I’ve been on vacation, seeking a different level of balance and some veg time. I read a couple of mysteries, explored some of Canada’s Eastern Townships, and then lessened the activity to increase the quiet and still time.

Filling up days with places and events is often considered a great vacation. And great it is if not for beginning and ending with exhaustion. Its restorative score could be low, as most often vacations are expected to provide a break from schedules and their pressures as experienced in daily routines. A change in place, without pace, doesn’t always leave the residual effect anticipated with a vacation.

And while a change in pace, and not place, may serve up most of the benefits sought, vacations, we should note, are personal, and preferences as such will vary. The key is balance, something we all need and seem to believe is more achievable while on vacation.

Balance can be as elusive as the universal sought after happiness. And there’s a reason: they are intertwined with our state of mind. So while a change in pace or place seem appropriate for creating balance, neither provide a guarantee for a great vacation.

When I think of vacation I’m reminded of the carefree, imaginative and fun-filled days of childhood summers. Playing was the balance I needed then, and now. From creating our Indian village to spending hours throughout the day and evening at the local pool, to climbing a rock face of one of the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi, I was free to explore, create and experience. Our play was simply accepted, with few boundaries. And the appropriate level of silliness was always balanced with equal seriousness.

Self-expression flowed, and laughter came easy and often as we were loving life. With our laughter, we were releasing plenty of those healthy endorphins, which by the way are 10 times more powerful than the pain-relieving drug morphine. And no doubt we were increasing our little hearts’ rate, as in addition to the physical activity, our endless laughter gave it a boost. FYI, just a few minutes of laughter can double your heart rate, according to Dr. William Fry, Jr.

I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: As children we laughed on average 400 times a day; by age 35 we’ve reduced that to 15. So creating a more healthy balance truly does require a bit more play and laughter, in both the mental and physical sense.

For me, there’s nothing more fun than wandering and pondering. Wandering to see and experience new things, like dark chocolate enrobed blueberries we purchased at the Saint-Benoit-du-Lac Abbey. A burst of fresh berry flavor surprised us, because it was truly fresh and truly a burst.

As for pondering, time is given to those things that just don’t make their way into my brainscape during the normal course of a week. Topic matters not because vacation offers a chance to twirl anything and everything around and peer at them from different perspectives. My mental escapades are free to involve matters of the farfetched and otherwise inconceivable.

Play, mental and physical, has been recognized as a key ingredient of well being and happiness for centuries. Aristotle and Plato spoke of such beliefs. On through history, these beliefs have gained merit through the studies of the brain pertaining to the development and education of children, problem solving, creativity, relationships at home and work, as well as team performances.

According to one study, Schaeffer 1993, play is as important to human happiness and well-being as love and work. By nature we are born to play. It’s a source of energy and excitement, stimulating our bodies and brains. At the same time it provides for calmness, relaxation and improved sleep. Vacations that incorporate play are downright therapeutic.

It has been said that you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. I suspect the same is true in exploration of our selves. I’ve not happened upon too many down sides to play, other than the occasional skinned knee.

So with a hop and a skip, unleash yourself. Get in the spirit, stay in the spirit, be the spirit needed to jump into a fun-filled vacation. Giggle and laugh as if you’ve never grown up. Let vacation be like skinny dipping, where without hesitation you leap in. No clothes, no second thoughts are necessary as you understand life is not a dress rehearsal. Allow yourself to recapture the carefree feelings and well-being of childhood.

Anita Ancel is President of Ancelary Group, a Vermont firm that helps executives and their teams develop attitudes and habits for ongoing success and happiness.

Last week I wrote about how leadership development is part of the Israel curriculum via mandatory service in their non-hierarchical military. And that has in turn created a culture of success where everyone is expected to be a leader, as described in Start Up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer.

It’s not uncommon when we hear about a success elsewhere to reason why it wouldn’t be a good fit for our situation. So forgive me for repeating myself, I believe it is just the right fit for corporate America. Expecting everyone to be a leader has been my belief for as long as I can remember.

Tom Peters and others often referred to this as employee empowerment. Examples often involved the freedom to handle customer service issues without having to check in at various levels in the chain of command. Israel shows that true empowerment involves all decisions and every employee.

Rather than just spew hot air, I thought it would be appropriate to share an example of how I have practiced this belief. It was the mid 90s and I had just garnered the position of being publisher of a small Midwest newspaper. However I was soon to learn there was a catch.

Seems the paper was bleeding money; the bottom line was dropping out of sight. My job was to do emergency surgery and amputate some human appendages. I was handed a list of names of the people to cut. Thoughts of career advancement soon became visions of another job from hell.

I accepted the job, and at the same time objected. In so doing I somehow convinced the boss to give me some time before demanding staff eliminations. And so, as is the case in fairytales, this story ends with everyone living happily ever after.

The staff was terrific and just wanted to be unleashed. We did leadership and team training across disciplines, often in the form of games. We practiced transparency; the books were open for all to see the details. And everyone literally signed off on being responsible for their own and the team’s success.

We painted our commitment on the wall. Surrounded by our colorful handprints and signatures was the statement: We stand apart as individuals. We come together in a common purpose. It’s a statement that implies the value and responsibility of each member of the team. And that was key.

We had different roles but did not practice different status. The same level of commitment, responsibility and leadership was expected from the janitor as from a department head. It served us well.

One Saturday night the driver, who transported our papers from the off site printing facility, checked the paper for quality before loading. He discovered that the previous day’s sports section had been printed and included again.

He, of course, spoke to the press foreman on duty, who in so many words said “tough.” Remember, we were a small paper. Needless to say this operation did not share a culture similar to ours. So here was Saturday’s press run with Friday’s sports pages. Anyone who’s worked in customer service knows this kind of error is remembered for decades.

Not to worry. True leaders don’t give up easily and neither did our driver. When the printers did not recognize him as a leader, he called me, knowing that I did and would welcome his call at 3 a.m. Sad to say, the title of publisher was all it took for our printers to decide they needed to crank up the press again.

This driver was also the mastermind behind several successful revenue ideas. He, along with all the others, led the way to success. The bottom line was proof that everyone being a leader works. In that first year the newspaper made more money than at any other time. No one was cut from the staff.

From there, we went onto to help our down trodden community realize new possibilities. We extended our ideas of leadership beyond our walls.

It was challenging, fun and rewarding for everyone. And, like in Israel, it was successful. The principles behind why it works are really quite simple. Everyone, individually, wants to be successful, and at the same time be part of a winning team. It’s that combo of personal and organizational goals that is so motivating.

So I encourage you to give it a try. Lead on, shoulder to shoulder, with everyone in your organization.

True leadership isn’t about leading others, but rather yourself as you interact with the world.  In business, that would mean everyone in the organization is a leader, with all the responsibility and say that comes with such a position.

 I can imagine for some that sounds like a great formula for chaos and a clashing of egos. It might also be viewed as counterproductive, causing conflict and confusion.

Let’s play this out a bit further. The expectation would be for every employee to ask questions, challenge and debate everything. The new comfort zone would be the unknown. Being different in thought and action would be the company norm, and problems would naturally become assets.

Can’t quite see it resulting in business nirvana?  There’s real world evidence that this type of operation not only works, but outperforms the traditional, hierarchical organization. I’m not talking about an exception, for there are many examples. Intel and Google will attest to such successes, for they have cashed in on them, both by investing and reaping the subsequent rewards.

You need only check NASDAQ for Israeli companies, for they outnumber those from all of Europe, Japan, China, India, Korea and Singapore combined. Israel has become the No. 1 country for start-up ventures. That’s a lot of chutzpah for such a young, small and war-entrenched country.

Got your attention?  Start Up Nation, a book by Dan Senor and Saul Singer had mine as they described how this country’s culture of adversity spawns global successes. 

Through the many stories the authors make it clear that from birth, Israelis are taught a mindset that allows for nothing to get in their way. It is an attitude befitting great leaders.

            Right out of high school everyone goes into the military, one where soldiers can oust their leaders for poor performance… and one where life and death situations require quick decisions and total responsibility. Hierarchy becomes irrelevant when survival is a way of life.

            Israel was able to attract Bill Gates and Warren Buffet into the war zone of  their homeland because the same winning mindset and cultural candor prevails in business as does on the battlefield. But then business takes place on the battlefield.

            During the Gulf War in 1991, Intel Israel continued work despite the government order to shut down all schools and businesses.  Employees donned their gas masks and demonstrated their determination.

 In 2006, just a couple of months after Buffet bought the company, Iscar, more than 4,000 missiles landed in northern Israel. His Israeli chairman assured him that while the sole concern was for employee safety, all customers would receive their orders on time. And despite many employees relocating to the south, the chairman kept his word.

            Life in Israel has demanded a no B.S. manner of interaction, adaptability, persistence, collaboration and creativity. When 98- degree salt water was the result of drilling for drinking water, they created pools and began to raise warm-water fish like sea bass. After use in the fishponds, the water and the waste byproducts made great fertilizer for the olive and date trees. Once a land of deserts, referred to as a barren wasteland, Israel now grows 240 million trees. 

Seems nothing is impossible for them. They are a nation of individual leaders who team up to conquer any and all challenges. They find no need for water cooler talk, frankness serves them well. Trust develops naturally.  Problems and differences are reasons to get creative and adaptability makes way for easy navigation of the unfamiliar. Responsibility is an expectation of everyone. Risk and mistakes are redefined, eliminating reason for hesitation.

So if it can work in the small nation of Israel, where killer obstacles seem to be in abundance, who can argue that it wouldn’t work for corporate America? In terms of team building, it would require storming to go beyond one stage of development and become an ongoing norm.  That can be tough on CEO egos and wreak havoc with their comfort zones. But imagine what it could do for the bottom line.

I’ve just scratched the surface on what this book can teach us. It is well worth the time to read it and the opportunity to challenge your own thinking. At the very least, you’ll find the illustrative stories inspiring.

            Refreshed and somewhat tan, I just returned from Jamaica where warmth, both in weather and smiles, prevail.  Not surprising, the lyrics of Bob Marley’s carefree song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” continue to play in my head.

            My mindset became an amusing juxtaposition as I picked up the New Yorker from the mail pile and began to read  Elizabeth Kolbert’s article, Everybody Have Fun; What can policymakers learn from happiness research?

            The simple answer to that question is “not much.”  The research, for the most part, scratched the surface and asked the same old questions.  Happiness, after all, is not a new phenomenon for this century. Philosophers, psychologists and people in general have long tried to universally define happiness.

            It’s not just a matter for public policy, as has made the news globally from Bhutan to Europe and the U.S., but also for business practices. Engaged employees, a.k.a. happy employees, are all the rage now that it’s been shown bottom lines are all the healthier because of them.

            The business world has made progress. It’s realizing that happiness in the work place goes beyond the pay check. Just as in society, money can’t buy happiness. It’s a tool that’s helpful, but more money does not equal more happiness.

            And that’s just what the research showed in Kolbert’s article. A 1978 study asked lottery winners, quadriplegics and a control group about their happiness before and after their life-changing events.  There were no real distinctions between the groups; money didn’t increase happiness and physical limitations didn’t eliminate it.

            Other data showed that despite increases in Americans’ income, house size and number of cars, levels of happiness have “remained virtually unchanged” for the past 50 years.  In addition, countries with lower per capita income levels often register higher average happiness levels.

            These are not new revelations.  And yet we, as a society, can’t seem to let go of falsehoods that have us believing more is better, and one’s net worth directly correlates with one’s level of happiness.

            It was in 1943 that Abraham Maslow presented the hierarchy of needs, detailing how one’s basic needs must be met before one can aspire to such things as self-esteem and self actualization.  Meeting basic needs does not translate into happiness any more than superseding them, however it allows one to move beyond survival and onto living.

            While policy holders and business leaders can and should create environments and conditions conducive to happiness, they cannot ensure it. Our Founding Fathers had it right when they included the pursuit of happiness among the fundamental rights.  Happiness is not something to be given, but pursued.  It’s personal, and it’s a choice.

            Not to be confused with pleasure and satisfaction, happiness is an active state of being, not fleeting feelings. It is unique to each person, with the best definition being self actualization.

            The legend about the ancient tribal leaders who struggled with where to hide the secret of happiness concurs.  Foregoing the highest mountains, the deepest ocean waters and the core of the earth, they chose to hide it in the heart of each individual.  They assumed it was the one spot where it would remain unfound.

            So let’s end the centuries-old debate, and encourage some personal expeditions into the heart of happiness.  That better work place and world will follow.          

No company would survive the chaos created from a lack of leadership and a well-defined tactical mission. Free-wheeling departments operating without an eye to collaboration and coordination would only add to the confusion.  Why do we think it will work at a larger scale in the disaster recovery effort of Haiti?

            Perhaps under the auspices of the United Nations, there should be the ability to pull together the necessary expertise in a team that would lead such critical efforts to save and restore lives. Or perhaps there is a non-governmental agency that specializes in such efforts, and would be keen to the types of players needed and expertise available around the world.

            Of course, any such team would need to include expertise from the country in need to avoid the cultural missteps that come from donations that won’t work.  Offering food that can’t be eaten because it violates religious beliefs is a nice gesture, but not truly helpful.

            There is need for the dollar donations, but there is nothing like human capital with the right knowledge and skills to designate the spending.  In our ever-changing, fast-paced environment, the leadership and tactical expertise exists. It needs to be called upon and leveraged in times of catastrophe.

            There is no excuse for our world’s repeated failures to deliver swift and effective aid in such disasters. In our own country we should have learned from Katrina. Perhaps President Obama, with his audacity for hope, could step forward and offer a calm and respectful hand in setting up this team. Conferring with other world leaders on such an effort would be a good start.  Naming a member or two to the team would be a great second step.

            And while there will be those who think we don’t have time for such coordination, even fast-paced entrepreneurs will tell you that all have to be moving in the same direction on a major effort.

            I’m an optimist but I know there will be another disaster to contend with at some point.  So why not get our worldly act together, have a game plan, line up the players and the leadership.  And let the world, as John Lennon wrote, live as one… at least… and at first, in times of disaster.