Mother Teresa, CEO: Unexpected Principles for Practical Leadership

By Ruma Bose and Louis Faust III

When most people think of Mother Teresa, they think of a saint—a spiritual hero of extraordinary humanitarian accomplishments, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. But Mother Teresa was also the leader of one of the world’s largest and most successful organizations: the Missionaries of Charity. Since founding it in 1948 she has raised millions of dollars and, with over a million volunteers in more than 100 countries, it remains one of the most recognized brands in the world. How did one nun who never received any formal education in business build such an impressive global organization?

Frank, realistic, and firmly grounded in practicality, Mother Teresa’s leadership style helped to inspire and organize people across the world. This book shares ten essential leadership principles drawn from Mother Teresa’s example and applies them to today’s business world. Authors Ruma Bose, an entrepreneur who volun- teered with Mother Teresa, and Lou Faust, a leading business expert, are the first to examine her in this light—as a leader whose management style and dedication to a singular vision led to one of the world’s most unlikely success stories.

Mother Teresa may have been a saint, but her spectacular success was not a product of divine providence. Her genius was the simplicity of her vision and her dedication to its implementation. It was in the way she treated her people, refusing to distance herself from the everyday work of a typical sister of the Missionaries of Charity. It was in how she handled tough choices—like accepting donations from brutal Haitian dictator François “Papa Doc” Duvalier. These were the principles that made her the great leader of a global organization, and they can be applied by anyone in any organization—no sainthood required.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781605099538

Ruma Bose

Lou Faust is a businessman and advisor with thirty years of corporate experience, including ten years on Wall Street with Salomon Brothers, where he was a managing director and head of global operations. He is the managing partner and founder of Edge Capital Partners, which provides strategic advice to emerging growth companies. He lives in Broomfield, Colorado.

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More Praise for Mother Teresa, CEO

Numerous articles and books have been written about Mother Teresa the humanitarian. Most of these have been focused on the impact she has had on millions of lives and not on her leadership skills that played an integral role in making her one of the most successful humanitarians of our generation. This book distills her journey into leadership principles that are easy to understand and emulate.

—William H. C. Chang, Chair, Westlake International Group, and owner, DC United and the San Francisco Giants

"Mother Teresa, CEO is an important contribution to the emerging paradigm of 21st-century leadership. Bose and Faust have captured the essence of her leadership success in a compelling read that gives each of us practical ideas for leading our organizations. If success is the scorecard, Mother Teresa’s principles are a must-read!"

—William S. Thompson, former CEO, PIMCO

This book is a wonderful addition to Mother Teresa’s legacy. A fantastic journey that gave me insight into simple principles that can be profitably applied to any organization. Bose and Faust reveal a previously unrecognized facet of this extraordinary woman’s life, one that provides lessons any leader can benefit from. Profound, engaging, and packed with insight. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

—Gloria Nelund, cofounder, Chair, and CEO, TriLinc Global, and former head, Private Wealth Management Division for North America, Deutsche Bank

Mother Teresa inspired people throughout the world as a result of her work. She truly was an extraordinary person. This book looks at her work through the lens of her leadership for the very first time. The principles put forth by Bose and Faust provide leaders in any organization a framework for ethical and effective leadership in today’s tumultuous environment. Read it. Apply the principles and you and your organization will be on your way to becoming extraordinary.

—Robert White, founder and CEO, Extraordinary People, and author of Living an Extraordinary Life

All CEOs require leadership skills; however, remarkable CEOs see every roadblock as a business ramp. Bose and Faust have identified a woman who was able to exemplify these leadership principles on the global stage. A required addition to any library.

—Gary Schwartz, CEO, Impact Mobile, Inc.

MOTHER TERESA, CEO

Author Ruma Bose with Mother Teresa, Calcutta, 1992

MOTHER TERESA, CEO

Unexpected Principles

for Practical Leadership

by Ruma Bose and Lou Faust

Mother Teresa, CEO

Copyright © 2011 by Ruma Bose and Louis Faust III

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

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First Edition

Hardcover print edition ISBN 978-1-60509-951-4

PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-60509-952-1

IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-60509-953-8

2011-1

Jacket designer: Cassandra Chu

Ruma Bose photo by Sandi Fellman. Lou Faust photo by Jill Vincent.

Copyediting: Lynn Golbetz

Interior design and composition: Leigh McLellan Design

Contents

Preface

INTRODUCTION   The Teresa Principles

Major Milestones in Mother Teresa’s Life

CHAPTER ONE    Dream It Simple, Say It Strong

CHAPTER TWO    To Get to the Angels, Deal with the Devil

CHAPTER THREE   Wait! Then Pick Your Moment

CHAPTER FOUR    Embrace the Power of Doubt

CHAPTER FIVE      Discover the Joy of Discipline

CHAPTER SIX        Communicate in a Language People Understand

CHAPTER SEVEN   Pay Attention to the Janitor

CHAPTER EIGHT     Use the Power of Silence

CONCLUSION         You Don’t Have to Be a Saint

                       The Missionaries of Charity Today

Notes

Index

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

This book is dedicated to the two angels in my life,

Mother Teresa

and my late father, Tapan Kumar Bose

RUMA

To my late mother, JoAnn Devane Faust

LOU

Preface

WHAT ORGANIZATION founded by a lone entrepreneur grew to become one of the largest enterprises in the world?

This organization was started in 1948 with a passionate leader at its helm and twelve loyal team members. Today, it:¹

• conducts operations in over one hundred countries;

• has a loyal full-time workforce of four thousand;

• has over one million volunteer team members;

• is one of the most recognized brands in the world; and

• has raised and deployed billions of dollars in capital.

Is it Hewlett-Packard?

Is it Coca-Cola?

Is it Disney?

No, it’s Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.

One woman used her drive, determination, faith, and singular management style to build one of the largest organizations in the world. It has delivered the kind of measurable impact that most companies can only dream of achieving.

How did this nun, with no formal business training, create a global brand, a powerful fund-raising entity, and a worldwide organization over the course of forty-seven years?

Mother Teresa did what many successful entrepreneurs with great ideas do—she applied her ethical principles and values to work she was passionate about. When we view Mother Teresa from a leadership perspective, a wonderful story emerges, one filled with inspiration and life lessons.

Ruma Bose spent time in Calcutta (now Kolkata) working as a volunteer with Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity in 1992. Over time, Ruma discovered that their operational success resulted from the careful application of simple but unexpected principles. Scaling an organization into over one hundred countries is not easy and doesn’t happen by accident. What Mother Teresa accomplished ranks among the great business achievements in human history.

Mother Teresa did not fit into a typical box, and she did not have a traditional leadership style. As a result, this book is not a typical business book. Nor is it a religious book. Instead, it will give you the unique opportunity to live

Reviews for Mother Teresa, CEO

[Tammy Cheung · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Simple yet powerful principles

[careburpee · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Being neither Catholic nor an executive of any level, this might seem an odd book for me to pick up, but I am glad that I had the simple pleasure and gentle learning experience this book afforded me.As a young Hindi woman, during a time of aimless confusion in her life, Ruma Bose spent an extended period of time volunteering with Mother Teresa and her Sisters of Charity in India. Ruma has subsequently gone on to become a successful business woman. A dinner party conversation during which she sketched out the leadership style of Mother Teresa was the genesis of this book, on which Ms. Bose asked her mentor, Lou Faust to collaborate.The book’s structure is very simple. It is divided into eight chapters, each of which correlate with one of eight principles found by Ruma Bose to define the leadership philosophy of Mother Teresa. These principles are:Dream it Simple, Say it Strong Dealing with the Devil to get to the Angels Wait! Then pick your moment Embrace the power of doubt Discover the joy of discipline Communicate in a language people understand Pay attention to the janitor Use the power of silence At the beginning of each chapter Ruma recounts an anecdote from her time with the gentle woman who began and grew one of the world’s largest charity organizations. These brief snippets let the reader see various sides of Mother Teresa from a CEO standpoint. Lou Faust and Ruma then draw parallels to real world business situations.The book left me with mixed feelings. It is useful in that I do not think you need to be a CEO to apply these principles to your life, and this broadens the scope of those for whom this will be an enjoyable read. However, the book, at a scant 144 pages, does not provide any concrete suggestions for implementation, neither on a personal nor a business level. For me, the book was primarily an informative look at Mother Teresa through an alternative lens. If you are fascinated by this special woman the book is well worth your time.