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Seven Spiritual Lessons of Business

Seven Spiritual Lessons of Business

Published 01-26-05

Submitted by Chilmark Books

What does spirituality have to do with business? According to co-authors and Wall Street veterans Peter Ressler and Monika Mitchell Ressler plenty. In Spiritual Capitalism: What the FDNY Taught Wall Street About Money, Monika Ressler states that "In business, we can use our pursuit of profit to enhance our spiritual growth." How you ask? The Resslers offer seven lessons followed by specific examples and tools such as self-inquiry and affirmations in a format they call, "Seven spiritual lessons of business."

Does a combination of modern day prophets and Wall Street headhunters sound unlikely? Absolutely. Yet somehow out of the depths of the cutthroat world of Wall Street come these credible words of wisdom. "A more responsible capitalism is the trend that many of us in the business community have been hoping for," says Wall Street insider Peter Ressler. He should know. A Cornell University graduate, Peter Ressler has been representing top investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers for over two decades. Together with his business and life partner, Monika, they suggest the time has come for traditional survival-of-the-fittest capitalism to be replaced with a more enlightened philosophy of "responsibility-of-the-fittest."

The Ressler's credibility is further enhanced through their experiences as Wall Street executives living through the pivotal event of our 21st century: the tragedy of September 11, 2001. They share the events of that day and the year that followed that changed their thinking in business. Volunteer firefighter Peter and his wife Monika had the unique vantage point of viewing the tragedy as members of the financial community with close personal ties to the Fire Department of the City of New York. (Father Mychal Judge, the first official casualty of the tragedy and the former Chaplain of the FDNY was their close personal friend.) Watching the fire department pick up the pieces of a devastated Wall Street, the Resslers realized they "could never go back to business as usual again." They share their epiphany with us by challenging long accepted beliefs about business with statements such as, "Everything we do in business is completely personal."

In their chapter on greed, Peter and Monika discuss the subject with the plausible authority that only savvy insiders could assert. "We must recognize how our acts of greed affect others. No longer can we justify the unnecessary suffering our indifference creates. It is possible to earn our money responsibly without destroying anyone else in the process." They back up this claim with many real-life examples of hugely successful masters of the universe who have somehow maintained ethical business practices while garnering extraordinary wealth. Are the pursuit of profits and ethics compatible? The Resslers claim an unequivocal, "Yes." Their new book, Spiritual Capitalism: What the FDNY Taught Wall Street About Money, offers surprising answers to that age-old question with a refreshingly bold voice from the dog-eat-dog world of Wall Street itself.

To read a PDF with more information about Spiritual Capitalism, click here.

Pub Date: January 2005
128 pages, paperback
List price $16.95
Chilmark Books
ISBN 0-9761984-0-1
www.spiritualcapitalism.com

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