Zen	Leadership
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Mobile	for
for	Business
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Scale	Up
Up	SportsMoney
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Term	Life
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Today	s
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of	Success
Success	Forbes
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with	J
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With	Northwestern
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How	To
To	Get
Get	Ready
Ready	To
To	Buy
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Your	First
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How	To
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For	Early
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The	Under
Under	s
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Quietly	Revolutionizing
Revolutionizing	The
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am	EST
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Eye	For
For	US
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Jan	am
am	EST
EST	Better
Better	than
than	the
the	Borg
Borg	The
The	Neurotech
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Jan	am
am	EST
EST	Online
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Ed	Gets
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Test	Via
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am	EST
EST	Bill
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Invests	In
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DNA	Sequencing
Sequencing	Firm
Firm	Jan
Jan	pm
pm	EST
EST	CES
CES	The
The	Street
Street	Sees
Sees	A
A	Quiet
Quiet	Year
Year	For
For	Big
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Trade	Show
Show	Jan
Jan	pm
pm	EST
EST	Life
Life	After
After	The
The	iPhone
iPhone	How
How	AT
AT	amp
amp	T
T	s
s	Bet
Bet	On
On	Apple
Apple	Mobilized
Mobilized	The
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Edit	Story
Story	Mar
Mar	am
am	EDT
EDT	Zen
Zen	Leadership
Leadership	The
The	Toughest
Toughest	Best
Best	Business
Business	Decision
Decision	I
I	Ever
Ever	Made
Made	August
August	Turak
Turak	August
August	Turak
Turak	Former
Former	Contributor
Contributor	Opinions
Opinions	expressed
expressed	by
by	Forbes
Forbes	Contributors
Contributors	are
are	their
their	own
own	Leadership
Leadership	Strategy
Strategy	I
I	write
write	about
about	service
service	and
and	selflessness
selflessness	the
the	secret
secret	to
to	success
success	Share
Share	to
to	Facebook
Facebook	Share
Share	to
to	Twitter
Twitter	Share
Share	to
to	Linkedin
Linkedin	He
He	cared
cared	deeply
deeply	lived
lived	carelessly
carelessly	and
and	couldn
couldn	t
t	care
care	less
less	and
and	he
he	died
died	in
in	the
the	same
same	obscurity
obscurity	into
into	which
which	he
he	was
was	born
born	Yet
Yet	he
he	remains
remains	the
the	greatest
greatest	leader
leader	and
and	most
most	remarkable
remarkable	man
man	I
I	have
have	ever
ever	met
met	Everything
Everything	that
that	is
is	best
best	in
in	me
me	I
I	owe
owe	largely
largely	to
to	him
him	August
August	Turak
Turak	s
s	Zen
Zen	Teacher
Teacher	In
In	I
I	dropped
dropped	out
out	of
of	college
college	and
and	took
took	a
a	job
job	jockeying
jockeying	a
a	jack
jack	hammer
hammer	in
in	order
order	to
to	study
study	full
full	time
time	under
under	a
a	West
West	Virginia
Virginia	hillbilly
hillbilly	family
family	man
man	house
house	painter
painter	and
and	Zen
Zen	Master
Master	hovering
hovering	just
just	above
above	the
the	poverty
poverty	line
line	in
in	Wheeling
Wheeling	West
West	Virginia
Virginia	A
A	poster
poster	child
child	for
for	the
the	anti
anti	guru
guru	he
he	claimed
claimed	no
no	lineage
lineage	accepted
accepted	no
no	money
money	and
and	I
I	was
was	his
his	first
first	student
student	He
He	cared
cared	deeply
deeply	lived
lived	carelessly
carelessly	and
and	couldn
couldn	t
t	care
care	less
less	and
and	he
he	died
died	in
in	the
the	same
same	obscurity
obscurity	into
into	which
which	he
he	was
was	born
born	Yet
Yet	he
he	remains
remains	the
the	greatest
greatest	leader
leader	and
and	most
most	remarkable
remarkable	man
man	I
I	have
have	ever
ever	met
met	Everything
Everything	that
that	is
is	best
best	in
in	me
me	I
I	owe
owe	largely
largely	to
to	him
him	One
One	day
day	I
I	approached
approached	him
him	eager
eager	for
for	his
his	secret
secret	to
to	success
success	What
What	was
was	the
the	single
single	most
most	important
important	thing
thing	he
he	did
did	in
in	his
his	life
life	It
It	wasn
wasn	t
t	what
what	I
I	did
did	he
he	replied
replied	without
without	hesitation
hesitation	it
it	was
was	what
what	I
I	didn
didn	t
t	do
do	Then
Then	he
he	walked
walked	away
away	leaving
leaving	me
me	baffled
baffled	and
and	a
a	little
little	miffed
miffed	at
at	what
what	felt
felt	a
a	lot
lot	like
like	a
a	rebuff
rebuff	What
What	is
is	the
the	sound
sound	of
of	one
one	hand
hand	clapping
clapping	How
How	can
can	success
success	arise
arise	from
from	not
not	doing
doing	rather
rather	than
than	doing
doing	Riddles
Riddles	like
like	these
these	called
called	koans
koans	in
in	Zen
Zen	Buddhism
Buddhism	have
have	long
long	baffled
baffled	the
the	Western
Western	mind
mind	Steeped
Steeped	for
for	millennia
millennia	in
in	the
the	Aristotelian
Aristotelian	logic
logic	that
that	insists
insists	that
that	the
the	truth
truth	is
is	either
either	A
A	or
or	A
A	Zen
Zen	has
has	long
long	been
been	dismissed
dismissed	as
as	little
little	more
more	than
than	mystical
mystical	double
double	talk
talk	by
by	western
western	philosophy
philosophy	and
and	science
science	But
But	recent
recent	advances
advances	in
in	the
the	science
science	behind
behind	creative
creative	thinking
thinking	and
and	problem
problem	solving
solving	should
should	be
be	changing
changing	that
that	misconception
misconception	Only
Only	recently
recently	have
have	terms
terms	like
like	creative
creative	destruction
destruction	controlled
controlled	chaos
chaos	coopetition
coopetition	creative
creative	destruction
destruction	fuzzy
fuzzy	logic
logic	breaking
breaking	the
the	frame
frame	jumping
jumping	outside
outside	the
the	system
system	disruptive
disruptive	technologies
technologies	and
and	thinking
thinking	outside
outside	the
the	box
box	entered
entered	the
the	lexicon
lexicon	of
of	business
business	These
These	terms
terms	trickled
trickled	down
down	from
from	science
science	and
and	they
they	all
all	try
try	to
to	capture
capture	the
the	essentially
essentially	paradoxical
paradoxical	nature
nature	of
of	the
the	universe
universe	They
They	suggest
suggest	that
that	overcoming
overcoming	our
our	scientific
scientific	political
political	and
and	economic
economic	challenges
challenges	will
will	increasingly
increasingly	rely
rely	on
on	mastering
mastering	a
a	whole
whole	new
new	mode
mode	of
of	thinking
thinking	the
the	same
same	paradoxical
paradoxical	thinking
thinking	that
that	Zen
Zen	mastered
mastered	years
years	ago
ago	Technically
Technically	thinking
thinking	outside
outside	the
the	box
box	relies
relies	on
on	what
what	psychologists
psychologists	describe
describe	as
as	lateral
lateral	or
or	divergent
divergent	thinking
thinking	and
and	thinking
thinking	laterally
laterally	or
or	divergently
divergently	is
is	highly
highly	correlated
correlated	with
with	creativity
creativity	Rather
Rather	than
than	converging
converging	on
on	a
a	single
single	back
back	of
of	the
the	book
book	answer
answer	in
in	a
a	linear
linear	step
step	by
by	step
step	way
way	divergent
divergent	learning
learning	teaches
teaches	people
people	how
how	to
to	ask
ask	new
new	and
and	exciting
exciting	questions
questions	questions
questions	that
that	disrupt
disrupt	assumptions
assumptions	and
and	shatter
shatter	the
the	frame
frame	of
of	complacency
complacency	that
that	produces
produces	a
a	business
business	as
as	usual
usual	mentality
mentality	Until
Until	relatively
relatively	recently
recently	things
things	rarely
rarely	changed
changed	Without
Without	the
the	benefit
benefit	of
of	Moore
Moore	s
s	Law
Law	a
a	Roman
Roman	soldier
soldier	looked
looked	pretty
pretty	much
much	the
the	same
same	in
in	A
A	D
D	as
as	he
he	did
did	in
in	B
B	C
C	The
The	little
little	change
change	that
that	occurred
occurred	was
was	gradual
gradual	incremental
incremental	and
and	evolutionary
evolutionary	Success
Success	relied
relied	on
on	efficiency
efficiency	rather
rather	than
than	creativity
creativity	and
and	Aristotelian
Aristotelian	logic
logic	is
is	great
great	at
at	efficiency
efficiency	But
But	Einstein
Einstein	s
s	revolution
revolution	changed
changed	all
all	that
that	Today
Today	change
change	is
is	the
the	only
only	constant
constant	and
and	the
the	rate
rate	of
of	change
change	keeps
keeps	changing
changing	at
at	an
an	ever
ever	increasing
increasing	rate
rate	Managing
Managing	change
change	has
has	meant
meant	a
a	value
value	shift
shift	away
away	from
from	evolutionary
evolutionary	business
business	models
models	aimed
aimed	at
at	efficiency
efficiency	toward
toward	revolutionary
revolutionary	models
models	that
that	rely
rely	on
on	innovation
innovation	and
and	creativity
creativity	The
The	adage
adage	that
that	no
no	man
man	is
is	an
an	island
island	is
is	doubly
doubly	true
true	for
for	business
business	and
and	our
our	only
only	choice
choice	is
is	to
to	lead
lead	change
change	or
or	fall
fall	victim
victim	to
to	it
it	And
And	leading
leading	change
change	means
means	doing
doing	a
a	better
better	job
job	at
at	thinking
thinking	divergently
divergently	Divergent
Divergent	thinking
thinking	argues
argues	that
that	it
it	is
is	not
not	what
what	we
we	don
don	t
t	know
know	that
that	is
is	standing
standing	in
in	our
our	way
way	but
but	more
more	insidiously
insidiously	all
all	those
those	things
things	we
we	are
are	so
so	damn
damn	sure
sure	we
we	already
already	know
know	The
The	CEO
CEO	of
of	a
a	rapidly
rapidly	growing
growing	startup
startup	put
put	it
it	succinctly
succinctly	It
It	is
is	not
not	what
what	I
I	don
don	t
t	know
know	that
that	keeps
keeps	me
me	up
up	at
at	night
night	It
It	s
s	all
all	the
the	things
things	I
I	don
don	t
t	know
know	I
I	don
don	t
t	know
know	because
because	I
I	think
think	I
I	do
do	A
A	Zen
Zen	master
master	couldn
couldn	t
t	say
say	it
it	better
better	or
or	design
design	a
a	better
better	koan
koan	It
It	is
is	axiomatic
axiomatic	to
to	leadership
leadership	that
that	most
most	of
of	our
our	limitations
limitations	are
are	self
self	imposed
imposed	and
and	that
that	is
is	why
why	the
the	IBM
IBM	Executive
Executive	School
School	under
under	my
my	mentor
mentor	Louis
Louis	R
R	Mobley
Mobley	was
was	a
a	place
place	where
where	unlearning
unlearning	rather
rather	than
than	learning
learning	took
took	place
place	I
I	migrated
migrated	to
to	North
North	Carolina
Carolina	in
in	to
to	join
join	a
a	software
software	start
start	up
up	founded
founded	by
by	a
a	year
year	old
old	college
college	dropout
dropout	and
and	his
his	syrupy
syrupy	southern
southern	drawl
drawl	betrayed
betrayed	his
his	humble
humble	country
country	upbringing
upbringing	When
When	he
he	came
came	up
up	with
with	his
his	idea
idea	for
for	a
a	company
company	he
he	jumped
jumped	on
on	a
a	plane
plane	for
for	New
New	York
York	and
and	began
began	cold
cold	calling
calling	venture
venture	capitalists
capitalists	determined
determined	to
to	raise
raise	money
money	or
or	max
max	out
out	his
his	credit
credit	card
card	He
He	returned
returned	to
to	North
North	Carolina
Carolina	two
two	weeks
weeks	later
later	with
with	several
several	million
million	dollars
dollars	Why
Why	did
did	he
he	succeed
succeed	It
It	wasn
wasn	t
t	what
what	he
he	learned
learned	but
but	what
what	he
he	unlearned
unlearned	It
It	was
was	not
not	what
what	he
he	knew
knew	but
but	what
what	he
he	didn
didn	t
t	know
know	Fortunately
Fortunately	this
this	country
country	bumpkin
bumpkin	didn
didn	t
t	know
know	that
that	a
a	bunch
bunch	of
of	buttoned
buttoned	down
down	New
New	York
York	venture
venture	capitalists
capitalists	would
would	never
never	fund
fund	a
a	redneck
redneck	with
with	a
a	back
back	of
of	the
the	envelope
envelope	business
business	plan
plan	It
It	wasn
wasn	t
t	what
what	he
he	did
did	but
but	what
what	he
he	didn
didn	t
t	do
do	He
He	didn
didn	t
t	listen
listen	to
to	the
the	conventional
conventional	wisdom
wisdom	about
about	what
what	is
is	possible
possible	Turak
Turak	with
with	his
his	Zen
Zen	teacher
teacher	students
students	What
What	Mobley
Mobley	imparted
imparted	to
to	IBM
IBM	Executives
Executives	was
was	not
not	knowledge
knowledge	It
It	was
was	humility
humility	Only
Only	the
the	humbled
humbled	mind
mind	questions
questions	its
its	core
core	assumptions
assumptions	and
and	most
most	sacred
sacred	beliefs
beliefs	As
As	Mobley
Mobley	described
described	the
the	divergent
divergent	method
method	behind
behind	his
his	executive
executive	school
school	madness
madness	I
I	kept
kept	thinking
thinking	Wow
Wow	that
that	s
s	exactly
exactly	what
what	my
my	Zen
Zen	teacher
teacher	was
was	doing
doing	And
And	like
like	Zen
Zen	Mobley
Mobley	argued
argued	that
that	teaching
teaching	others
others	to
to	think
think	divergently
divergently	could
could	only
only	be
be	accomplished
accomplished	through
through	a
a	series
series	of
of	epiphanies
epiphanies	and
and	Eureka
Eureka	moments
moments	Not
Not	through
through	the
the	same
same	old
old	Tell
Tell	them
them	what
what	you
you	are
are	going
going	to
to	tell
tell	them
them	tell
tell	them
them	tell
tell	them
them	what
what	you
you	told
told	them
them	and
and	then
then	test
test	them
them	to
to	make
make	sure
sure	they
they	got
got	it
it	convergent
convergent	approach
approach	At
At	heart
heart	Zen
Zen	applies
applies	divergent
divergent	or
or	lateral
lateral	thinking
thinking	to
to	metaphysical
metaphysical	questions
questions	and
and	that
that	is
is	exactly
exactly	why
why	Zen
Zen	is
is	so
so	hard
hard	for
for	people
people	steeped
steeped	in
in	convergent
convergent	thinking
thinking	to
to	grasp
grasp	The
The	goal
goal	of
of	Zen
Zen	practice
practice	is
is	often
often	described
described	as
as	Solving
Solving	the
the	Riddle
Riddle	of
of	Life
Life	and
and	Death
Death	which
which	maps
maps	well
well	onto
onto	today
today	s
s	emergent
emergent	problem
problem	solving
solving	techniques
techniques	based
based	on
on	divergent
divergent	thinking
thinking	For
For	Zen
Zen	the
the	universe
universe	presents
presents	a
a	problem
problem	to
to	be
be	solved
solved	not
not	a
a	theology
theology	to
to	be
be	believed
believed	in
in	Rather
Rather	than
than	incremental
incremental	learning
learning	Zen
Zen	relies
relies	on
on	what
what	my
my	teacher
teacher	called
called	a
a	series
series	of
of	leaps
leaps	and
and	shocks
shocks	or
or	what
what	Mobley
Mobley	described
described	as
as	mind
mind	blowing
blowing	experiences
experiences	to
to	produce
produce	all
all	at
at	once
once	epiphanies
epiphanies	revelations
revelations	insights
insights	and
and	realizations
realizations	However
However	for
for	Zen
Zen	the
the	final
final	box
box	that
that	must
must	be
be	left
left	behind
behind	is
is	the
the	box
box	of
of	space
space	and
and	time
time	itself
itself	That
That	same
same	box
box	that
that	science
science	argues
argues	came
came	into
into	existence
existence	with
with	the
the	Big
Big	Bang
Bang	The
The	same
same	box
box	that
that	Morpheus
Morpheus	called
called	The
The	Matrix
Matrix	The
The	ultimate
ultimate	goal
goal	of
of	Zen
Zen	is
is	a
a	final
final	leap
leap	into
into	Satori
Satori	or
or	enlightenment
enlightenment	a
a	leap
leap	into
into	Eternity
Eternity	itself
itself	where
where	the
the	riddle
riddle	of
of	life
life	and
and	death
death	is
is	finally
finally	transcended
transcended	rather
rather	than
than	solved
solved	For
For	as
as	Einstein
Einstein	said
said	No
No	important
important	problem
problem	is
is	ever
ever	solved
solved	it
it	is
is	transcended
transcended	It
It	is
is	transcended
transcended	because
because	Satori
Satori	reveals
reveals	that
that	the
the	problem
problem	of
of	life
life	and
and	death
death	is
is	something
something	we
we	create
create	for
for	ourselves
ourselves	through
through	our
our	conceptual
conceptual	limitations
limitations	and
and	erroneous
erroneous	assumptions
assumptions	Just
Just	like
like	most
most	of
of	our
our	problems
problems	in
in	business
business	and
and	our
our	personal
personal	lives
lives	In
In	the
the	late
late	s
s	I
I	promised
promised	four
four	North
North	Carolina
Carolina	State
State	students
students	that
that	I
I	would
would	pass
pass	on
on	to
to	them
them	the
the	wisdom
wisdom	that
that	my
my	Zen
Zen	teacher
teacher	and
and	Mobley
Mobley	had
had	passed
passed	on
on	to
to	me
me	Two
Two	weeks
weeks	later
later	a
a	close
close	friend
friend	called
called	and
and	offered
offered	me
me	the
the	job
job	of
of	a
a	lifetime
lifetime	He
He	was
was	the
the	new
new	CEO
CEO	of
of	a
a	once
once	famous
famous	company
company	emerging
emerging	from
from	bankruptcy
bankruptcy	and
and	he
he	offered
offered	me
me	the
the	number
number	two
two	position
position	But
But	there
there	was
was	one
one	problem
problem	I
I	d
d	have
have	to
to	move
move	to
to	another
another	city
city	Recalling
Recalling	my
my	promise
promise	to
to	the
the	college
college	students
students	I
I	turned
turned	the
the	job
job	down
down	even
even	though
though	I
I	was
was	not
not	working
working	at
at	the
the	time
time	My
My	decision
decision	was
was	gut
gut	wrenching
wrenching	and
and	as
as	the
the	word
word	spread
spread	that
that	I
I	was
was	some
some	kind
kind	of
of	a
a	religious
religious	nut
nut	the
the	phone
phone	stopped
stopped	ringing
ringing	So
So	with
with	the
the	help
help	of
of	few
few	other
other	religious
religious	nuts
nuts	we
we	started
started	our
our	own
own	company
company	with
with	little
little	money
money	and
and	a
a	business
business	plan
plan	that
that	one
one	of
of	my
my	partners
partners	described
described	as
as	we
we	re
re	smart
smart	guys
guys	we
we	ll
ll	figure
figure	out
out	something
something	to
to	do
do	Seven
Seven	years
years	later
later	our
our	company
company	was
was	purchased
purchased	and
and	we
we	did
did	very
very	well
well	Meanwhile
Meanwhile	the
the	company
company	I
I	turned
turned	down
down	had
had	long
long	since
since	gone
gone	bankrupt
bankrupt	yet
yet	again
again	and
and	the
the	CEO
CEO	of
of	the
the	holding
holding	company
company	not
not	my
my	friend
friend	went
went	to
to	prison
prison	for
for	fraud
fraud	Turning
Turning	down
down	that
that	job
job	was
was	the
the	toughest
toughest	business
business	decision
decision	I
I	ever
ever	made
made	The
The	smart
smart	play
play	and
and	safe
safe	bet
bet	would
would	ve
ve	been
been	to
to	take
take	the
the	job
job	stay
stay	in
in	my
my	career
career	box
box	and
and	rationalize
rationalize	away
away	my
my	promise
promise	to
to	those
those	kids
kids	However
However	the
the	best
best	business
business	decision
decision	I
I	ever
ever	made
made	was
was	dropping
dropping	out
out	of
of	school
school	to
to	study
study	Zen
Zen	Because
Because	what
what	I
I	learned
learned	from
from	my
my	Zen
Zen	teacher
teacher	and
and	later
later	Lou
Lou	Mobley
Mobley	is
is	that
that	we
we	all
all	need
need	a
a	higher
higher	purpose
purpose	to
to	live
live	by
by	and
and	that
that	if
if	we
we	are
are	not
not	willing
willing	to
to	make
make	sacrifices
sacrifices	for
for	that
that	higher
higher	purpose
purpose	it
it	is
is	meaningless
meaningless	So
So	despite
despite	my
my	fears
fears	I
I	made
made	a
a	decision
decision	that
that	divergently
divergently	took
took	me
me	outside
outside	my
my	box
box	and
and	comfort
comfort	zone
zone	a
a	decision
decision	that
that	everyone
everyone	I
I	knew
knew	called
called	incredibly
incredibly	dumb
dumb	at
at	the
the	time
time	In
In	the
the	end
end	what
what	we
we	think
think	feel
feel	or
or	say
say	amounts
amounts	to
to	little
little	Only
Only	our
our	decisions
decisions	reveal
reveal	just
just	exactly
exactly	who
who	we
we	are
are	and
and	what
what	we
we	stand
stand	for
for	It
It	took
took	many
many	years
years	and
and	the
the	benefit
benefit	of
of	hindsight
hindsight	to
to	finally
finally	learn
learn	what
what	my
my	Zen
Zen	teacher
teacher	didn
didn	t
t	do
do	that
that	led
led	to
to	his
his	success
success	No
No	matter
matter	how
how	tough
tough	it
it	got
got	he
he	never
never	sold
sold	out
out	Here
Here	s
s	a
a	Zen
Zen	koan
koan	for
for	you
you	If
If	you
you	master
master	Zen
Zen	you
you	ll
ll	be
be	a
a	great
great	leader
leader	But
But	if
if	you
you	study
study	Zen
Zen	just
just	to
to	become
become	a
a	great
great	leader
leader	you
you	ll
ll	never
never	master
master	it
it	For
For	more
more	great
great	leadership
leadership	strategies
strategies	read
read	my
my	book
book	Business
Business	Secrets
Secrets	of
of	the
the	Trappist
Trappist	Monks
Monks	One
One	CEO
CEO	s
s	Quest
Quest	for
for	Meaning
Meaning	and
and	Authenticity
Authenticity	Columbia
Columbia	Business
Business	School
School	Publishing
Publishing	July
July	Follow
Follow	me
me	on
on	Twitter
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facebook	com
com	aturak
aturak	or
or	check
check	out
out	my
my	website
website	http
http	www
www	augustturak
augustturak	com
com	August
August	Turak
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