cover image The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself

The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself

Tim Leberecht. Harper Business, $27.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-230251-9

Leberecht, chief marketing officer for NBBJ, a global architecture firm, fervently believes that we can’t—and shouldn’t—separate our work lives from our personal lives, aiming in this idealistic but overly flighty manifesto to restore a sense of meaning and transcendence to his readers’ work. According to a 2013 Gallup poll that Leberecht cites, only 13% of employees are fully engaged with their jobs, while 63% report some disengagement and 24% feel “actively disengaged.” The conclusion that Leberecht draws from these statistics is that in a challenging, changing time, “we must keep sacred our younger, cherished notions of work and its meaning.” The book presents seven different types of “business romantics”: the lover, the business traveler, the outsider, the voice, the guardian, the “visioner,” and the believer. It also lists several “rules of enchantment,” including “give more than you take” and “keep the mystique.” Leberecht illustrates these lessons with tales of people, like Twitter editorial director Karen Wickre, who are adhering to their values in an ever-changing world. Though this is unusually well written for a business book, it’s unclear which audience it speaks to and what message, other than the comforting one that work should be inspiring and fun, it aims to convey. (Jan.)