Quantum Leadership
New Consciousness in Business
Frederick Chavalit Tsao and Chris Laszlo
Imprint: Stanford Business Books
July 2019
272 Pages
Hardcover ISBN: 9781503600331
Ebook ISBN: 9781503609167
In this new book, Frederick Chavalit Tsao and Chris Laszlo argue that current approaches to leadership fail to produce positive outcomes for either businesses or the communities they serve. Employee disengagement and customer fickleness remain high, resulting in a lack of creativity and collaboration at all levels of entrepreneurial activity. Investor demand for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) continues to be poorly integrated into profit strategies.
Drawing on extensive research, this book shows how changing a person's consciousness is the most powerful lever for unlocking his or her leadership potential to create wealth and serve humankind. A wide range of practices of connectedness provide the keys. The journey to higher consciousness changes people at a deep intuitive level, combining embodied experience with analytic-cognitive skill development. Tsao and Laszlo show how leaders who pursue this journey are more likely to flourish with significant benefits to both business and society. These include greater creativity and collaboration along with an increased capability to inspire people and produce lasting change. Readers will come away with a deep understanding of quantum leadership and the day-to-day practices that can help them achieve greater effectiveness and wellbeing at work.
"Tsao and Laszlo provide a much-needed, refreshing, centered look at the incredible demands on contemporary leaders and the key 'muscle' that needs to be developed in order for them to help their teams and organizations to thrive and survive. We've heard a lot from others about the importance of things like mindfulness, clarity, and resilience, but until now not much on how to unlock, develop, and apply these important attributes. In Quantum Leadership, we now have an incredibly helpful roadmap."—Len Jessup, President, Claremont Graduate University
"This book is a must-read for any senior executive intent on leading their organization toward flourishing. A mindset shift is precisely what has fueled Clarke's journey toward becoming a flourishing public health organization. We never could have accomplished so much without understanding the deep connectedness our business has with people and the planet. Experiencing such transformational change has become our driving purpose and unleashed unprecedented collaboration, innovation, and talent."—Lyell Clarke, President and CEO, The Clarke Group of Companies
"Quantum Leadership is THE paradigm shift I have been thinking about and trying to practice without clearly knowing how to put it into words. If you self-identify as a leader, are in a position of leadership, or are getting ready to lead, this book is the true story of leadership in the 21st century. It is for those who are at least beginning to understand and open their minds to the nature of our times and are committed to stepping up to today's challenges."—Elliot Hoffman, Founder and CEO, REV, a sustainability consulting firm and winner of GEELA, California's highest environmental honor
"In the Thrive Movement we are seeing that knowledge of the dynamics of the quantum field allows for beneficial application in harmonious energy access, holistic healing, environmental restoration, and much more. The principles behind effective quantum devices are a perfect match with the principles of tuning and evolving individual consciousness. Tsao and Laszlo take this all one step further to unveil how to apply the principles of oneness, wholeness, discovery, and evolution to awaken extraordinary leadership for corporations, nations, and species. This knowledge is accurate, timely, and critical. Integrate it and pass it on!"—Foster Gamble, Producer, Thrive
"We have long known – but have seldom openly discussed – that the world's most successful business and civic leaders have tapped into a 'non-material toolkit' that places intuition and gut-feel on par with other essential management tools. Accessing information and inspiration from our deeper levels of consciousness not only can improve our organization's outcomes, but can catalyze new approaches, products, and services that serve the greater good—leading to a triple win for the organization, its stakeholders, and society as a whole. The time is now for this important work by Tsao and Laszlo!"—Claire Lachance, CEO, Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)
"If we are to survive and flourish on this planet, we will need to transform ourselves at our most basic spiritual levels, becoming partners with each other in creating a world that works for everyone with no one left out. And simultaneously, we will need to work together to transform our broken global systems for producing, distributing, and consuming – systems that are currently destroying the capacity of our planet to support our own and other species. Tsao and Laszlo's Quantum Leadership offers us a powerful vehicle for seeing and acting on the possibilities for our transformation as spiritual beings – becoming leaders at all levels of our lives and in our organizations and societies. In doing so, it also opens the door to the actions we can start taking now to heal our broken world, as we heal our own damaged spirits."—Jim Stoner, Chairholder: James A.F. Stoner Chair for Global Sustainability, Fordham University
"At a moment of awakening, we rediscover a universal truth. It gives us a deep sense of purpose and a grounding in reality. Sometimes these moments are decades apart, and sometimes they are millennia distant. Tsao and Laszlo have created one of these moments for you. This book will not only enlighten you, it will bend your mind in space and time. When we are in sync within ourselves (our bodies, mind, and spirit), when we are in tune with others around us and our natural environment, we are one. As an individual and in our human groups, when we are in sync we function at our peak in innovation, creativity, and compassion, and expand our possibilities. Fasten your seatbelt, secure loose objects, and prepare for the ride of your life!"—Richard Boyatzis, Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve University and co-author of Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
"We now live in an age in which the latest science is describing a world that seems unfamiliar to our everyday classical experience: As we are, so the world appears. Business leaders who harness the science of connectedness presented in this book will be poised to function at a higher level of creativity, productivity, and profitability while transforming the world around them in a way that typical corporate social responsibility initiatives cannot mimic. Kudos to the authors for presenting a complete how-to framework for business that places the heart of transformation right where it should be: within you."—Dr. Anoop Kumar, MD, author of Michelangelo's Medicine: How Redefining the Human Body Will Transform Health and Healthcare
"Leadership is poised for a major shift in the practical and abstract way organizations are viewed. In this concise but intense presentation, the authors have captured the key elements that can direct leadership and the valuable role it plays in the future of organizations. This intellectual fusion of Eastern and Western social thought is a genuine complement to the literature of leadership and deserves attention and critical review. Highly recommended."—J. B. Kashner, CHOICE
"This book is a must-read for any senior executive intent on leading their organization toward flourishing. A mindset shift is precisely what has fueled Clarke's journey toward becoming a flourishing public health organization. We never could have accomplished so much without understanding the deep connectedness our business has with people and the planet. Experiencing such transformational change has become our driving purpose and unleashed unprecedented collaboration, innovation, and talent."—Lyell Clarke, President and CEO, The Clarke Group of Companies
"Quantum Leadership is THE paradigm shift I have been thinking about and trying to practice without clearly knowing how to put it into words. If you self-identify as a leader, are in a position of leadership, or are getting ready to lead, this book is the true story of leadership in the 21st century. It is for those who are at least beginning to understand and open their minds to the nature of our times and are committed to stepping up to today's challenges."—Elliot Hoffman, Founder and CEO, REV, a sustainability consulting firm and winner of GEELA, California's highest environmental honor
"In the Thrive Movement we are seeing that knowledge of the dynamics of the quantum field allows for beneficial application in harmonious energy access, holistic healing, environmental restoration, and much more. The principles behind effective quantum devices are a perfect match with the principles of tuning and evolving individual consciousness. Tsao and Laszlo take this all one step further to unveil how to apply the principles of oneness, wholeness, discovery, and evolution to awaken extraordinary leadership for corporations, nations, and species. This knowledge is accurate, timely, and critical. Integrate it and pass it on!"—Foster Gamble, Producer, Thrive
"We have long known – but have seldom openly discussed – that the world's most successful business and civic leaders have tapped into a 'non-material toolkit' that places intuition and gut-feel on par with other essential management tools. Accessing information and inspiration from our deeper levels of consciousness not only can improve our organization's outcomes, but can catalyze new approaches, products, and services that serve the greater good—leading to a triple win for the organization, its stakeholders, and society as a whole. The time is now for this important work by Tsao and Laszlo!"—Claire Lachance, CEO, Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)
"If we are to survive and flourish on this planet, we will need to transform ourselves at our most basic spiritual levels, becoming partners with each other in creating a world that works for everyone with no one left out. And simultaneously, we will need to work together to transform our broken global systems for producing, distributing, and consuming – systems that are currently destroying the capacity of our planet to support our own and other species. Tsao and Laszlo's Quantum Leadership offers us a powerful vehicle for seeing and acting on the possibilities for our transformation as spiritual beings – becoming leaders at all levels of our lives and in our organizations and societies. In doing so, it also opens the door to the actions we can start taking now to heal our broken world, as we heal our own damaged spirits."—Jim Stoner, Chairholder: James A.F. Stoner Chair for Global Sustainability, Fordham University
"At a moment of awakening, we rediscover a universal truth. It gives us a deep sense of purpose and a grounding in reality. Sometimes these moments are decades apart, and sometimes they are millennia distant. Tsao and Laszlo have created one of these moments for you. This book will not only enlighten you, it will bend your mind in space and time. When we are in sync within ourselves (our bodies, mind, and spirit), when we are in tune with others around us and our natural environment, we are one. As an individual and in our human groups, when we are in sync we function at our peak in innovation, creativity, and compassion, and expand our possibilities. Fasten your seatbelt, secure loose objects, and prepare for the ride of your life!"—Richard Boyatzis, Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve University and co-author of Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
"We now live in an age in which the latest science is describing a world that seems unfamiliar to our everyday classical experience: As we are, so the world appears. Business leaders who harness the science of connectedness presented in this book will be poised to function at a higher level of creativity, productivity, and profitability while transforming the world around them in a way that typical corporate social responsibility initiatives cannot mimic. Kudos to the authors for presenting a complete how-to framework for business that places the heart of transformation right where it should be: within you."—Dr. Anoop Kumar, MD, author of Michelangelo's Medicine: How Redefining the Human Body Will Transform Health and Healthcare
"Leadership is poised for a major shift in the practical and abstract way organizations are viewed. In this concise but intense presentation, the authors have captured the key elements that can direct leadership and the valuable role it plays in the future of organizations. This intellectual fusion of Eastern and Western social thought is a genuine complement to the literature of leadership and deserves attention and critical review. Highly recommended."—J. B. Kashner, CHOICE
Frederick Chavalit Tsao is the Chairman of IMC Pan Asia Alliance Group and founder of Octave. He is a fourth-generation business owner, who joined his family business at age 20 and assumed chairmanship at age 37. Under his stewardship, IMC evolved from a traditional shipping business to one that has presence in more than 17 countries and businesses in integrated supply chains, lifestyle, investments and community development. Octave is a learning platform to help people find clarity, harmony, and a new level of consciousness and freedom. In 1995 he founded East West Cultural Development Centre, which gave birth to AITIA in 2016, dedicated to building 21st century organizations and leaders. Chris Laszlo, PhD, is Professor of Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University, where he researches and teaches flourishing enterprise. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Drucker School of Management of Claremont Graduate University and Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Benedictine University. He is author of Flourishing Enterprise (2014), Embedded Sustainability (2011), and Sustainable Value (2008), all from Stanford University Press. Chris is also the managing partner of Sustainable Value Partners, a sustainability strategy consulting firm he co-founded in 2002. He was elected in 2018 as incoming Chairperson of the Academy of Management MSR Interest Group.
