Berea, Ohio – The Center for Innovation and Growth’s co-founders have recently published a new book with the hopes that Baldwin Wallace students can use it to better themselves, their future, and their community.
Alan Kolp, co-founder of the CIG, Professor at BW, and Chair of BW Faith & Life has published his book, “Exception to the Rule: The Surprising Science of Character-Based Culture, Engagement, and Performance.”
Peter Rea, co-founder of the CIG and vice president of integrity and ethics at Parker Hannifin Corporation, and James Stroller, a Cleveland Clinic physician, also helped write the book.
Kolp said the book focuses on high-performance teams with a healthy culture, and the seven classical virtues – courage, justice, wisdom, temperance, compassion, faith/trust, and hope.
“I think anybody who is going to be in a leadership role will benefit from it [the book],” said Kolp. “There are a lot of different ways BW students are already in leadership roles – fraternities, sororities, athletic teams, the conservatory.”
Kolp said it doesn’t matter what leadership role you have or where it is because people can apply the book to any leadership role.
“All of our stuff works around the globe,” said Kolp. “It doesn’t matter what culture you’re in, doesn’t matter if you’re business or nonprofit, this stuff has been tested in a variety of cultures.”
Not only has it been tested in several cultures, but also different workplaces, Kolp said.
Rea works at Parker Hannifin, a company with around fifty eight thousand employees. Rea works at the Cleveland Clinic, which has over fifty thousand employees. Kolp works with students and faculty at BW. Kolp said that all of their experiences had been put together to determine how to have a more effective leadership role.
“We managed to figure out, “How do we use our disciplines to think about the world, its needs, and how we can practically offer solution?”,” said Kolp. “The world needs people who work together and can be really effective and innovative. Our book helps you see how you can do that.”
Kolp said he hopes that Baldwin Wallace can benefit from being aligned with places like the Cleveland Clinic and Parker Hannifin.
“Those are two pretty big names,” said Kolp. “Not only in town but in the world.”
Kolp said the publisher did a good job of putting all of the author’s experiences together in a readable way.
“It’s [readability] not always easy when you have three different authors,” said Kolp. “How do you make three people out of a very different context sound like one?”
Kolp said he is proud of the final result and thinks it can benefit everyone.
“I think it’s relevant and I think it’s written for the normal person,” said Kolp. “We can all use it in our personal lives.”