Dorothy Marcic: Bringing Beliefs and Business into Harmony
From Wisconsin to Guatemala to the Czech Republic, from artist to professor at Vanderbilt University to consultant for AT&T and Hallmark to production assistant on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood to author of over 10 books different themes including values-based management to producer and actor of her own one-woman show on changing values in popular music—Dr. Dorothy Marcic is someone who is in constant motion. She graciously opened a time slot to share a glimpse of her own values and how they’ve shaped her non-stop artistic journey traversing much of the globe.
EBBF: You’re something of a Renaissance woman, having gone from management professor/consultant, to actor/producer of a musical production, to a writer, probably with other stops along the way. How have your values influenced your career choices along this path?
Dorothy: My work has been about touching people’s minds and their hearts and thereby bringing about positive change. It is also about making the implicit explicit, whether it was about values, emotions or unspoken communications. When I was an undergraduate, I was actually a theater major. It was during that time that I came across the Bahá’í Faith and was attracted by the concept of raising up a ‘new race of men’. I didn’t know until some time later that the Bahá’í writings spoke very highly about the role of the arts in the advancement of civilization. I was so drawn to the concepts of the Oneness of Humankind that I became a Bahá’í. When the Universal House of Justice [the international governing body of the Bahá’í Faith] came out in the 90s asking us to bring the arts to the forefront it really influenced me, and for that and other reasons I decided to study music and use it in my work. Ultimately this led me to being performer/producer/writer. I was hoping through music to touch the hearts and minds of people, to help them understand concepts, or see their own realities in a new light. The Bahá’í Writings about music being the ladder to the soul influenced me a great deal. In recent years, much of my work has been about bringing these spiritual principles to a larger audience and touching their minds and hearts at the same time. I’ve chosen music in particular, because it goes around ego and reaches the heart directly. It is a means of communication that can deal with the deeper values and emotions of being a total human being.
- Dorothy with cast of "Respect: The Musical", which she wrote and produced
EBBF: In your book you mention a number of values that an organization should strive for, including trustworthiness, unity, justice and service. I think you would find it hard for anyone to argue otherwise—that these are not useful or irrelevant to business. But what do you say to someone who asks, How do you develop these in a business?
Dorothy: I think you build them up by deciding they are important. First, you must create a structure that creates efficiency and transparency, making it difficult for people to lie or cheat. Then you work on the soft side of the organization and instituting those values. If you don’t consciously decide that they are important then ideas such as profit alone take center stage, for you can only optimize one thing at a time. If you say profit is most important to me, then greed enters and you will neglect these other values. But if you start by saying that we want to be a successful enterprise and use these values, you’ve taken the first step towards implementing them. The second step is hiring the right people; if you hire untrustworthy people then your organization won’t be trustworthy. Third, you don’t reward people for lying or being untrustworthy. If they do these things, you give them feedback and ultimately let them go if there is no improvement. Also, it is important to have periodic meetings and retreats in order to try to bring these values into the organization. Ultimately, the leaders have to live these values, too, or the exhortations will be for naught.
EBBF: You’ve been participating in EBBF for many years now. Can you share some of what you’ve learned over this period of time?
Dorothy: One thing I’ve gotten out of all these years is a great deal of inspiration, which helps me carry on with my own work trying to bring values into business. I’ve been inspired by the level of people’s devotion to values-based organizations, and to the level of thoughtfulness that people have about these values—what they are and how to apply them. Just coming together, and listening to people, gives me food for thought and helps me think of things in new way. I think it has really helped me grow both intellectually and spiritually.
Some examples. You know, I’ve really been impressed with George Starcher and some of the Board members in the early years; they’ve really shown steadfastness and you can see the fruits of it now. An organization like [EBBF] doesn’t get build easily. It takes a lot of time, lots of effort over a period of many years and you have to overcome numerous obstacles along the way. Also, I get inspired by Daniel [Truran]’s enthusiasm and Kimmo [Vesajoki]’s sense of humor, and Wendi [Momen]’s ability to articulate ideas. Just being in the company of these people is very uplifting. I’ve been watching over the years how everyone grows, develops and contributes.
