Recommendation: August Turak: Business Secrets of the Trappists

Last night, I went to a lecture by August Turak at Duke's Sanford School of Policy. It was co-sponsored by Leadership North Carolina and was so close to home, I had to attend even though I had no idea who August Turak was and was leary of the topic. August Turak is an entrepreneur who spent several years visiting with the monks at Mepkin Abbey in SC. This was such an inspirational speech, I recommend anyone who gets a chance to go hear Turak speak and be transformed! It was based off of Turak's 4 part article series in Forbes magazine, Business Secrets of the Trappists. He was transformed by his experience with them and now spreads the gospel through a business filter. 

My biggest takeaway from this speech was the importance of the "transformation of being" and how going through this process can help you reach your greatest potential. He applied this concept to organizations as well. The greatest way to get to this is by being connected to a community of people who also want to go through this process (and staying away from those who are negative and against it). Attending this session gave me confirmation for a route I'm considering with my new business.

Definitely attend seminars like this to get inspiration for your business. Especially if you live near colleges and universities, they always have free, public lectures given by very prominent speakers. Check out a few of the lecture schedules for business schools in the Triangle:

Duke's Fuqua Distinguished Speaker Series (also has video archives of previous speakers)
NCSU Wachovia Executive Lecture Series
UNC Kenan-Flagler Dean's Speaker Series & Weatherspoon Lecture (also has video archives of previous speakers)