Serving the Poor: The Case of the EoC Enterprise ‘Mercurio Net

The chapter opens a space for reflection and empirical analysis on some innovative aspects, emerging from the theory and practice relative to the relationship between leadership and governance in the Economy of Communion (EoC) companies. Starting from the theoretical construct of servant leadership new evolutionary trajectories of research are suggested by the cultural project deriving from the debate on fraternity and communion (Bruni and Uelmen 2006; Gold 2010; Buckeye and Gallagher 2013). Currently, among the different challenges that companies have to face, one of the most crucial is related to the business’s contribution to reducing poverty.the concept of poverty and fail to highlight the progressive, creative and motivational impoverishment of individuals working within companies. Focusing on the Economy of Communion principles, the aspects of communion that are “operationalized” within the companies adhering to the project are in close relationship with the issue of poverty. In general, the relationship with the poor makes people fragile but at the same time humanizes them. Therefore, we need to consider this relationship as an opportunity to activate creative synergies within the company in terms of leadership and governance to provide adequate replies to come out of poverty together. Moreover, some dimensions of poverty are suggested, which are also interesting for businesses, including the poverty of conviviality, that is the ever greater difficulty of sharing pains and joyfulness inside and outside the company. In this regard, the EoC entrepreneurs trigger social and economic innovation, as we argue in the following sections. Accordingly, we try to provide some answers in theory and practice starting from the analysis of the theoretical construct of servant leadership and successively intersecting with the governance and leadership style that characterize the companies adhering to the project of Economy of Communion, triggered by the vision of Chiara Lubich, the charismatic founder of the Catholic “Focolare Movement” (Lubich 2001a, b). Adopting this perspective, we think it is possible to derive an innovative contribution and useful theoretical and practical insights to pursue the universal fraternity applied to the economy.