Making a Life, Making a Living

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 10. JAN. 2000

Albion, who gave up a teaching post at Harvard Business School and now publishes a monthly newsletter called "Making a Life," has spent the last 11 years preaching that personal integrity is the real ticket to prosperity. He cites a study that tracked the careers of 1500 business school graduates. In 1960, the year they graduated, all but 255 said they wanted to make money first in order to do what they really wanted later on; the remainder decided to do what they loved in hopes that money would follow. Of the 101 who became millionaires by 1980, only one belonged to the former group. In chapters with titles such as "Don't Let Success Stand in the Way of Opportunity," "Bring Your Values to Work" and "Live a Life, Not a Resume," Albion profiles a range of entrepreneurs and high-level employees. His emphasis is on the disparate paths these people took to achieve a sense of purpose and meaning in work that carried over into their personal lives. There's Elliot Hoffman, who built the San Francisco-based cafe Just Desserts from a single birthday cake into one of the city's most profitable and socially responsible businesses. And there's Albion's most personal story, that of his mother, which frames the entire book. In 1986, she was diagnosed with cancer, and her doctor indicated she would be lucky to live six months. Now in her 70s, she continues to head the successful manufacturing company she began in 1978. Albion's book powerfully illustrates what can be accomplished when, in our work lives, we use our heads while following our hearts.