Taking note of Dr. Izzo's Awakening Corporate Soul.(credit congress: GENERAL SESSION HIGHLIGHT)

The poet Antonio Machado wrote, "Travelers, there is no path, paths are made by walking." The economic path forecast for the United States is not one tread well by security. Already, hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their jobs. Corporate strategies of downsizing, right-sizing and re-engineering have withered away much of the effect job security has on worker's mentalities.

More so, millions of workers are feeling burnt out, overstressed and overworked, leaving CEOs with the task of how to reignite commitment. For authors Eric Klein and John Izzo, Ph.D., the solutions are there in many of the world's "wisdom traditions" by creating an environment that lets individuals ponder and embrace their deepest-held values, which in turn creates a happier, more motivated workforce. Their book, Awakening Corporate Soul, is about leadership and workers at all levels finding meaning, purpose and soul-satisfaction in the workplace.

"The soul requires a sense of being in the world, of having a place and making a contribution," write Klein and Izzo. "To a great degree this comes through work." The two feel corporate failure is founded on workers seeing the job as merely a means to earn a paycheck and leaders who view those who work for them as only doing so in exchange for a salary. This manifests into a stagnant environment that makes a business uncompetitive because no facet is operating with passion and cultivates attitudes of dissent.

The quest becomes: how does a corporation tackle worker fatigue and pessimism? Individuals must ask themselves when do they give more than their all; what inspires them to give 150%?

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Klein and Izzo discuss that truth-telling, responsibility and the concept of community must be fostered. They outline four paths to discovering corporate soul: ...