Last week I shared this photo on Facebook of Joolz Lewis. We first met earlier this year through Plymouth University’s ‘Futures’.
I took the photo at the Bakehouse in Cullompton where we’d met for lunch to celebrate the launch of her first book ‘Enlightened Business: Leadership for Sustainable Success’. What a lunch! The food was really good, healthy salads and home baked bread, the coffee and walnut cake we shared was delicious and the conversation was marvellous- once we finished the last crumbs of cake and last sip of coffee we looked at our watches and realized over 3 hours had passed!
I’ve had several requests to say more about the book and now that I’ve actually read it I thought I’d write a review for you.
Enlightened Business is a bold and refreshing book, short (at 131 pages), simple and to the point. In it Joolz shares her dream of a world where the work we do is worthwhile, meaningful and makes a contribution.
My dream is one of a business world where people truly care about their work because it is meaningful. A business world in which potential becomes real, where people are supported to be the very best they can be. It is a world that leaves a legacy, contributing in small and large ways to the world in which we live – both in our own communities and beyond. – Joolz Lewis-
It is a guide to how to create an integration between self, work and spirit; how to grow conscious businesses that are a force for good at the same time as doing good business. This is a topic that lies close to my heart and was the impulse behind the creation of Wise Goose; our dream is of supporting the development of coaches who are working towards a synthesis in these domains and can then go on to support the success of others who are engaging with the same challenge.
But Enlightened Business is more than just a guide book, it is a gift offered from the heart with generosity and spirit. Joolz shares her journey from ‘corporate chick’ to ‘corporate hippy’ and takes the reader by the hand, guiding us step by step through how to create purpose, mission, values and how to align present reality and future vision. Yes, I know we have heard about purpose, meaning and values from other authors, what makes this book fresh is the way Joolz shares her own inquiry into how to bridge the world of spirit and the world of work along with examples from pioneering leaders and stories of clients she has worked with.
Along the way she reflects on the need for integrity, encouraging leaders to assess the inevitable gaps that every day business dilemmas throw our way. Service, joy, creating shared value, compassion, gratitude, risk and vulnerability and much more find a place in a rich book in which spiritual principles are grounded and made relevant to everyday working life. I particularly enjoyed the pages on service.
I hope this isn’t her last book, as she continues on this journey I know she will continue to grow in insight and wisdom – and I look forward to reading what happens next – and perhaps another celebratory lunch (though hopefully we won’t have to wait that long!)
Enlightened Business is a wholehearted book that I wholeheartedly recommend.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Enlightened-Business-Leadership-Sustainable-Success/dp/1909116343