The Corporate Shaman: A Business Fable

By Richard Whiteley

A struggling high-tech company isn't making its numbers. The company's executives are caught in a stranglehold, preoccupied with thoughts of quitting or being fired, and the company is quickly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060008393
• ISBN13: 9780060008390
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: HarperBusiness
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.7" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Multi-Dimensional Leadership

I loved The Corporate Shaman. Richard Whiteley does a phenomenal job of reintroducing ancient knowledge in practical, logical and understandable terms. Somehow, in the last few hundred years, we have forgotten what we collectively have known for thousands of years: that all suffering, illness and maliase, whether corporate or individual, is a result of a loss of spirit or soul which them manifest in the body (corpus) or the collective (corporation). In order to regain wholeness and heal the spirit must be reclaimed. For over 15 years, I have seen the profound impact shamanic work has had on individuals but have not been sufficiently brave enough to introduce these concepts and techniques into the corporate environment. Richard Whitely, and his character Jason Hand, have the courage, precise timing and storytelling ability to make the introduction fascinating, realistic, entertaining and powerful.

Powerful Practices for Contemporary Business Problems

The Corporate Shaman is a page turner. It grabbed my attention and wouldn'let it go. It is appropriate for anyone who works, no matter what level in the organization. PRIMETEC, the company described in the book brings back memories of organizations of which I have been a part and the characters represent co-workers I have know in the past as well. This is an excellent description of how the powerful practices of healers who have been aroundfor over 40 thousand years can be applied to alleviate contemporary business problems.

Another Tool for Dealing With On-going Business Dilemmas

This is not a straightforward business how-to book, but it is one that could be immensely useful for those willing to take a leap into some unknown territory. Richard Whiteley has written the story of what is undoubtedly a very common business issue where the corporate structure has been shaken by a slow-down in top-line business and leadership, rather than looking at the business as a whole, has begun to manage solely by the numbers. Consequently, the company is on the verge of losing it's heart and soul, and ultimately it's place in the market. Enter Jason Hand, a corporate shaman, who begins to work with various members of the company's executive staff and teach them how to access and employ animal spirits to help them solve conventional problems in unconventional ways. This is not a heavy-handed treatise and Richard Whiteley manages to introduce us to some pretty off-the-wall new ways of thinking about commom problems in very unthreatening and even common sense ways. It is also not a book that pretends to create problem-solving miracles. It acknowledges that some problems have such deep roots that it may take time to turn the situation around, but if one relies on more than the conventional, just maybe the turnaround may even have more lasting power. I found it inspirational and look forward to learning more about how these unconventional means can help to create stronger business.

A book for the executive heart and spirit

Exactly what is called for in these extraordinarily challenging times...a corporate shaman. With layoffs, acquisitions, dramatically devalued pension funds, and the post 9-11 loneliness and pain, our organizations today and the people in them have taken some serious blows to their spirit. And what makes more sense to deal with this wounding than one who has been trained through the millennia to do exactly that. This is the corporate shaman. An exciting and powerfully relevant read for anyone who works.

Find the Fire Within

It has been said that the most glowing successes are but a reflection of an inner fire. Richard Whiteley's fable magically awakens us to the fire within each one of us and rekindles our spirit for living a life of wholeness. The characters and situations he describes in PRIMETEC are all too familiar to anyone who has worked in an organization going through hard times.The book is a page turner...I couldn't put it down.