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The Power of Unity

July 3, 2000

"The power of unity is understood by anyone who has ever worked with a truly cohesive team that has a common vision (Senge, 1990).  After such an experience, one has such a sense of energy and well being that one's remaining career is spent seeking out that same kind of work environment.  Creating that unity of vision requires a new kind of consciousness (Osterberg, 1993, Liebig, 1994), one based on love.

An environment of unity requires managers to change from being controllers to being coaches.  The controlling, punitive approach is not conducive to hear-and-soul universal participation and building a common vision (Miller, 1991).  Once a common vision is achieved, workers generally have a new sense of meaning in their work, and this sense is powerful indeed.  When management is singularly focused on profits and money, it is difficult to gain high levels of motivation from workers.  A sense of purpose resulting from shared vision and the virtue of unity is a vital factor in creating an energetic workforce (Marcic, 1997, p.57)."

Reference: Marcic, D. (1997).  Managing with the wisdom of love: uncovering virtue in people and organizations.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

What are you doing to build unity in your organization?

Managing With the Wisdom of Love is available on loan from the OSU Leadership Center.  A complete listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~leaders

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Created: 2009-01-02, Updated: 2009-01-12