towards obscure and dark management, this seems a childish illusion cherished by people who do not know "how hard and highly dangerous" management really is.
Equally, enlightened management is not only spiritual, but modem and progressive. High standards of ethics are welcomed, not just grudgingly tolerated. The strength behind enlightened management comes from working towards an "eternal purpose'.'
Herr Gerken refers to BCC as an example of "enlightened spiritual management;' which he believes will make a breakthrough on many fronts in the 1990s. It is, he says, a question of awareness and an intuition of a great vision.
Techniques are now being used to charge organisations with more energy. One of these techniques is interfusion, which involves a consolidation of the energy of all employees and its subsequent combination with cosmic energy. The strategies of conventional, "rational" management no longer work in enlightened management. They cannot unleash energy because they are incapable of attaching emotion to their issues.
Those who have the confidence to live by spiritual morals in their business life enhance the vital forces of the company. Spirituality will in future be a first class competitive factor.
BCC assumes that believing creates energy, and assumes that the vitality and productivity of a company will in future depend on the strength of the belief with which it strives for vision and global aims. It has long been known that the egotistical demands of finance (at least a 5% return) provide no incentive at all in the mobilisation of productive forces.
The key feature is a changed attitude to work and people. Enlightened management does not use people to get work done, but turns the tables: work is there to allow people to develop. Work serves the purpose of personal growth.
A recent American publication described how even very large organisations (in the form of multinational concerns) are generally metaphysically "nourished" or fashioned by a very small number of people: a few focuses of super-awareness (higher spirits) govern all the other forces. True to the saying "like master, like man;' between five and 50 highly spiritual people are sufficient to raise an entire company on to one and the same level of spiritual quality, provided they are in agreement and create real interfusion.
This article is derived from a translation by Mr Syed A. Hasan, of BCC Frankfurt, published in BCC inhouse magazine, October 1987 Issue.
Radar fur Trends, a newsletter, had a high quality claimed circulation of 1,000, including such leading names as Daimler Benz, IBM, Hoechst, Shell, BAT, Hewlett-Packard and BMW.
Gerd Gerken had previously published two books: The New Manager and The Future of Trade. In a subsequent book "Management by Love" he predicted that in the 1990s more spirituality will have to come into our business lives. He explained, "developing people along their talents will be the main task of a manager!" To lead people, teams of people on eye level, and to let them lead you as seemingly, will become the common leadership style. Authenticity will be key.