What did these leaders learn? First, they learned that freedom, responsibility, and integrity are the keys to success, but that these qualities demand the courage to face existential anxiety. They learned that speaking the truth is essential, but that the truth that needs to be said and heard is not the one most people call “truth.” They learned

I learned that happiness and fulfillment do not come from pleasure but from meaning, from the pursuit of a noble purpose.

Contrary to business school doctrine, “maximizing shareholder wealth” or “profit maximization” has not been the dominant driving force ... of [exceptional] companies ... Yes, they seek profits, but they’re equally guided by ... core values and sense of purpose beyond just making money. Yet, paradoxically, the visionary companies make more money

Many organizations have implicit paradoxical codes of conduct. Some of the typical messages in these cultures are: • Keep others informed, but hide mistakes. • Tell the truth, but don’t bring bad news. • Take risks, but don’t fail. • Beat everybody else, but make it look as if nobody lost. • Be a team player, but what really matters is your

The same happens with profits. The worst way to be profitable is to focus on profits. Profits are a consequence of customer care, employee engagement, enlightened leadership, and service orientation: of successful business strategies and efficient business processes running on capable business infrastructures. The most powerful of these

Many spiritual seekers, indeed, lose interest in daily affairs; some of them never return to the human world. For them, ordinary reality is simply an

After surveying over a million individuals from a broad range of companies, industries, and countries, the study concluded: “Talented employees need great managers. The talented employee may join a company because of its charismatic leaders, its generous benefits, and its world-class training programs, but how long that employee stays and how

The game has clear boundaries. Inside, there are risk, challenge, and drama; outside, security, ease, and calm. When playing a game we can feel the “danger” of losing, while knowing that we are totally “safe.” In the game, we face obstacles that test our mettle and push us to perform at our best. We are at the edge. If we slip, we lose. The

Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them. DAVID HUME