Conscious Business: How to Build Value through Values
by Fred Kofman
"I love molecules," explains Marcus. "You apply a certain amount of heat and a certain amount of pressure, and you know exactly what’s going to happen. At the start of my career I did great working with molecules, but now I work with people. People are unpredictable. You apply a certain amount of heat and a certain amount of pressure, and you never know what’s going to happen."
Marcus, a research manager at an oil company, has two doctorates. He is an intellectual wonder and a management disaster. Technical excellence propelled him into management, exposing his social incompetence. Marcus deals with people in the same way he dealt with molecules. It doesn't work. In contrast to molecules, people have minds of their own.
As they climb the corporate ladder, managers like Marcus stumble and fall. They fail to make the transition from the operational requirements of the lower rungs to the leadership requirements of the higher ones. Ironically, some of the traits that drove their success as individual contributors derail their success as leaders. Success in business requires dealing with human beings, which is to say conscious beings. This book presents the basic principles and skills to deal with people while honoring their conscious nature. Although this is helpful for anybody who works, it is fundamental for those who manage and lead others.
Great leadership is conscious leadership. Download chapter 1 for an overview of the Conscious Business principles.
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