Barbarians and Beautiful Souls, told through a series of short stories, illustrates how we learn to model behavior through the mindless failings of others or their selfless, and sometimes, accidental acts of compassion. The people we meet shape our tolerances, opinions, beliefs, and behaviors--the ones we present for the world to see. While human consciousness is a result of evolutionary development and physiological mechanisms, it is the governance of emotion that energizes workplace behavior. Emotion underscores how we interact, form alliances, evaluate, persuade, and negotiate. By learning to control our emotional flash points, we clear the field of unnecessary distractions and outside influences, thus allowing rational thought to be an essential ingredient of the relationship building process.