Pink presents conclusive evidence of what we already know deep down – that what makes us want to get out of bed every morning has nothing to do with “increasing shareholder value.” It is knowing that the people who matter to us value our contribution. It is the satisfaction that comes from getting something done that required us to stretch ourselves to our limits.

I try to always give clients a clear list of what they will receive from me and when I will have the work completed. Often, clients don’t know what to expect or have unrealistic expectations. Knowing what their expectations are is key to managing them. Since I am the one who sets their expectations- it’s my fault if they’re disappointed.

Just remember that sex and love are not necessarily synonymous. Our love for our children can be extremely intense without any sexual overtones. No matter what the circumstances, try to develop that same kind of love in each of your relationships. We all know the sweetness of loving just one person. Can you imagine how much sweeter it would be to have those feelings for everyone? Think of the loving exchanges that could develop, the reciprocation that would enrich our own lives and the lives of others.

Let’s first get one thing out of the way: there is no such thing as a self-centered leader. Leadership is made up of an amalgamation of beliefs and related behaviors geared towards supporting individuals and groups. The intentions that underlie leadership are outwardly focused and rooted in the need to help others. For the sake of accuracy, there are self-centered managers, but no leaders.

Bold people ask themselves bold questions. They like to challenge themselves. If you consider yourself to be bold, you may ask yourself these bold questions:

1. What do I really want in life?

2. What is the price I need to pay to achieve it?

3. Am I ready to pay that price?

4. What do I need to stop doing?

5. What do I need to start doing?

6. What excuses I am making for not moving forward in my life?

7. What am I afraid of?

8. What is it in me that is holding me back?

9. What kind of person I need to become in order to achieve what I want?

10. What skills I need to have in order to achieve my goals?

TEN BOLD QUESTIONS (BQ)
Bold people ask themselves bold questions. They like to challenge themselves. If you consider yourself to be bold, you may ask yourself these bold questions:
1. What do I really want in life?
2. What is the price I need to pay to achieve it?
3. Am I ready to pay that price?
4. What do I need to stop doing?
5. What do I need to start doing?
6. What excuses I am making for not moving forward in my life?
7. What am I afraid of?
8. What is it in me that is holding me back?
9. What kind of person I need to become in order to achieve what I want?
10. What skills I need to have in order to achieve my goals?

These questions will help you discover new options, opportunities, possibilities and advantages in various areas your life:
1. What are the options for achieving this goal?
2. What else is possible?
3. Who else can help you?
4. What are the opportunities available?
5. How can this be made possible?
6. What will enable you to achieve this?
7. What are the hidden opportunities here?
8. What other resources are available?
9. What strengths and talents can you use?
10. How can impossible become possible?

These questions might be helpful for delegating services to others:

1. Do you operate a policy of ‘if you want a job done well, do it yourself’?
2. Do you try to do everything yourself?
3. Would you trust your senior staff to do your job as well as you, given time and support? If not, why not?
4. Could some of your staff do it better? How do you feel about that?
5. Do you do a great deal more work than your colleagues? Why?
6. Do you feel stressed? What are the reasons?

One problem we all have is that we don’t like to work (usually). Whenever a chance to stop working comes a long we usually lunge at it. Like when a friend comes in to your office to exchange some words, we are glad to put everything away and talk a little, often we will join them to the coffee machine and talk some more, before you know it you have lost 30 minutes of your work day.

This story teaches two lessons. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words … it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. So from this day forward, think before you.

Start today to pay closer attention to the things you do. Be more conscious and aware of yourself and your actions. Think about your tasks carefully before you begin. Identify your most important tasks and concentrate on them single-mindedly.

Do fewer things of highest value.

You must be continually reducing and eliminating activities that take up too much time and contribute very little to the goals you really want to achieve.

Some Conscious Businesses will become involved with social or political campaigns to protect the environment, animals, or people. Conscious Businesses will sometimes use significant amounts of their profit towards these causes. Furthermore, a Conscious Business will sometimes work closely with suppliers in either a farming or manufacturing community in a developing country, and help to develop the community economically and replenish it environmentally.

Conscious Business is about people who are aware of the impact each of their habits and actions has on their environment (people and planet). It is about people who live their lives based on the knowingness that everything is interconnected. It is about people, who know who they are:

* who know about their strengths and weaknesses and
* who desire to live and work with joy, creativity and ease instead of fear, power and domination

The temptations to be autocratic, to take benefits of leadership for granted, or to become bored or depressed are just a few of the hazards of leadership. There are of course many others. By maintaining a strong connection with divine guidance, and by determined practice, leaders can refuse to give them power and eventually overcome them.

Want to change your field of work, doing something else or living somewhere else. Now is time to do more than dream. Even if you are not ready to make the change, is time to begin planning now. Don’t wait until you are out of work.

Whether a career change is by choice or is by circumstance, a successful switch depends on some steps.

Do we sometimes examine our motives? Do we really wish that people succeed? Are we afraid for our position or reputation? One should be glad that people are coming forward to take up responsibility. He should encourage and coach. He should be genuinely happy when the someone is successful and is developing as a caring leader, or a responsible person. We should see people around us as partners and not look down upon them.

Spirituality, however, is more an individual matter; it does not rely on an external organization. Rather, spirituality is an experience of depth in life, it is living life with heart rather than just superficially. For some, spirituality involves a belief in a God. For others, it takes different forms. But in any case, spirituality is an experience that there is something more to life than just our narrow, ego-oriented view of it.

People who have developed the spiritual side of their life typically have a quality of lightness, appreciation and humor. They bring a sense of “all-rightness” and optimism to life, even in the face of problems. They don’t take themselves too seriously. They are fully alive, and they radiate this aliveness to others.

Leader should be careful not to kill the spirit of enthusiastic service, which is individual and spontaneous and voluntary. Leader should try to always generate some atmosphere of fresh challenge to the people, so that they will agree enthusiastically to rise and meet it. That is the art of management: to draw out spontaneous loving spirit of sacrificing some energy for a Higher goal. All of us should become expert managers.

Servant Leaders are leaders who have taken up the responsibility to personally take care of a group of serious candidates for the advancement in devotional service. They are leaders-servants, the concept that is becoming more and more prominent in business sector today. They are facilitators. They recognize talents and potential of the devotees and help them express and engage them. They are friendly and unselfish. They like to see others advance. They like to assist others in becoming servant leaders.

Leaders should never consider themselves as proprietors of those in their charge. Ownership implies that we have a right to do with our property as we will, and it can serve as justification for all kinds of exploitation and abuse. But if we view ourselves as caretakers, coordinators, catalysts or carriers of the vision, and if we treat others in loving, supportive ways, we will not engage in such exploitation.

For only when a ruler has learned to listen closely to the people’s hearts, hearing their feelings uncommunicated, pains unexpressed, and complaints not spoken of, can he hope to inspire confidence in his people, understand when something is wrong, and meet the true needs of his citizens. The demise of states comes when leaders listen only to superficial words and not penetrate deeply into the souls of the people to hear their true opinions, feelings and desires.”

Many believe business ethics is a recent phenomenon because of increased attention to the topic in popular and management literature. However, business ethics was written about even 2,000 years ago — at least since Cicero wrote about the topic in his On Duties. Business ethics has gotten more attention recently because of the social responsibility movement that started in the 1960s.

When defining a value for your company, it’s a good idea to try to describe it in detail. For example, a company may adopt the value “Customer Delight.” That’s the value’s name. The description for the value could be something like: “We recognize that in today’s highly competitive market providing excellent service is not sufficient to satisfy customers and ensure their loyalty. Our goal is to convert the customer’s interaction with our company into a thoroughly and unforgettably enjoyable experience.” You are describing how the value can uplift a company in general, or your company in particular.

The Conscious Manager also presents other exercises, for example, ones that help readers not to overreact to things that happen every day, things that are not worth getting twisted up about. Both kinds of exercises help us find out what really matters to us, so we can pursue that effectively and without distraction. The book features vignettes in business settings that illustrate the value of this approach for managers.