Consciousness-Based Leadership and Management, Volume 1

“With a Vedic perspective on consciousness as primary lens, the authors take us on a wide-ranging and richly engaging tour that interweaves philosophy-of-mind, cutting edge findings in neuroscience, innovative approaches to peace building and eco-sustainability, and the timeless wisdom of the wholeness of existence that could not be more timely in today’s world.”

—Ed Sarath, Professor of Music, Founder and Co-Director, Program in Creativity and Consciousness, The University of Michigan, USA 


“This book provides a refreshingly new and concise consciousness-based framework for management as a source of world benefit. Highly recommended.”


—Chris Laszlo, Professor of Organizational Behavior, Case Western Reserve University, USA 

This two-volume set examines the need for a consciousness-based view of leadership, which emphasizes universal human flourishing, as opposed to a resource-based view, which focuses on sustaining a competitive advantage. This approach is built around three main principles: 1) Paradigm (Consciousness is primary including complementary existence of opposites), 2) Interpersonal (focusing on empathy and compassion), and 3) Individual (experiencing Oneness and expressing creativity).

Volume One is divided into three sections. The first section focuses on Consciousness-based approaches to Inclusive, Purposeful, Quantum, and Vedic leadership. The second section focuses on leadership principles from Vedic scriptures such as Ramayana and Vedanta. The third section includes leadership principles from other scriptures such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Thirukural. 

Aligning leadership practices with the notion of unbounded consciousness, this edited collection will extend the literature on organizational culture, leadership, and sustainability, contributing to solving the grand challenges facing humanity. 

Anil K. Maheshwari is a scholar and seekerwhose interests transcend and include data science, management science, and Vedic science. Currently a professor of management at Maharishi International University (MIU), USA, he has written more than a dozen books and dozens of research papers and books chapters on a diverse set of topics. He earned a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi, an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, a PhD in Management from Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, and an MA in Vedic Science from MIU. He organized a unique international conference on consciousness-based leadership and management whose proceedings form the basis for this book.

Chapter(s) Chapters 2 and 6 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.