Highlight: Balance: The Business - Life Connection by James A Cusumano

Balance The BUSINESS--LIFE Connection is a unique business book. It provides a proven template for creating a successful business, and simultaneously, long-term balance and fulfillment in your personal life. The book is based on three decades of the author's diverse experience in technology and entertainment, which include Rock Star, Corporate Executive, Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, and Holistic Hotelier. He shows how to identify and unleash the power of life purpose and passion. 

The book is divided into three sections. The first, "Author's Introduction--On The Shoulders Of Giants" is a brief summary of the author's "Five Lives" and is based on the premise that we all encounter critical crossroads throughout life and the most successful choice is always taken by listening carefully to the counsel wise people--"giants"--we meet along the way. 

In the second section, "Part 1: Creating A Fulfilling Life," the author explains how to impart balance, purpose, and happiness in both your personal and professional lives. He maintains that everyone is capable of finding an attribute that distinguishes them from others in their personal and professional circles. It is never too late to discover this unique "something," which provides sheer pleasure and has the potential to generate great value for both them and the world. 

The author calls this personal Essence and shows how to find and nurture it. He suggests that everyone is born with personal Essence, which he maintains is the "real you," not what you or someone else thinks you should be, but what you have always wanted to be, what you were born to be, what you can do extremely well. 

He has found that pursuing your life Purpose based on your personal Essence leads to intense Passion, which ignites high levels of physical and emotional Energy that in turn unleashes unbound Creativity, leading to Innovation. The result is an excellent return which may be financial, emotional, psychological, spiritual, or some combination. This inevitably provides a deep sense of Gratitude, the source of long-term Happiness. This process is encompassed by what the author calls his "Fulfillment Formula." 

In the third section, "Part 2: Building A Successful Business," the author shows how to build a successful business using the power of an innovative environment created through Inspirational Leadership. The focus is on a new kind of leadership as the means to generate excellent returns to all stakeholders--investors, employees, customers, suppliers, the environment and the community. The author elaborates on seven key elements that he has found can result in long-term success in any business. Practiced diligently, he maintains that the returns are by far, greater than those from "business as usual" models.