Top highlights from Conscious Business
To change a culture, the leaders have to change the messages people receive about what they must do to fit in. When people understand that there are new requirements for belonging, they adjust their behavior accordingly. Cultural change starts with a new set of messages. Culture-changing communication is nonverbalthe doing rather than the sayingand comes most vividly from leadership behaviors. The behavior of leaders exemplifies what people with powerand those who aspire to have itare supposed to do. A small change in a senior managers behavior can send a big message.
Show this quote
Controllers want to prove that their perspective is the correct one. That proves that they are rightas a matter of self-worth, not just of accuracy. Controllers equate being right with being effective.
Show this quote
Leadership behaviors are one of the most critical influences on an organizational culture.
Show this quote
Most important, I learned that happiness and fulfillment do not come from pleasure but from meaning, from the pursuit of a noble purpose.
Show this quote
happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happyit must come as the unintended consequence of working for a goal greater than oneself.
Show this quote
Power is the prize of responsibility; accountability is its price.
Show this quote
You cant judge a man until youve walked a mile in his moccasins.
Show this quote
Our history predisposes us to see and feel certain things more than others.
Show this quote
RESPONSE-ABILITY Response-ability is your ability to respond to a situation. You can respond to an offer by choosing to buy or not to buy. You can respond to a complaint by choosing to listen or argue. I call response-ability
Show this quote
Freedom does not mean doing what you want without consequences; it means having the capacity to choose, in the face of a situation, the response that is most consistent with your values.
Show this quote
Unconditional blame is the tendency to explain all difficulties exclusively as the consequence of forces beyond your influence, to see yourself as an absolute victim of external circumstances. Every person suffers the impact of factors beyond his control, so we are all, in a sense, victims. We are not, however, absolute victims. We have the ability to respond to our circumstances and influence how they affect us. In contrast, the unconditional blamer defines his victim-identity by his helplessness, disowning any power to manage his life and assigning causality only to that which is beyond his control. Unconditional blamers believe that their problems are always someone elses fault, and that theres nothing they could have done to prevent them. Consequently, they believe that theres nothing they should do to address them. Unconditional blamers feel innocent, unfairly burdened by others who do things they shouldnt do because of maliciousness or stupidity. According to the unconditional blamer, these others ought to fix the problems they created. Blamers live in a state of self-righteous indignation, trying to control people around them with their accusations and angry demands. What the unconditional blamer does not see is that in order to claim innocence, he has to relinquish his power. If he is not part of the problem, he cannot be part of the solution. In fact, rather than being the main character of his life, the blamer is a spectator. Watching his own suffering from the sidelines, he feels safe because his misery is always somebody elses fault. Blame is a tranquilizer. It soothes the blamer, sheltering him from accountability for his life. But like any drug, its soothing effect quickly turns sour, miring him in resignation and resentment. In order to avoid anxiety and guilt, the blamer must disown his freedom and power and see himself as a plaything of others. The blamer feels victimized at work. His job is fraught with letdowns, betrayals, disappointments, and resentments. He feels that he is expected to fix problems he didnt create, yet his efforts are never recognized. So he shields himself with justifications. Breakdowns are never his fault, nor are solutions his responsibility. He is not accountable because it is always other people who failed to do what they should have done. Managers dont give him direction as they should, employees dont support him as they should, colleagues dont cooperate with him as they should, customers demand much more than they should, suppliers dont respond as they should, senior executives dont lead the organization as they should, administration systems dont work as they shouldthe whole company is a mess. In addition, the economy is weak, the job market tough, the taxes confiscatory, the regulations crippling, the interest rates exorbitant, and the competition fierce (especially because of those evil foreigners who pay unfairly low wages). And if it werent difficult enough to survive in this environment, everybody demands extraordinary results. The blamer never tires of reciting his tune, Life is not fair!
Show this quote
To change a culture, the leaders have to change the messages people receive about what they must do to fit in. When people understand that there are new requirements for belonging, they adjust their behavior accordingly. Cultural change starts with a new set of messages.
Show this quote
In the long term, the virtuous pursuit of excellence achieves more real success than the unbridled pursuit of success.
Show this quote
Two explorers are walking across the African savanna. Suddenly, a lion appears. The first explorer takes off his knapsack, takes a pair of running shoes out of it, and puts them on. What are you doing? asks the second explorer. Im preparing to run, says the first. Dont be stupid, youll never outrun the lion. I dont need to outrun the lion, says the first, I only need to outrun you!
Show this quote
We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are. THE TALMUD
Show this quote
they never relinquished control over their inner experience. Certainly,
Show this quote
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of man as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. HELEN KELLER
Show this quote
If you want to change how a person thinks, give up. You cannot change how another person thinks. Give them a tool the use of which will gradually lead them to think differently.
Show this quote
Only a conscious leader can evoke the spirit of unconditional responsibility in each of her followers and in her organization as a whole.
Show this quote
It is easy to understand why people assume that conflicts are inherently destructive; however, the energy of conflict is not inherently destructive. The negative consequences that we observe daily stem from our inability to manage conflicts constructively. To live full, productive lives, we need to learn how to handle conflicts. Avoidance is not an option.
Show this quote
You must take unconditional responsibility; you need to see yourself as a player, as a central character who has contributed to shape the current situationand who can thus affect its future. This is the opposite of seeing yourself as a victim, subject to forces beyond your control. The player is in the game and can affect the result. The victim is out of the game and can only suffer the consequences of others actions.
Show this quote
What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.
Show this quote
We tend to see ourselves primarily in the light of our intentions, which are invisible to others, while we see others mainly in the light of their actions, which are visible to us. J.G. BENNETT
Show this quote
The essential or unconditional definition of freedom is our capacity to respond to a situation by exercising our free will.
Show this quote
No matter what others do, as Gandhi exhorted, you can become the change [you] want to see in the world.
Show this quote
That is absurd. Nobody
Show this quote
We cannot be happy when we betray what we value most.
Show this quote
Als explanation doesnt appease John. Its
Show this quote
Learning is a contact sport.
Show this quote
Consciousness of mans inherent freedom, responsibility, and power is the most important quality of a business leader, not just for the well-being of the organizations members, but for the success of the company itself.
Show this quote
If leaders display the self-righteous indignation of the victim, they encourage their followers to do the same. The
Show this quote
We can express a well-formed request using the following formula: In order to accomplish W (the satisfaction of a need), I ask you to do X (a specific action) by Y (a specific time). Can you commit to that?
Show this quote
the conscious leader helps the group redirect that energy toward pursuing its goals with integrity.
Show this quote
A leader who does not confront broken commitments encourages polite complacency.
Show this quote
Thus the most important function of the leader is to encourage everyone to see him- or herself as a member of the larger system, pursuing a common vision, holding common values, and cooperating with each other in an environment of mutual support and respect.
Show this quote
How can you avert these disasters?
Show this quote
Response-ability is your ability to respond to a situation. You
Show this quote
As a human being, you are an autonomous (from the Greek, self-ruling) being. And
Show this quote
David Whyte says, the soul can grow from any experience.
Show this quote
the more conscious you are of your autonomy, the more unconditioned your responses will be.
Show this quote
Since the victim does not see himself as part of the problem, he cannot imagine himself as part of the solution.
Show this quote
In times of change, the learners will inherit the Earth while those attached to their old certainties will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. ERIC HOFFER
Show this quote
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 productive he is while he is there is determined by his relationship with his immediate supervisor.
Show this quote
Frankl discovered that a human beings fundamental dignity lies in his capacity to choose his response to any situationhis response-ability.
Show this quote
Trust implies accountability, predictability, reliability. Its what sells products and keeps organizations humming. Trust is the glue that maintains organizational integrity.
Show this quote
A big, tough samurai once went to see a little monk. Monk, he barked, in a voice accustomed to instant obedience, teach me about heaven and hell! The monk looked up at the mighty warrior and replied with utter disdain, Teach you about heaven and hell? I couldnt teach you about anything. Youre dumb. Youre dirty. Youre a disgrace, an embarrassment to the samurai class. Get out of my sight. I cant stand you. The samurai got furious. He shook, red in the face, speechless with rage. He pulled out his sword, and prepared to slay the monk. Looking straight into the samurais eyes, the monk said softly, Thats hell. The samurai froze, realizing the compassion of the monk who had risked his life to show him hell! He put down his sword and fell to his knees, filled with gratitude. The monk said softly, And thats heaven. ZEN PARABLE
Show this quote
Economic life ... depends on moral bonds of social trust.
Show this quote
Leadership is the process by which a person sets a purpose for other persons and motivates them to pursue it with effectiveness and full commitment. Leadership transforms individual potential into collective performance. The leaders job is to develop and maintain a high-performing team. Her effectiveness is demonstrated by the performance of the team.*
Show this quote
A culture of lone rangerswhere the most competent is the one who asks for the least helpwreaks havoc in organizations.
Show this quote
Taking care of ourselves does not preclude educating abusers or removing them from our organizations.
Show this quote
Unconditional response-ability is self-empowering. It lets you focus on those aspects of the situation that you can influence.
Show this quote
The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become.
Show this quote
There are some important differences between success and integrity. Success is in the future. It is the outcome of a process that takes time and depends on factors beyond our control. Integrity is immediate and unconditional.
Show this quote
happiness and fulfillment do not come from pleasure but from meaning, from the pursuit of a noble purpose.
Show this quote
they transformed the problem into an opportunity by stepping up to the accountability plate.
Show this quote
Spending time with your family will not make you happy; spending time loving your family will. The way you do any activity is more important for your happiness than the activity itself.
Show this quote
Leadership is about being more than knowing; about emotion more than cognition; about spirit more than matter. I couldnt teach greatness in a traditional classroom style.
Show this quote
Conscious employees are an organizations most important asset; unconscious employees are its most dangerous liability.
Show this quote
