Management with a view to values
Baccalauréat, masters, doctorate, post-doctorate, languages and others, are the qualifications required for choosing the broad fields of the Brasilian enterprise market. But this is not enough for the Province of « Brasil Centro-Sul » (PMBCS), which is in train of passing to a professional management based on Marist values. So it has set up a four session Course for Managers, Management of Values, in which 60 persons have already taken part: superintendants, managers and administrators of « Mantenedoras » (juridical bodies responsible for the educational works). The group completed the course in France, the Marist cradle, in May.
The managers have to harmonise the values of the Institution with their daily professional work. With thousands of direct collaborators, the PMBCS works in the fields of education, solidarity, health, publishing, Convention Centres, Formation Centres, Universities, Communications, Hospitals, Social Centres and a Centre for the Protection of Children. Co-ordinating and reconciling all these aspects demands the capacity for harmonising professional training and spiritual values.
For the engineer Fábio José Ricardo, of the Infrastructure Sector, harmonising Marist values and professional practice has not been a challenge: « As I am Catholic, it has been easy for me to integrate the two aspects. I evaluate my work strategically, but always with the support of the values of the institution and those of my professional life. It is clear that in daily activities it is difficult to see the application of these values when I am developing the technical part, but the final result helps me believe in the mission ».
« The course has contributed to my professional and personal formation. The reflections conducted at each stage have allowed me to understand that the institutional values ave to be known, understood and deepened », affirms the director of the Schools Network, Isabel Cristina Michelan Azevedo. « For more than 15 years I have been part of the Institution, but this course has helped me understand how to integrate the cultural dimension and the regular and strategic actions for a successful outcome of the activities. »
The cradle of the Marist Institute
For one of the course creators, Br Joaquim Sperandio, of the Sector of Consecrated Life and Laity, it is essential to harmonise all the sectors of the Province’s activities: « Following this process, we perceive something for the future, that is to say, we have the intention of working on many fronts, without abandoning our mission. » According to Br Joaquim, the pilgrimage to the Hermitage, has further reinforced the values studied in the four modules: « The idea was for all the managers to know at first hand the places significant for Marists, such as, for example, the place where our Founder lived.”
The group also visited Rome and had the possibility of admiring, even if only rapidly, some of its historic beauties and to take part in the Papal audience on the morning of 18 May. The meeting with Br Emili Turú, Superior General, was very positive. He touched on the topics of the Marial face of the Church, the sharing of Champagnat’s charism and the possibility for so many of our students to have contact with the Church and to receive a proposal for life.