Book Review- The CEO and the Monk
The CEO and The Monk-One Company's journey to profit and purpose By Robert Catell, Kenny Moore and Glen Rifkin
About the authors:
Robert B. Catell:
The CEO of KeySpan and the man behind Brooklyn Unions transformation from a small local monopoly into one of America’s largest energy providers. He is one of the most respected business leaders in New York
Kenny Moore:
Is a former monk, who left monasticism after 15 years to embrace corporate life and a successful career in human resources. He is currently corporate ombudsman at KeySpan.
Glen Rifkin:
A veteran business journalist who ahs written extensively for the New York Times and coauthored many groundbreaking business books such as Radical Marketing, The CEO Chronicles and The Ultimate entrepreneur.
A Summary:
The CEO and The Monk, is an inspiring story of a company’s search for greater purpose and its endeavor to justify its existence beyond mere pursuit of profit.
It is about the serendipitous coming together of two people with backgrounds completely belying their association. Together , the CEO and The Monk set out on a journey in search of the ‘ corporate soul’ and in the process transform a comfortably positioned local monopoly, faced with the onslaught of deregulation, into a competitive yet refreshingly different energy behemoth. The authors do not claim to have found the perfect answer or preach the virtues of a moral organization, nor for that matter do they prescribe the employment of the services of a former monk as an elixir to corporate woes, but what they intend to do is simply tell their story, or as Bob Catell puts it “I wish we had a formula we could offer and a blueprint for success. We don’t. This is our journey and our story”
At the Goldman Sachs energy industry analysts meeting, hearing Jeffrey Skilling the brash young CEO of Enron, and former Mckinsey consultant speak of a completely different energy scenario from what Bob and his Brooklyn Union were
About the authors:
Robert B. Catell:
The CEO of KeySpan and the man behind Brooklyn Unions transformation from a small local monopoly into one of America’s largest energy providers. He is one of the most respected business leaders in New York
Kenny Moore:
Is a former monk, who left monasticism after 15 years to embrace corporate life and a successful career in human resources. He is currently corporate ombudsman at KeySpan.
Glen Rifkin:
A veteran business journalist who ahs written extensively for the New York Times and coauthored many groundbreaking business books such as Radical Marketing, The CEO Chronicles and The Ultimate entrepreneur.
A Summary:
The CEO and The Monk, is an inspiring story of a company’s search for greater purpose and its endeavor to justify its existence beyond mere pursuit of profit.
It is about the serendipitous coming together of two people with backgrounds completely belying their association. Together , the CEO and The Monk set out on a journey in search of the ‘ corporate soul’ and in the process transform a comfortably positioned local monopoly, faced with the onslaught of deregulation, into a competitive yet refreshingly different energy behemoth. The authors do not claim to have found the perfect answer or preach the virtues of a moral organization, nor for that matter do they prescribe the employment of the services of a former monk as an elixir to corporate woes, but what they intend to do is simply tell their story, or as Bob Catell puts it “I wish we had a formula we could offer and a blueprint for success. We don’t. This is our journey and our story”
At the Goldman Sachs energy industry analysts meeting, hearing Jeffrey Skilling the brash young CEO of Enron, and former Mckinsey consultant speak of a completely different energy scenario from what Bob and his Brooklyn Union were