When I was a little girl, I often heard adults describing the world they worked in as tough, heartless and devoid of love. Messages like "it's a dog-eat-dog world," "look out for number one," "it's a cold, cruel world" abounded. As I watched people go about their daily business, I saw them living the reality of these messages. My heart was very sad. It all seemed like such a waste. We spend too many of our living hours engaged in the business of work for it to be so barren and soul-less. Many believe the only way to make money, the only way to gain resources for our survival, is to conduct oneself in such a narrow manner, as though in business there is no room for love or the heart.

I have always been attracted to people and stories that offer a different model. Business and love can coexist. In fact, sometimes love is good business, and business without love cannot grow. I am inspired by people who demonstrate that we can operate from a win-win framework, that there is enough abundance in the world that we can take care of ourselves as we take care of those around us too, and that by bringing one's heart into business, wonderful things can happen that enrich our lives as well as our pocketbooks. 

At the heart of good business are good relationships. People are not commodities to gather and dispose of without care. People and relationships are the very fabric of business and the creative energy that when harnessed, creates material success. I would like to share two stories with you of inspiring people who demonstrate the power of love in business. The first story is about the power of a relationship in shaping the careers and lives of two men over time. The second story is about a man, who after facing the darkest night of the soul, brought his spirit into business in a way that is transforming the lives of those he works with.

A Tale Of Work And Love 

When I first heard the story of the relationship between Bob Offenbach and Jack Mohan, I was deeply touched and moved to tears. The story begins and ends at an annual company awards event where Bob Offenbach, 87 years old and recovering from surgery for a circulatory problem in his legs, was being honored as the living legend that he is at a company called Management Recruiters International. His presence at the annual meeting is an integral part of the company culture, even after over 30 years of service. 

Thirty-four years ago, Bob Offenbach, then 53 and complete with a successful thirty-one year career in the women's fashion industry embarked on a new professional direction. Bob joined the staff of Management Recruiters International and moved from being an executive in his familiar clothing industry to a search professional in a different one. In making this move, Bob found a niche and a creative outlet for his diligence and professional passion.

"I loved it," reminisces Bob. "This work offered the opportunity, to be responsible for yourself, to run your own business, and to know that whatever you made was yours." Bob had an incredible aptitude for this work, and set company records for professional placements almost from the start.

Unlike most people in his field, Bob was motivated by recognition and appreciation. "Ninety-nine percent of people are motivated by money," acknowledges Bob. "Appreciation is what I've always wanted. How much money does anyone need?" He had succeeded financially and was providing a nice lifestyle for himself and his wife Millie. Yet a pat on the back, he felt, was worth its weight in gold. 

Bob's career is both noteworthy and famous within the culture of MRI; awards have been created in his name. He has tried to retire four or five times only to be brought back in some fashion, both for his own spirit and for the benefit of the company. However, what is most striking is the bond between Bob and Jack.

Jack first met Bob in 1969. John F. Mohan, now 56 and President and CEO of Management Recruiters International of Boston, had come to MRI as a candidate for placement in a sales and marketing position. Having worked in his wife's family's construction business and gone to school evenings at Boston College, Jack at 24, wanted to embark on a new career. Bob introduced Jack to eight potential employers and produced eight job offers for him. Yet, in the end. Jack went to work for Bob and MRI.

"I tried to emulate him," said Jack. "He was 55 when I met him. I was trying to emulate the most successful person in the office. He was bright. He had a strong work ethic. Intelligence is nothing if you are not able to act, and Bob could act. He was the most productive person around.

"Any time you are working around someone who is really motivated, you grow," reflects Jack. Jack grew up in a family with a strong work ethic, and "coming here and seeing a role model around me reinforced my own core values of what it takes to be successful. I had a young family and was extremely motivated to succeed and provide for them. Bob set financial records in productivity. I saw that when you are intelligent and hard working there is no limit to what you can do.

"Everyone, including myself, likes to believe in legends and lore... things mystical. These larger than life figures defy description. They don't even realize it, yet they have a profound impact on everyone around them. I don't think Bob realized tine impact he had on the people he touched. I didn't realize it then," related Jack.

Bob not only gave Jack his start, but also was instrumental in moving him onto the managerial track that led to his current position as company president.

Jack notes, "Over time I got promoted to be the manager and the relationship between Bob and me changed. I became responsible to hire people and watch over them. I watched to see how the superstar would relate to the people I'd bring in. During the time I managed, Bob helped me manage the office. He demonstrated natural leadership and a 'no mountain is too high' attitude. Every day he'd come to work, even through snow storms. There are people in life who are just there. You can count on them. Bob is one of those people."

Today, after a relationship spanning many decades, both Jack and Bob have gray hair and have been successful. And Jack is both an advocate for and protector of Bob, as both person and living legend.

"In 1988 at age 76, Bob was going to retire. I'd been promoted to president of the company," remembers Jack, "and I was no longer involved with Bob after working with him for twenty years. Bob retired in February/March and was home for six weeks. His wife Millie could see he wasn't the same Bob. She said to me, he's not the Bob that you know. We've got to do something.' He wasn't ready to retire. He needed a shot in the arm.

"So, in the spring of 1988, we gave him a recognition award. The corporate president from Cleveland was there as Bob got up on stage. And when he was handed the award his shoulders came up, his head was raised. He took it all in. Bob said to Millie, ' Maybe I am someone special.' 

"It was important for him to remember he was a special guy. He was number one in the eyes of a lot of people. He came back to work that Monday morning, and tore it up like there was no tomorrow."

Jack has continued to find ways of honoring Bob. With a colleague, Jack created a special award for lifetime achievement in the company. "This is an award for a top person, not just a top producer. It is an award for high achievement, perseverance, loyalty and the pursuit of excellence," reflects Jack. " "We called it the Robert Offenbach award. We thought Bob might retire as he approached eighty, so it was a way to recognize him again. He worked in Boston everyday commuting from Framingham until he was eighty-five. Then he moved to our Westboro office and worked three days a week. When he finally made that move he said, ' why didn't I do this earlier?' "

From Deep Depression to Win-Win Success

Bob Olson, 37, lives in Kennebunkport, ME with his wife of fifteen years, Melissa. "We've been together since she was twelve and I was fifteen," notes Bob. Their relationship could be the focus of an article. However, here I will include it as spice to another kind of story. 

After working as a private investigator for twelve years, starting in college, and continuing post-graduation, in 1989 Bob went into a five year depression that put him in a seemingly endless dark night of the soul.

"I was out of work for most of four to five years. I existed in a depressive coma. I slept about 18 hours a day. I tried to find a form of treatment that would work for me and I tried everything. The doctor wondered if the depression was so deep that medication couldn't pull me out of it. Nothing worked."

In the fourth year of his depression, Bob decided to try shock therapy, since nothing else had worked. "I had 21 shock treatments. They failed. However, there was the question whether the shock treatments had changed things enough so that medication could work." Bob tried the medication Tegretol, and within seven days things lifted. "I have been symptom free since then. No side effects." Bob had survived this long, excruciating journey into the dark.

After he got better, Bob immediately went back to his work as a private investigator, but he didn't enjoy the work anymore. "After nine months being back to work, I promised myself I wouldn't do anything I didn't enjoy. I learned too much from the depression."

One thing Bob did out of love was write an inspirational book. Win the Battle, to help people who suffer from depression and manic depression and the people who support them. "The book is really a love story as well as an inspirational story," reflects Bob, acknowledging the special relationship he shares with his wife Melissa. "Many spouses or partners leave people who suffer from mental illness, especially when it takes years to find something to relieve the symptoms. Melissa stood by me for all those years. She was taking care of me. Melissa not only stayed with me, but also became my 
inspiration and support."

During the same time period Bob was writing the book, he was doing something else he really loved: helping people as a marketing consultant. "My interest since I was a kid was marketing. I've absorbed everything I could ever get my hands on that taught marketing, and I've practiced what I've learned since starting my first business as a teenager." One of Bob's early clients after leaving his investigation career was a law firm. "I made a deal with the head lawyer. If my marketing was successful, he could pay me for it. If not, no pay. It was extremely successful. We tripled his clientele within the first year.

"Since my depression lifted, magical things keep happening." Bob's book, which was first self-published, got picked up by Chandler House Press in Worcester. "Two hours after submitting the book to the publisher, the editor called to say they wanted to publish it," recalls Bob. It has been one of their best selling books ever since it came out in 1999.

Bob refined his approach to marketing consulting by educating himself further with tapes, videos and seminars. "I took what seemed to be the best strategies, techniques and methods from different marketing gurus and compiled them together. I enjoy taking strategies and techniques from many different industries and putting them together. Often people get stuck in the way things are commonly done in their industry. I teach people to think outside of the box to implement the best strategies that will maximize their abundance.

"I prefer to think in terms of abundance rather than in terms of profit and money. When business owners work from the mindset of abundance — that their products and services are an exchange of resources and energy — they will increase their success. People will quite often hear me say I don't believe in competition. What I mean is, I don't focus on competition. We can be aware of what our competition is doing and learn new ways of servicing our clients and customers. We should never think about trying to beat the competition. Then our focus is trying to BEAT someone rather than how to serve our customers. If we manifest what we focus on, you can see how it is better to focus on serving your customer than beating the competition.

A Marketing Medium

As his marketing consulting work unfolded, so did a sense of spiritual path. "In January 1999, the same month my book was published by Chandler House Press, I had my first encounter with a psychic/ medium. I wanted to write my next book on the medium. It led to a two year journey of research into the paranormal and the afterlife. In the meantime, I was helping the medium with her marketing. I did it with her as her friend. I do it as a business, but I also do it as a hobby because I love it. I created different forms of marketing for her to try." 

One of the forms was an on-line magazine called OfSpirit,com. "It was originally focused on mediums and this particular woman. But because other marketing efforts, including radio, were so successful, she had no desire to take the time to use OfSpirit.com. The way I designed it for her would be very time consuming."

When Bob realized the psychic did not need to use the website for her business, he redesigned it as a holistic magazine as a hobby. After doing so, he sent out some test e-mails to holistic practitioners to see what interest there would be in advertising on the site. The response was overwhelmingly positive from a marketing standpoint. "I realized there was more going on here than my little hobby."

Bob consulted three people he respected: his accountant, a lawyer and a stockbroker. They independently said the same thing: write a business plan and let them see it. "It took me about fourteen hours a day for seven days to write the business plan. I sent it to them. They all responded by wanting to become investors. This is not something I had planned on doing. I just let things flow in the direction they were taking me without trying to control it. Once again, magical things were happening. Before I knew it I had twenty investors that provided me with the financial foundation to create what my vision of OfSpirit.com should be without charging people for incoming revenue.

"My highest vision for OfSpirit.com is a win-win-win situation. The first win would be to educate the public and open minds to new ideas and possibilities for alternative health, healing and spiritual growth. The second win is to be a vehicle for holistic practitioners and businesses to publicize their products and services for bee. Publicity is about education. Through the many articles that holistic practitioners submit to the site, they promote themselves as well as educate readers. The third win is that OfSpirit.com draws visitor traffic from the articles people are coming to read. The visitors can find out about practitioners who live in their area through the OfSpirit.com holistic guide which is New England-based. So, OfSpirit.com becomes an educational forum as well as a meeting ground for the public and holistic practitioners who might benefit from knowing each other.

"Win-win isn't just something that works in business. It works in all parts of life," reflects Bob. "Abundance isn't just about money. It's about basic human needs such as security, love, shelter and the release of fear. When we create win-win situations, whether they be in family or in business, everyone benefits. Any type of relationship will be able to find win-win solutions when both parties are thinking of how they can maximize the benefits to the other person rather than just what is in it for them. It doesn't have to be a 50-50 give and take. As long as both parties are benefiting from it, that's what matters. Often people sabotage what they could benefit from because they think someone else is getting too much. Don't sabotage yourself worrying about what's in it for the other guy. Get over your fears to see what's in it for both of you."

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Linda Marks, MSM, has practiced heart-centered, psychospiritual body-centered psychotherapy for sixteen years.  She is founder of the Institute for Emotional-Kinesthetic Psychotherapy in Newton, and author of LIVING WITH VISION: RECLAIMING THE POWER OF THE HEART (Knowledge Systems, 1988).  She has taught and spoken nationally and internationally, and has been a leader in the emerging field of somatic psychology.  She lives in Newton, MA with her four year old son, Alexander.  Linda's new book EMBODYING THE SOUL: DANCING INTO LIFE is due for release in  2001.  You can contact her at (617)965-7846 or LSMHEART@aol.com