Esprit de Corps: the spirit of the body

Esprit de corps /e?sprē d? ?k?r/ is a French phrase literally meaning "the spirit of the body."

Body refers not to a physical body, but rather to a group, and spirit refers to the feelings of comradeship, pride, and unity in pursuit of a common goal. While esprit de corps is recognized widely in military nomenclature, in the business world the more common terms are "culture" and/or "employee morale," used sometimes interchangeably. However, it's critical to recognize morale and esprit de corps are not one and the same.

Esprit de corps focuses on team unity to achieve common goals while recognizing and honoring individuality and the value each person contributes to the group, whereas morale is applied individually on a personal level according to one's own framework.

Will you explore this topic with me? Travel digitally beside me as I study myself, individuals, teams, camaraderie, and outcomes. This newsletter is curated for people who are genuinely curious: curious about themselves, about the people they work with, and about making the world a better place to live. We're people who influence our communities and cultures for good. We are leaders, we are individual contributors, we are teachers, we are coaches, we are siblings, we are friends, we are parents, we are volunteers, we are humans.

In addition to working on honing my own critical thinking and writing skills, my primary focus for 2023 is online discussion featuring one of my favorite books: Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World by Charles Koch with Brian Hooks.

Conveniently separated into ten chapters plus intro/outro, I'll tackle a chapter each month. Will you join the discussion?

Believe in People isn't just any traditional business book... it's a simplified approach to discovering your value and how you best contribute, helping others uncover and define their purpose, and how to transform society by being the best version of yourself.

Transformation begins with me. And with you. Each of us possesses a set of skills, talents, strengths, and resources that are uniquely our own. Imagine what's possible when we ??i?n?d?e?n?t?i?f?y? ?o?u?r? ?p?u?r?p?o?s?e? help others identify their purpose and focus on the outcomes our combined abilities offer! Koch refers to this philosophy as virtuous cycles of mutual benefit: applying capabilities creates opportunities creating more capability and more opportunity and so forth.

Please subscribe and share Esprit de Corps with your friends and colleagues. I look forward to discussing this book and other leadership insights with you over the next year wherever you serve, regardless of job title and/or seniority level.

Want a free book? Leave a comment and share how you prep for a new year - resolutions, reflection, journaling, housekeeping, vacation, meditation, or something else? Do you have a routine for the flip of the calendar year? I'll choose a winner (or two) and you'll get some fun mail from me!

disclosure statement: I am employed by Infor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Industries. I am not creating this content specifically to sell anything, and purchasing the book is not necessary to subscribe, participate in the discussion, or to ask questions. Much of the content covered in the book is available at a high level online in the form of videos and written articles, and you can find several interviews or podcasts with the authors of the book where they expand on their ideas and share stories for context.

Cheers to new years, fresh starts, and most of all, to you. Thanks for being here.