This is a must read book for anyone who is serious about how to bring their spirituality to the workplace.

The hard part about starting or running a business is not the long hours, the tight deadlines, or the stresses of being overworked in the face of an insecure future. The real challenges that make or break us surround dealing with our own integrity, our priorities, and conflicts with others.

This book covers those challenges and offers many tools and examples of how we can manage them and come out ahead having built a stronger foundation and a stronger company.

I personally can't stand the idealistic tones of the book but I will admit, unlike most of these books that I have read, this one is much more grounded inthe harsh challenges of reality such as the fact that, while in business and in dealing with others failure is not an option but success is not always achieved.

If you read this book you will find yourself referencing it as you deal with life on any level because the authors clear mind and direct language gives you the language to describe and communicate the situation and how best to manage it.

Fred Kofman does a good job explaining his concepts, however his accent can be a little disconcerting at first. If you are a Landmark Education graduate, the material on these CD's is very nearly a rip-off of the same concepts (i.e., having Integrity, Honoring your Word, etc...). For non-Landmark graduates, these CD's cover many soft-skills concepts that can be effective in your personal life, but he applies them (a little obscurely) to a work environment. If you are trying to get your own business off the ground, "Conscious Business" does not offer strategies for doing so, but rather best practices to remain successful. In other words, you won't find tips regarding how to file your returns, collect data effectively, or document discipline. You will instead find tips about the importance of keeping your word, how to stop stressing about work, and things of that nature. The program was not bad--in retrospect, I would have found it no more than $15 worth of value. Take that for what you will.

Business is an essential part of our lives. Doing business consciously, Fred Kofman, a co-founder of the consulting firm Axialent, is an essential part of living consciously. The author presents a business model where managers are more conscious of the inner and outer lives of employees.

Anyone who works intuitively understands there are two types of managers. As a professor of accounting, Kofman begin his classes by having students listen to one of Beethoven's pieces over and over. Gradually the students would realize that the music was not in the CD; but in the listening. In music as in business, Information's only value is in how it is interpreted.

Most recognize the need for smart employees with the latest in technical competency. Kofman argues it is more important, and less recognized, that organizations recruit and retain employees with high-level consciousness.

He draws a contrast between unconscious attitudes and their conscious counterparts. They are:

Unconscious Attitudes.....................Conscious Attitudes
Unconditional Blame.......................Unconditional Responsibility
Essential Selfishness........................Essential Integrity
Ontological Arrogance.....................Ontological Humility
Unconscious Behaviors....................Conscious Behaviors
Manipulative Communication..........Authentic Communication
Narcissistic Negotiation....................Constructive Negotiation
Negligent Coordination.....................Impeccable Coordination
Unconscious Reactions.....................Conscious Reactions
Emotional Incompetence...................Emotional Mastery.

These qualities are simple to understand; yet, they are difficult to implement. They represent common sense; yet, they are not found widely in common practice. They seem natural, yet they challenge deep-seated assumptions individuals hold about themselves, others and their world.

Kofman opens the reader's conscious to a unique resource for maximizing profit and potential in the workplace and beyond. Written concisely and coherently he communicates an uncommon wisdom about the truth of our emotions and healthy interpersonal practices in business and life.

Written by Fred Kofman (co-founder and president of Axialent consulting company), Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values is a straightforward guide to applying conscious awareness to its fullest extent, recognizing the needs of others, and effectively expressing one's own needs order to build responsibility, integrity, leadership, and reputation - all of which are invaluable tools to a business' continued success. Drawing from real-world examples by such famous companies as Microsoft, Yahoo!, and much more, Conscious Business reveals how being mindful of fundamental human virtues and even "spiritual" questions such as "Who am I?" and "What is my real purpose here?" are positive, empowering assets. A clarion call for balancing fiscal obligations with ethical and moral responsibilities for increased success in all dimensions of business life.