Abstract
Organizations can encourage the development of networks of loving relations and an overall culture of love that promotes flourishing. Although high-level expressions of this reality are not yet statistically normal, they are morally normative—and much can be gained from studying the relatively successful outliers. These exemplar organizations serve as pathfinders for groups that desire greater flourishing and wonder about practices that might work even in settings currently characterized by zero-sum competition. This article frames meanings of “love” and “flourishing” that are practical in a business context—containing implications for other sectors characterized by a sense of collaboration, including sectors where scarcity and antagonism are normal (i.e., most human systems). For this purpose, we focus on Barry-Wehmiller, Inc. We explore some of the ritualized practices within this corporation, as reflected in the published literature and in the experiences and observations of Brian Wellinghoff (BW’s Senior Director, Leadership and Outreach), that have helped this organization to emerge as a beacon for others. We suggest that the degree to which such rituals are skillfully enacted helps to shape the flourishing experiences of the people within Barry-Wehmiller’s span of care—and serves as a beacon to those in other companies interested in learning from Barry-Wehmiller.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bishop, O. 2017. The seventh shrine: Meditations on the African spiritual journey: From the Middle Passage to the mountaintop. Great Barrington, MA: Lindisfarne Books.
Chapman, B. and R. Sisodia. 2015. Everybody matters: The extraordinary power of caring for your people like family. New York: Penguin.
Chen, Y., L. D. Kubzansky, and T. J. VanderWeele. 2019. Parental warmth and flourishing in mid-life. Social Science & Medicine 220: 65–72.
Cottingham, M. D., R. J. Erickson, and M. T. Lee (Eds.). 2023. Transcending crisis by attending to care, emotion, and flourishing. New York: Routledge.
de Campos, T. In press. Lonely mothers, loving institutions: Ethics of agape and integral human development. Journal of Moral Theology.
Fricchione, G. 2011. Compassion and healing in medicine and society: On the nature and use of attachment solutions to separation challenges. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hegi, K. E. and R. M. Bergner. 2010. What is love? An empirically-based essentialist account. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 27(5): 620–636.
Holtge, J., R. G. Cowden, M. T. Lee, A. O. Bechara, S. Joynt, S. Kamble, et al. 2023. A systems perspective on human flourishing: Exploring cross-country similarities and differences of a multisystemic flourishing network. The Journal of Positive Psychology 18(5): 695–710. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2022.2093784.
Hummels, H., M. T. Lee, P. Nullens, R. Ruffini, and J. Hancock. 2021. The future on love and business organizing. An agenda for growth and affirmation of people and the environment (AGAPE). Humanistic Management Journal 6(3): 329–353.
Hummels, H. and A. van der Put. 2023. Agape in the workplace. A survey among medium and large Dutch companies. Humanistic Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41463-023-00158-4.
Iorio, G. 2017. Sociology of love: The agapic dimension of societal life. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press.
Johnson, A. 2023. Turn problems into solutions. LinkedIn, August 29. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/love-em-up-making-safe-turn-problems-solutions-whitney-johnson/.
Kay, C., A. Pavlic, and L. Ruffalo. 2023. The case for flourishing in the time of wellness. Annals of Internal Medicine 176(9): 1257–1258.
Keyes, C. L. 2002. The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 43(2): 207–222.
Kierkegaard, S. 1847/1962. Works of love. New York: Harper.
King Jr., M. L. 1958/2010. Stride toward freedom: The Montgomery story. Boston: Beacon Press.
Klemich, S. and M. Klemich. 2020. Above the line: Living and leading with heart. New York: Harper Business.
Lee, M. T. 2022. Love as a foundational principle for humanistic management. In Love and organization: Lessons of love for human dignity, leadership, and motivation, ed. M Pirson, 5–38. New York: Routledge.
Lee, M. T. and I. Mayor. 2023. Health and flourishing: An interdisciplinary synthesis. In Human flourishing: A multidisciplinary perspective on neuroscience, health, organizations and arts, eds. M Las Heras, M. Grau Grau, and Y. Rofcanin, 49–68. Springer.
Lee, M. T. and W. G. Pearson Jr. In Press. Love as the essence of flourishing: Educational experiments with the subjunctive mood. In The future of education: Reimagining its aims and responsibilities, eds. J Beal and C. Easton. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lomas, T., J. O. Pawelski, and T. J. VanderWeele. 2024. A flexible map of flourishing: The dynamics and drivers of flourishing, well-being, health, and happiness. International Journal of Wellbeing 13(4).
Maparyan, L. 2012. The womanist idea. New York: Routledge.
Nolan, M. T., J. Diefendorff, R. J. Erickson, and M. T. Lee. 2022. Psychological compassion climate: Examining the nomological network of perceptions of work group compassion. Journal of Vocational Behavior 133: 103688.
Post, S. G. 2022. Dignity for deeply forgetful people. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Ritchie-Dunham, J. L. (Ed.). 2024. 2023 world agreements for ecosystem-wide flourishing report. Institute for Strategic Clarity. https://isclarity.org/pages/research.
Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., S. C. Jones, J. Flett, K. Granville-Chapman, A. Pettey, H. Vossler, and M. T. Lee. In press. Love in action: Agreements in a large microfinance bank that scale ecosystem-wide flourishing, organizational impact, and total value generated. Humanistic Management Journal.
Santos, N. J. and G. R. Laczniak. 2009. Marketing to the poor: An integrative justice model for engaging impoverished market segments. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 28(1): 3–15.
Santos, N. J. and T. M. Facca-Miess. In press. Love and organizing in the context of the base of the pyramid: An integrative justice perspective. Humanistic Management Journal.
Scharmer, C. O. and K. Kaufer. 2013. Leading from the emerging future: From ego-system to eco-system economies. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Schlesinger, G. 1995. Attachment, relationship, and Love. In Handbook of Interpersonal Psychoanalysis, eds. M. Lionells et al., New York: Analytic Press.
Seligman, M. E. 2011. Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Senge, P. 2005. Commentary. Reflections: The SoL Journal on Knowledge, Learning, and Change 6(2/3): 17–19.
Senge, P. 2022. On systematic well-being. Sustainability and Health Initiative for NetPositive Enterprise. https://shine.sph.harvard.edu/2022/01/20/shine-summit-follow-up-renowned-systems-scientist-peter-senge-on-systemic-well-being/.
Sisodia, R. and M. J. Gelb. 2019. The healing organization: Awakening the conscience of business to help save the world. New York: HarperCollins Leadership.
Thomas Aquinas. 1274/1948. Summa Theologica. https://www.newadvent.org/summa/.
Trzeciak, S. and A. Mazzarelli. 2019. Compassionomics: The revolutionary scientific evidence that caring makes a difference. Kindle edition. Pensacola, FL: Studer Group.
VanderWeele, T. J. 2017. On the promotion of human flourishing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114: 8148–8156.
VanderWeele, T. J. and M. T. Lee (Co-Principal Investigators). 2022. The construct and assessment of interpersonal love, grant # 62731. John Templeton Foundation. https://www.templeton.org/grant/the-construct-and-assessment-of-interpersonal-love.
VanderWeele, T. J., B. W. Case, Y. Chen, R. G. Cowden, B. Johnson, M. T. Lee, T. Lomas, and K. G. Long. 2023. Flourishing in critical dialogue. Social Science & Medicine: Mental Health 100172: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2022.100172.
Von Kimakowitz, E., M. Pirson, H. Spitzeck, C. Dierksmeier, and W. Amann. 2010. Introducing this book and humanistic management. In E. Von Kimakowitzet al. (Eds.), Humanistic management in practice, eds. E. Von Kimakowitz et al., 1–12. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Waddell, S., S. Waddock, S. Martino, and J. Norton. 2023. Emerging economic operating infrastructure to support wellbeing economies. Humanistic Management Journal 8(1): 63–88.
Weziak-Bialowolska, D., M. T. Lee, R. G. Cowden, P. Bialowolski, Y. Chen, T. J. VanderWeele, and E. McNeely. 2023. Psychological caring climate at work, mental health, well-being, and work-related outcomes: Evidence from a longitudinal study and health insurance data. Social Science & Medicine 323: 115841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115841.
Acknowledgements
The authors dedicate this article to the late Manuel Guillen, author of Motivation in Organizations, and an exemplar of leadership with love for the flourishing of all.
Funding
Manuscript prepared for the Special Issue of the Humanistic Management Journal on Love and Meaningful Organizing. Matthew Lee received support from grant #62731 from the John Templeton Foundation (“The Construct and Assessment of Interpersonal Love,” funded from 2022 to 2025). Brian Wellinghoff is an employee of Barry-Wehmiller, Inc. This article was not derived from a data set.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of Interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, M., Wellinghoff, B. Love and Flourishing in a Business Organization: The Practical Wisdom of Barry-Wehmiller, Inc.. Humanist Manag J (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41463-024-00177-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41463-024-00177-9