An Interesting Book

So I finished reading this really interesting book about a month ago and have been wanting to write a blog entry about it, but....you all know how often I update this blog!

The book is called "The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family". The author, Jeff Benedict, spoke at the BYU Marriott School of Business graduation in 2007, when Andrew graduated and all of the graduates received a free copy.

In this book the author explores how eight very successful Mormon businessmen have balanced their busy careers, church service, family, and interests and how religion and family have spurred them to success. Some of the featured businessmen include: David Neeleman founder and CEO of JetBlue Airways, Kevin Rollins, former CEO of Dell, Jim Quigley, CEO of Deloitte and Touche USA, David Checketts former CEO of Madison Square Garden Corporation, Gary Crittenden, CFO of American Express, and Kim Clark, former Dean of Harvard Business School (Current President of BYU-Idaho).

Some things that I found very interesting about these men is that for the most part, they have very demanding church assignments. Many are bishops (ecclesiastical and temporal leaders of congregations of approx. 400) and stake presidents (leaders of several congregations). How they find time to excel in their demanding work assignments and still find time to serve (without pay) in the church for 10-15+ hours per week amazes me. Another thing that amazed me is that many of these successful business men have large families, and all are still happily married and have never been divorced.

A few chapters in the book talk about how David Neeleman (JetBlue CEO), Gary Crittenden (American Express CFO), and Jim Quigley (Deloitte CEO) dealt with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Their leadership in the face of that disaster in which their employees were in danger and their companies debilitated, was inspiring to me.

For all of you that are business people, or have people that are business people this book shows a great pattern for success and balance in your life. For the rest of us, it is just interesting to read about the crazily busy lives of these businessmen and be glad that we have time to read!