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Building Corporate Soul: Powering Culture Success with the Soul System™
To succeed, the business of the future must have soul.
Building Corporate Soul answers the most pressing questions for leaders today: How do I build and sustain a human-centric performance culture?
At a time when 10,000 baby boomers retire every day, 79% of employees quit their jobs because they don't feel appreciated at their workplace, and 69% of millennials see a lack of potential for leadership development in their companies, Building Corporate Soul sets out to transform the performance and value of organizations—and to make soulless companies a thing of the past.
Ralf Specht’s unique framework, The Soul System™, aligns value-creating employee behaviors with corporate strategy through shared understanding and shared purpose. Based on the latest research and real-life cases, this actionable framework shows how to build a culture at the workplace that is both human centric and success driven.
Specht proves that leadership behaviors that build soul are synonymous with the behaviors that build success. His performance ranking, The Soul Index, confirms that companies that operate within this framework outperform their peers by a factor of 2.6 compared with Dow Jones over 5 years.
Building Corporate Soul helps leaders at every level move beyond their current thinking and create an environment in which business goals are well understood and corporations walk their talk. Both this shared understanding and the subsequent shared behavior are critical to turn a company´s purpose into a real means to an end: superior success and a truly motivated workforce that is proud of its role inside the organization and of its impact on the local community and society overall. You'll see how companies of all sizes (startups and legacy corporations) have made this happen. You'll also learn how every leader, no matter the industry, can ignite (or re-ignite) the corporate soul in their firm.
Ralf Specht is a visionary business leader and creator of the Soul System™, a framework that aligns value-creating employee action with broader corporate strategy through shared understanding and shared purpose.
As a founding partner of Spark44, he was the architect of an innovative, industry-first joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover, which grew under his leadership to a global revenue of $100+m and 1,200 employees before it joined forces with Accenture Interactive in 2021. Previously, he consulted with global companies and brands for more than two decades with McCann Erickson. Besides Building Corporate Soul: Powering Culture & Success with the Soul System™, he is the author of the forthcoming book Beyond the Startup: Sparking Operational Innovations for Global Growth.
Building Corporate Soul answers the most pressing questions for leaders today: How do I build and sustain a human-centric performance culture?
At a time when 10,000 baby boomers retire every day, 79% of employees quit their jobs because they don't feel appreciated at their workplace, and 69% of millennials see a lack of potential for leadership development in their companies, Building Corporate Soul sets out to transform the performance and value of organizations—and to make soulless companies a thing of the past.
Ralf Specht’s unique framework, The Soul System™, aligns value-creating employee behaviors with corporate strategy through shared understanding and shared purpose. Based on the latest research and real-life cases, this actionable framework shows how to build a culture at the workplace that is both human centric and success driven.
Specht proves that leadership behaviors that build soul are synonymous with the behaviors that build success. His performance ranking, The Soul Index, confirms that companies that operate within this framework outperform their peers by a factor of 2.6 compared with Dow Jones over 5 years.
Building Corporate Soul helps leaders at every level move beyond their current thinking and create an environment in which business goals are well understood and corporations walk their talk. Both this shared understanding and the subsequent shared behavior are critical to turn a company´s purpose into a real means to an end: superior success and a truly motivated workforce that is proud of its role inside the organization and of its impact on the local community and society overall. You'll see how companies of all sizes (startups and legacy corporations) have made this happen. You'll also learn how every leader, no matter the industry, can ignite (or re-ignite) the corporate soul in their firm.
Ralf Specht is a visionary business leader and creator of the Soul System™, a framework that aligns value-creating employee action with broader corporate strategy through shared understanding and shared purpose.
As a founding partner of Spark44, he was the architect of an innovative, industry-first joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover, which grew under his leadership to a global revenue of $100+m and 1,200 employees before it joined forces with Accenture Interactive in 2021. Previously, he consulted with global companies and brands for more than two decades with McCann Erickson. Besides Building Corporate Soul: Powering Culture & Success with the Soul System™, he is the author of the forthcoming book Beyond the Startup: Sparking Operational Innovations for Global Growth.
Kindle Edition
Published February 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 4, 2022
It might be that I work at a company where culture and spirit are extremely top of mind, but I didn't really learn anything from this read. While I hate to be forward in saying that, I was asked for an honest review.
The one thing I really did enjoy was the RIF letter from Air bnb in the appendix. It was by far, one of the most well done emails in that type of communication I've seen. It was managed with maturity and grace not easily obtained.
The one thing I really did enjoy was the RIF letter from Air bnb in the appendix. It was by far, one of the most well done emails in that type of communication I've seen. It was managed with maturity and grace not easily obtained.
February 20, 2022
I’m happy to see that there are books coming out which address organizational management during the CoVid-19 pandemic, as we finally get a chance to find out how crisis were dealt with in the private sector and what lessons learned will have a lasting impact in the years to come. The book is full of good references to studies performed on organizational culture predating CoVid times, as well as how they were maintained or improved in the last 2-3 years. My favourite case study was about Airbnb and how the company’s management dealt with their massive layoff from 2020. Despite all the valuable information presented in this audiobook, I felt disengaged whenever the narrator was reading lines after lines of data from charts. This listening experience would have been perfect without this last part.
Special thanks to NetGalley, Greenleaf Audiobooks, Ascent Audio, and the author for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.
If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!
#LifeLongLearning #BuildingCorporateSoul #NetGalley
Special thanks to NetGalley, Greenleaf Audiobooks, Ascent Audio, and the author for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.
If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!
#LifeLongLearning #BuildingCorporateSoul #NetGalley
February 2, 2022
Catchy name, and I want to know why the heck there’s a wedding ring, a manhole cover, and a penny on the cover.
It took so much time to get through self-congratulations, I skipped forward again and again. It’s extremely slow moving. I would be interested if it were edited by eighty percent.
But in support of what i heard, I agree: vote for the planet!
Review in exchange for an ARC.
It took so much time to get through self-congratulations, I skipped forward again and again. It’s extremely slow moving. I would be interested if it were edited by eighty percent.
But in support of what i heard, I agree: vote for the planet!
Review in exchange for an ARC.
February 25, 2022
Ralf Specht, the former founding partner of Spark44, a global marketing communications corporation is renowned for his efforts and accomplishments with the industry-first joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover an endeavour that led to a $100m growth in global revenue and 1,200 employees.
In his new book, “Building Corporate Soul”, Specht underscores the importance of building a human centric performance culture. A “Soul System” which places people and a set of core values at its very centre. The Soul System consists of three “levels”. At the first level resides a ‘shared purpose’ – a bricolage of tenets shared by the entire top management and disseminated to stakeholders for their buy-in.
The second level encompasses what Specht terms ‘shared understanding’, A shared understanding reinforces and reiterates the shared purpose and in addition lays down the precise nature and definitions of vision, mission, values and spirit. The final element of Spirit, unfortunately is the most neglected element in a corporate ecosystem.
The final level that rounds up the three levels is called ‘shared behaviours’. Shared Behaviour translates aspirations into reality by giving wings to theory and making principles actually work. Specht also provides lots of real life and inspirational examples of companies walking the talk and breathing the culture of Corporate Soul day in and day out. For example, when Airbnb had let go approximately 25% of their employees as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s CEO Brian Chesky made an impassioned plea to those who were retained to never forget the invaluable contributions of those who were about to leave the company. According to Chesky, every Airbnb employee would continue to be an integral part of the company even after his/her departure. This is in stark contrast to the despicable CEO of the inappropriately named mortgage lending company Better.com, Vishal Garg, who covered himself in ignominy and infamy when he fired 900 employees over a Zoom call.
Similarly, Patagonia, the fames outdoor apparel company Patagonia has been effectively using the time from the beginning of Black Friday to the end of the year as a fundraiser for furthering their ESG endeavours. They have till date collected an amount upwards of $10m, multiple times. As Specht emphasizes, culture plays an absolutely pivotal role in enhancing the fortunes of any company. He refers to a finding by The O.C. Tanner Culture Report that defines companies with soul as thriving cultures. Companies with ‘Soul” are thirteen times more likely to have highly engaged employees, Such companies also boast an incidence of great work that is eight times the normal parameter and enjoy the likelihood of generating twice the amount of ordinary revenues. As a survey from work places in India clinically demonstrated, employees in such companies are also more invested in the ethos and business of the organisation.
Lego, Hilton Hotels and Adobe are companies that stand atop the pile of the Ralph Specht “Soul System”. Lego places children at the very soul of their business and create their products in alignment with the needs and choices of the children. In fact before introducing any new model, Lego takes the recommendations of a group of Lego fanatics called Adult Fans Of Lego (AFOLS). Similarly, Hilton with their ‘Thrive@Hilton’ Policy ensure that there is empowerment of employees at every level irrespective, and regardless of hierarchy.
Ralf Specht’s The Soul System™, (a Trademarked concept) is an able ally for corporates looking to make a difference and usher in a change for the good in the societies where they discharge their business responsibilities. The Soul System handholds a company to build a culture at the workplace that is both people oriented and commercially viable. Specht’s Top 20 companies adorning the Soul System rankings have delivered a 199% increase in market value between 2016 and 2020 — nearly 2.4 times more than the S&P 500.
“Building Corporate Soul” – a timely offering!
In his new book, “Building Corporate Soul”, Specht underscores the importance of building a human centric performance culture. A “Soul System” which places people and a set of core values at its very centre. The Soul System consists of three “levels”. At the first level resides a ‘shared purpose’ – a bricolage of tenets shared by the entire top management and disseminated to stakeholders for their buy-in.
The second level encompasses what Specht terms ‘shared understanding’, A shared understanding reinforces and reiterates the shared purpose and in addition lays down the precise nature and definitions of vision, mission, values and spirit. The final element of Spirit, unfortunately is the most neglected element in a corporate ecosystem.
The final level that rounds up the three levels is called ‘shared behaviours’. Shared Behaviour translates aspirations into reality by giving wings to theory and making principles actually work. Specht also provides lots of real life and inspirational examples of companies walking the talk and breathing the culture of Corporate Soul day in and day out. For example, when Airbnb had let go approximately 25% of their employees as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s CEO Brian Chesky made an impassioned plea to those who were retained to never forget the invaluable contributions of those who were about to leave the company. According to Chesky, every Airbnb employee would continue to be an integral part of the company even after his/her departure. This is in stark contrast to the despicable CEO of the inappropriately named mortgage lending company Better.com, Vishal Garg, who covered himself in ignominy and infamy when he fired 900 employees over a Zoom call.
Similarly, Patagonia, the fames outdoor apparel company Patagonia has been effectively using the time from the beginning of Black Friday to the end of the year as a fundraiser for furthering their ESG endeavours. They have till date collected an amount upwards of $10m, multiple times. As Specht emphasizes, culture plays an absolutely pivotal role in enhancing the fortunes of any company. He refers to a finding by The O.C. Tanner Culture Report that defines companies with soul as thriving cultures. Companies with ‘Soul” are thirteen times more likely to have highly engaged employees, Such companies also boast an incidence of great work that is eight times the normal parameter and enjoy the likelihood of generating twice the amount of ordinary revenues. As a survey from work places in India clinically demonstrated, employees in such companies are also more invested in the ethos and business of the organisation.
Lego, Hilton Hotels and Adobe are companies that stand atop the pile of the Ralph Specht “Soul System”. Lego places children at the very soul of their business and create their products in alignment with the needs and choices of the children. In fact before introducing any new model, Lego takes the recommendations of a group of Lego fanatics called Adult Fans Of Lego (AFOLS). Similarly, Hilton with their ‘Thrive@Hilton’ Policy ensure that there is empowerment of employees at every level irrespective, and regardless of hierarchy.
Ralf Specht’s The Soul System™, (a Trademarked concept) is an able ally for corporates looking to make a difference and usher in a change for the good in the societies where they discharge their business responsibilities. The Soul System handholds a company to build a culture at the workplace that is both people oriented and commercially viable. Specht’s Top 20 companies adorning the Soul System rankings have delivered a 199% increase in market value between 2016 and 2020 — nearly 2.4 times more than the S&P 500.
“Building Corporate Soul” – a timely offering!
October 25, 2022
I really like the premise of this book. So many times corporations treat their employees like numbers. And in the ever changing world the need to find a more meaningful purpose with the work you are doing is so much more important than turning a profit and running people into the ground doing it.
This was definitely a book that is better read than listened through audio. I unfortunately listened to the audio through a GoodReads giveaway. Even though there are great resources it was annoying to have these read out at the end of each chapter. Consolidating it to the back of the book would be better. Also great information housed at the buildingcorporatesoul.com website.
I can get behind the Soul System with it's 3 fundamentals, Shared Behavior, Understanding and Purpose. I also thought the addition of Key Thoughts to consider at the end of chapters is a great way to reflect and apply the content.
I appreciate the excerpt from AirBnB and their transparency with the COVID layoffs. I also thought the reading layout was easy to follow with the chapter goals. I really enjoyed chapter 7-11 as these really resonated with me and the approach I take with my recruiting and team development.
This was definitely a book that is better read than listened through audio. I unfortunately listened to the audio through a GoodReads giveaway. Even though there are great resources it was annoying to have these read out at the end of each chapter. Consolidating it to the back of the book would be better. Also great information housed at the buildingcorporatesoul.com website.
I can get behind the Soul System with it's 3 fundamentals, Shared Behavior, Understanding and Purpose. I also thought the addition of Key Thoughts to consider at the end of chapters is a great way to reflect and apply the content.
I appreciate the excerpt from AirBnB and their transparency with the COVID layoffs. I also thought the reading layout was easy to follow with the chapter goals. I really enjoyed chapter 7-11 as these really resonated with me and the approach I take with my recruiting and team development.
February 24, 2022
The basic content and direction of the book is very strong. There is a message here that cannot be stated enough. My struggle was with the audiobook. There are much more concise and engaging ways to share the tables and lists. To read an entire graph or list along with the statistics is too much. Also, when discussing something like the social media post of outgoing execs it would be best to share some relevant pieces and not the entire post. These long readings of content outside the message made it hard to connect with the book even though I was connected to the message. I’m hoping this is received more as feedback than criticism as the message is great.
March 3, 2022
There are a lot of helpful ideas in this book. The main one being: treat your people (employees, customers, shareholders, etc.) like human beings. Run your business as if it matters to actual humans, because it does. Unfortunately, the author used so many examples and so much repetition that this book ends up being about 250 pages longer than it needs to be. A (much) shorter overview of the guiding tenets, followed by a case study at the end of each chapter, would have been a much more effective layout for this text.
March 5, 2022
This is a book that not only emphasizes the importance of creating a Corporate soul, but also provides successful examples and models in this regard.
Airbnb and LinkedIn earned my respect throughout the course of reading this book.
As an audiobook, the management of the reading of the tables deserves a review and an alternative could be the creation of a landing page where they can be consulted.
Thanks to NetGalley, Greenleaf Audiobooks and the author for the opportunity to revienta this book.
#Netgalley #BuildimgCorporateSoul
Airbnb and LinkedIn earned my respect throughout the course of reading this book.
As an audiobook, the management of the reading of the tables deserves a review and an alternative could be the creation of a landing page where they can be consulted.
Thanks to NetGalley, Greenleaf Audiobooks and the author for the opportunity to revienta this book.
#Netgalley #BuildimgCorporateSoul
April 20, 2022
Did not finish. Not all books are for everyone and when I found myself skimming by chapter 2 I decided it was time to move on. Thanks anyway.
April 28, 2022
Good book to reference for great office culture. Our agency seems to have a decent environment as is so there was not much new information but it made for a good reference book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews