City University of New York Management Students Critique The Balancing Act

"…helpful and inspirational…a gift…a keepsake"…."was instrumental in helping me make one of the most difficult decisions of my life and helping me find who I am along the way "…."Seivert sees management as an ethical issue…Perhaps it is best for a manager to first study ethics, or at the very least, study business and ethics simultaneously"… "The Balancing Act represents the miracle that has drastically changed my vision of management"…."I was touched and deeply moved"…."the importance of each element is now obvious to me, when at the beginning of the book it seemed far fetched "…."opened my eyes to a world that really never crossed my mind".…"would highly recommend"…."to tell the truth I thought I would dislike this book [but] the opposite happened "…" I'm not very spiritual but the book wasn't that either, like I originally thought just by reading the first few pages".…"As I participated in the surveys...I found myself [realizing that} sometimes the most awful and difficult contest to win is that over one's own faults".…"important [for almost all business students] to read The Balancing Act"…"I learned a lot about myself through this book."

These quotes come from the Business Organization and Management students of Professor Shirley Zaragosa, who had been given the assignment of reading and critiquing The Balancing Act. On Monday May 11th I had the great pleasure of visiting with these students, hearing their diverse voices, and answering their questions.

I was very impressed by the way several of these managerial students had already put the book to work for them. Indeed, I was very touched by what these thoughtful future business leaders had to say. Here are some direct quotes from their reports -- with thanks to all those who granted me their permission to pass on their thoughts:

Dwight Wallace: "I think that this book was quite helpful and inspirational. It has helped improve my perception on various topics like relationships and has changed how I view life…. The book has taught me to be more focused, to be durable, stronger and to think things through…. Seivert stated that her purpose of this book was to provide us with practical tools that can increase the experience of balance, happiness and abundance, and I think that in me she has accomplished that goal. I truly understand what she thinks and I wish many people have the opportunity to read the book as critically and open-minded as I did, because that in itself is a gift. What amazed me was she went from using the Bible, to comparing animals, the horizon and many things in this word to get her point across. That was impressive and this book is a keepsake."

Judy (Ki)Yi: [Specific names of company, boss, and town are deleted.] "A few months ago, my current manager, J., was offered the heard of E-Commerce position at X company in Y, Florida and he offered me to come on board with him as his second-in-command. This is the ultimate opportunity and chance of a lifetime for me…but in Y, Florida? It's only geography but I don't know anyone in Florida…. My family is here. My boyfriend is here. My friends are here. What is there for me in Florida but status and wealth? What kind of life would I live in Florida? My intuition was telling me not to take the offer because I would be miserable in Y alone and would not have a balance of a personal and work life. On the other, hand, my mind was telling me that an opportunity like this only comes once in a lifetime. J. gave me until the end of the month of April to make a decision. I have been torturing myself with this dilemma ever since. Coincidentally, I was tasked to read and write a critical review of The Balancing Act and believe it or not I took a proactive approach to solve my problem and followed the Five Elements of Success program to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life…. Defining my personal identity and core values was the hardest to achieve among the Five Elements of Success…. I too identified myself to others as what I do for a living, but with the assistance of the elements of success paradigm I was able to identify my core identity and make a decision based on who I am…. [Judy then describes the process and exercises she used to make her decision.] I went with my 'gut feeling' and decided to remain here with my loved ones and stay and grow with my current organization…. I have not felt this internal peace since the day J. asked me to join him in Florida… I am content with my decision as I am content with who I am. The Balancing Act truly was instrumental in helping me make one of the most difficult decisions of my life and helping me find who I am along the way."

Oscar Castro: "In The Balancing Act, Sharon Seivert uses a style of patterns congruent with Andrew J. Dubrin's text, Essentials of Management. Both texts use vivid examples that help to better understand management. The Balancing Act does this in an unusual way -- money is not its focus. Seivert teaches management in a spiritual way. I believe this is an important way to learn management: I believe a good manager is an ethical one…. Dubrin sees management as a technical issue, whereas Seivert sees management as an ethical issue…. Seivert writes very fluidly. In each chapter there are boxes where she summarizes the preceding paragraphs. This makes for easy comprehension. Also, she uses strong sentences to make each idea clear…. Currently, we read in newspapers and see on television many stories about fraud in management and business, involving everything from inside trading to corporate greed. Many businessmen and businesswomen want to get rich quickly and at any cost. It's clear many have little or no ethics. Perhaps it is best for a manager to first study ethics, or at the very least, study business and ethics simultaneously. I believe The Balancing Act can help many people to manage problems and dilemmas in a spiritual way that carries over into other areas of their life and work. I think Seivert wants to let her readers know that it is possible to make money and be spiritual at the same time."

Christella Coeur-Aimable "…we always think that management is directed only toward the most effective way to manage in order to have the greatest benefits. As a student in management, I have adopted that point of view; however, it has just been changed with a miracle that had happened recently. Written by Sharon Seivert, The Balancing Act represents the miracle that has drastically changed my vision of management. Although many aspects of management have been covered in this book, the organization part most attracted my interest because it presents another aspect of that issue that most of the business people ignore in running a company. This manual hides a treasure that most of the business people have not discovered yet… Personally, this book gives me another vision of the workplace. Before, I saw it just as the place where I had a task to perform and for which I would get paid. It did not take into consideration the intrinsic values that should contribute to the success of an organization…. From now on, I am more aware of my responsibilities toward the accomplishment of the organization 's mission. Ultimately, it helped me to be more conscious of my vital importance in the success of the company and to be a more productive business woman in the future of my career."

Jun Takamizawa: [Special thanks to Jun for giving feedback on typographical errors.] "I would describe myself as one of the most non-artistic, imaginary, and creative people on earth…[Despite too many symbols, the book] did make me reflect upon my life's experiences and in this sense it refreshed me. I actually found myself adopting them and valuing the philosophies contained in The Balancing Act…. At the time when I was thinking of withdrawing from a class, I was reading 'You will find it easier to achieve and maintain a comfortable balance in your life, relationships, and work when your start from and return to your own Center.' More or less, I was touched and deeply moved by those words. Therefore, I decided instead of dropping the class, I would face the challenge, stay in the class, and try to achieve my personal best…. This book could best be described as a modern day Bible for its principles and insights, because it teaches and instruct the reader how to be proactive, and how to apply POLC in our life, relationships and work."

Lara Wright: "The Balancing Act by Sharon Seivert is a helpful guide to living a more balanced life. I expected this book to be geared toward balancing the many different aspects of life. Instead, the title refers to balancing the Five Elements of Success, or the elemental circle…. I feel like Seivert does a good job of relating these Five Elements of Success to business management and organization. In business, each element is just as important as the next…. This book helped me to see that everything is connected by these elements. The importance of each element is now obvious to me, when at the beginning of the book it seemed far fetched…. I found it all to be a bit overwhelming. There was almost too much information to process each time I turned the page…. I will most likely need to read this book again, maybe even many times over, in order to fully grasp the ways in which I can implement these elements into my own life."

Steve Lambert: "The Balancing Act was a book which was to help you as a person manage and maintain a sort of equilibrium…. I think [it] opened my eyes into a world that really never crossed my mind. I would highly recommend this book to other readers for it helps people to find their inner selves. To tell the truth I thought I would dislike this book because of its spiritual context [but] the opposite happened, which became a rewarding factor on my behalf."

Alban Leung: "Nowadays, it is hard to find balance between the workforce and yourself. The Balancing Act, which has varieties of ways to help you to understand the relationships between you and your surrounding in order to help you to become more successful…. The moment I saw the cover page, I realized that the circle and the square appeared on the cover page was one of the symbols from Chinese, which meant something associated with nature. That stimulated my interest to look inside the book besides the assignment."

Erica Berrios: "The Balancing Act - Mastering the Five Elements of Success in Life, Relationships, and Work by Sharon Seivert is a good book that is based on self-improving yourself, but it also relates to today's society and how we should really deal with it…. Overall, I felt this book was very helpful. I'm not very spiritual but the book wasn't that either, like I originally thought just by reading the first few pages. I personally like the way Sharon broke down all of the elements that really did relate to our lives, relationships and work because it made me use the five elements for myself…. In conclusion this is a good book and it is helpful for those who seek improvement in their lives."

Stanley Barrow: "First of all, I appreciate the title of the book The Balancing Act. I feel that the author Sharon Seivert put a lot of effort into writing the book and also diagnosing the problem of imbalance that most of us human beings experience in our lives. Reading this book was not only informational, but as well helped to shed some light on my own battle with disorderliness in my life. As I participated in the surveys listed in the beginning of the book I found myself [realizing that] sometimes the most awful and difficult contest to win is that over one's own faults…. Balance births the ability to 'eat the meat, and spit out the bones'. It is possible for us to disagree without being disagreeable."

Omar E. Koita: "In the book The Balancing Act by Sharon Seivert, there are many different types of things I have learned, ranging from spirituality, interpersonal, sociological, psychological and other things affecting our lives…. [Omar then describes the five elements in organizations.] In conclusion, it has become obviously important from the above explanations how significant it is to read The Balancing Act for almost all business students…. It helped me to collate my classroom lectures and discussions [and] to broaden my mind."

Terrence Peters: "The book that I did an analysis on was entitled The Balancing Act by Sharon Seivert. The main purpose of this report is to show comparisons to our class textbook…. It mainly spoke about mastering the Five Elements of Success in life, relationships, and work….. In conclusion, the purpose of The Balancing Act is to give you information that can improve your life. I learned a lot about myself though this book because it spoke to me. It told me that I need to re-evaluate my life and correct some mistakes and get rid of the excessive issues that I no longer need."

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