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A
Report on the Fourth International Symposium on Spirituality
& Business
by David
W. Miller
Who
would have thought that a symposium on spirituality and business
would become an institutionalized event? Thanks to Babson
College and several other co-sponsors and volunteers, this
fourth annual symposium was held successfully on March 21-23,
2001 on the campus of Babson College in Wellesley, MA. Some
150 people of a variety of religious and spiritual orientations
attended the event. By all informal measures the atmosphere
seemed to generate much good will, interaction, and positive
response from the attendees, myself included.
For
many, the highlight was hearing Aaron Feuerstein (president
and CEO of Malden Mill Industries) and Jeffrey Swartz (president
and CEO of The Timberland Company). The first annual Aaron
Feuerstein Spirituality and Business Award was given to Jeff.
The presentation by Rita Bailey, director, Southwest Airlines,
on "Leading with Joy - Creating Community in a Diverse
Corporation" was also a highlight for many. The other
two keynote speakers, Roger Porter (Kennedy School of Government)
and Deborah Dagit (SGI) were also very well received.
The
symposium sought to balance the larger plenary sessions with
smaller elective breakout speaker sessions. Among the many
choices, I had the opportunity to hear Gun Denhart (co-founder
and chairperson, Hanna Andersson), J.J. Graafland (ethics
professor from The Netherlands), Warner Woodworth (business
professor from Brigham Young), and Martin Rutte (president
of Livelihood in Santa Fe), all of whom were stimulating and
insightful in their own respective areas of expertise.
Finally,
the organizers assigned each participant to small facilitated
working group, to provide a structured yet informal venue
for reflecting upon the various speakers and appropriating
the range of information for one's own life and work. As one
of those facilitators, I can confirm that these working groups
were a key ingredient to the overall program.
The conclusion? Try to include this event next year on your calendar!
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