The concept of ego is tossed around quite a bit these days and deserves a bit of exploration. Many current day philosophers and authors present ego as a bad element, being something that interferes with goodness.

These modern day thinkers therefore conclude that the ideal state is one defined by the absence of ego. Ego is often related to self-centeredness and selfishness, both of which also have negative connotations. These states of being are not one in the same and should not be confused.

In order to have a shared exploration, let’s look at how and why one’s ego develops. To gain a good understanding, it will be helpful to return to the day our birth, for that is the beginning of our development in this earthly existence. It will serve us well to reacquaint ourselves with the early years of our journey.

I have previously referenced what happens from day one, the moment we emerge from the womb. We come into this world as clean, little slates, so to speak. Our existence is one without choice about what we see, hear, smell, touch or taste. Without a sophisticated way to communicate, our lives are controlled by our caretakers. In most cases, our parents assume this role.

The extent of our capacity is to respond or react to that which we are exposed. And those reactions are greeted with approval, discouragement, or in some cases, are completely ignored.

It’s important to remember that as we grow in those first years of life, behavioral scientists have calculated that 80 percent of what we experience is negative. There are a lot of “nos,” “don’ts” and “don’ts” with consequences.

We repeatedly hear statements that discourage too much curiosity, exploration and ventures beyond easily monitored and safe surroundings as determined by our parents.

Think about having your thoughts, ideas and sense of fun met with constant road blocks. It continues to happen in adulthood, both among family and friends, as well as at work. New ideas and new paths are most often met with skepticism and comments about all the things that could go wrong.

A natural reaction to such nay saying would be defensiveness. If you believe in your idea or plan, it would seem automatic to make a case for its soundness. Enter in ego, the believer of Self.

Ego begins a transformation into a defensive mechanism to overcome all the negativity we are inundated with in our everyday existence. It begins to serve as a protector of Self. And considering the amount of negativity, it is easy to see how the ego can become overdeveloped.

In the repeated act of countering negativity, an environment of competition and score-keeping is grown. There is an overemphasis and necessity for right vs. wrong, and an either/or perspective. A spirit of one-upmanship manifests, creating a circular pattern, or ongoing domino effect of disapproval and discouragement sparking a defensive posture.

It’s a rather uninviting and miserable scenario. Thus our philosophers make their case for throwing out ego all together without discerning at what level ego is bad. This in turn instills guilt, contributes to the world of negativity, and in essence, becomes part of developing the ego to an extreme.

Perhaps we can easily acknowledge and agree that an overextended ego is not good. That, however, does not translate into the extinction of ego being the pathway to universal nirvana. Swinging the pendulum from one extreme to the next does not get us to an ideal state, but rather a new version of extension, which in this case is an under extension.

In all things, balance is the ideal state. Life is about balance. When everything about our existence is in a state of equilibrium, we are at peace, happy and productive. That includes our ego. It is the balancing of our individual well-being and existence with that of others. There is no need for proving rightness,

Behavior resulting from an attempt to rid oneself of ego often appears as martyrdom, self-sacrifice, a holier-than-thou savior or just the opposite, no self-esteem. At the root of all of these behaviors is little or no self-worth. One no longer values or loves Self.

Equalizing your ego makes you just as important, not more or less, as everyone else. Everyone is of equal value. There is appreciation for one and all, as the connectivity and viral impact between all is clearly seen.

This allows one to take in others’ differing, even negative, perspectives, extract what value they offer and then move on. It’s movement forward not in spite of, but despite others’ thoughts. It allows one to be true to oneself.

Let me end with some words of wisdom from others. They just might help you put your ego in perspective.

“The minute you begin to do what you really want to do, it’s really a different kind of life.” – Buckminster Fuller

“It is up to you to illuminate the world.” – Phillippe Venier

“We define ourselves by the best that is in us, not the worst that has been done to us. – Edward Lewis

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

Ever been told there are some things you just can’t do because of physical limitations? You know, that you should be realistic because the people that are successful in particular field all have certain physical attributes. Maybe you are too short to be a basketball player, or maybe sports of any sort just aren’t for you because you’re blind.

You can believe such things if you want. I’d rather not. There are some amazing people in this world that show us that we can pretty much do what we set our minds to do, despite the perception of limitations by others.

One of the starters on our high school basketball team was about half the height of the other players. Short, indeed, he was. All the other players literally towered over him. So how the heck could he be a starter?

Instead of seeing his shortness as a hindrance to be overcome, he saw it as advantage to be used. He was quick, and though he couldn’t quite fit through their legs, he could whiz around his opponents, dribbling all the way.
His dribbles were so low that those tall guys became a little awkward when they attempted to steal the ball. With basketball being a team sport, our starter would get the ball to his mates to compete at the higher levels.

Ever heard of Mike May? He was just a typical little boy until a garage explosion left him blind and needing 500 stitches. Nonetheless, he’s seen plenty of victory.

His mother insisted he go to a regular school, when that was not usually allowed. And she let him do anything other boys his age were doing. He rode a bike, and when he crashed it, he asked if he could ride his sister’s. The May garage eventually became home to four mangled bikes.

His mother set aside her protective instincts and told Mike that all kids fall down when trying new things. And so it should come as no surprise to learn that Mike also played flag football, soccer and baseball.
That continues to be the spirit with which Mike chooses to live his life. After Mike set a record in downhill skiing, a reporter asked his mother how she had raised her blind boy. She replied, “What blind boy, I raised my son.”

Mike is also a sky diver, lecturer, guitarist, and was the first blind CIA analyst. There’s more to his story, including how he regained some of his sight. It’s all in his inspirational book titled, Crashing Through.
If we look in earnest, we can probably find an example of someone overcoming just about any physical limitation to achieve what others thought they could not. And while that takes determination when from birth you are without all abilities, it takes a special will to move on when physical capabilities you’ve enjoyed are taken away midlife.

A child prodigy, Leon Fleischer made his public debut on piano at the age of 8 after four years of training. He continued on to have an amazing career until one day he noticed that the fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand were curling up toward his palm. The condition, called focal dystonia, worsened until all the fingers on that hand were curled into his palm. He was 36.

The piano and performing were Fleisher’s life, literally since the time he was a tot. So how could this world renowned pianist continue without the use of one of his hands? Quite simply, he played concertos created for the left hand. And after some years and various treatments he was able to play two-handed again.

Inspiration comes from those who dare to do what others think impossible. They make the rest of us think twice about our excuses and so called limitations. Perhaps they understand what Kierkegaard proclaimed so long ago:

“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”

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.

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 insightful nighttime dreams can be, and it got me to thinking about the benefits of daydreams. The fact is, dreaming is part of everything I do with clients, whether planning for business or life.

But you know, I’ve found we’re not very good at it. Somewhere along the way from childhood to adulthood, dreaming is given less and less time to the point of not even being considered a valid use of our attention. Frivolous, going no where, waste of time, not possible… you name it, dreaming gets tossed into a mental circular with one of these tags.

Sometimes, for those who are lucky, life proves us wrong. One day, a client was excited to share with me that she was going to a ball in Paris. She said she had always dreamed of doing so. A frequent international traveler, speaker and author, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility.

However, when I asked her if going to a Paris ball appeared on her Dream Inventory, she said no, looking a bit puzzled. She added, I didn’t think it would ever happen. Then she realized that she, like so many others, without thinking had been qualifying and limiting her dreams.

Other times, for those who dare to dream and believe, they prove life wrong. Concerted efforts are great at producing a twist of fates. In a business where it is said “most don’t make it the list of actors and actresses that dared to dream is extensive. Johnny Depp, Sandra Bullock and Courtney Cox among others have shared their propensity to dream and its impact on drive and achievement.

Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper celebrates the Top 40 under 40, business people who realize their dreams in the first three decades of life. Among the winners’ reasoning for success, you will find reference to dreams.

William Andrew of Ontario says he dares to dream; Rob Dynan says “anything is possible”; and Olga Kovalchuk says to “think positive, dream big.”

The strength of belief was most evident in comments by David Henderson, a 37-year-old also from Ontario: “I believe success involves waking up everyday to relentlessly, rigorously and passionately pursue your dreams of a better world.”

There are so many testimonials that dreaming is part of the formula for success and happiness. Whether a rags to riches story, or a conquering of physical disabilities, or an “I’ll show them” attitude in response to put downs and negative feedback, there seems to be endless proof that dreaming and believing are first steps in great achievements.

Still it is not a practice or belief of the majority. Most want to believe, but somehow never grasp it in an intentional way. I suppose they are more inclined to grip on to an age-old obstacle, that being fear.

Yanni would agree. When releasing his eighth album, titled “Dare to Dream,” back in the ‘90s he said it came “from a realization that not only don’t people go after their dreams, they often are afraid to dream at all.”

Life comes with no guarantee, not an external one anyway. Within, each one of us has access to the only guarantee we need, belief in self and our dreams. A high school entrepreneur, having launched several start-ups and making her first million by graduation, cited belief in self, including one’s dreams, as the No. 1 ingredient for success.

The net is rich with stories and advice on dreaming and achieving. With a few clicks you can immerse yourself in inspiration and all you need to get on with dreaming. As a bit of encouragement, I’ll leave you with a short poem by Julie Anne Ford:

Dare to dream

Simply said, it’s the straightforward truth. So, dare to dream and tap into life’s guarantee.

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

Seems we never have enough time. Those who have all they desire are few and far between. The rest tend to eliminate the fun, settle for less, or burn the candle at both ends. None are great options. However, there is another way.

First, I must say I truly believe in and love a good night’s sleep. There’s nothing like waking in the morning totally relaxed, with your muscles feeling like half melted marshmallows, free of all tension. Your mind meanders back, peeking a bit at the world and then retreating. Slowly and comfortably, you unite with the new day.

Nonetheless, the night offers us another way to overcome some of our greatest obstacles of the day. Don’t jump to conclusions, you still get to sleep as much as ever. You see at night when the conscious mind shuts off, the subconscious stays on duty. In fact, it never takes time off. It is our autopilot, doing its work at all hours, everyday.

Still skeptical? Let me share some history and a bit of firsthand experience. We’re all familiar with the sewing machine, but perhaps not how it came to be in 1845. Its inventor, Elias Howe got stuck on how to make the needle work. In hand sewing, the needle is pointed at one end and has an “eye” at the other to carry the thread. That did not work on the machine, and neither did moving the “eye” to the middle of the needle.

Then one night, after puzzling all day on this, the right design came to him in a dream. It was an odd dream, one that had natives poking him with pointy spears that had holes near the point. And so he awoke with the answer that still works today.

Ever heard of the German scientist Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz? Yes, he’s another dreamer who contributed Structural Theory and the Benzene molecule to the world of organic chemistry. Here’s what happened in his words:

“… I was sitting writing on my textbook, but the work did not progress; my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair to the fire and dozed. Again the atoms were gamboling before my eyes. …long rows sometimes more closely fitted together all twining and twisting in snake-like motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail…”

These stories may seem farfetched and so long ago. So travel closer in time to today, for there are people who understand and make use of their subconscious during slumber. I am one of them. I remember, when in high school, working on an algebra problem all weekend long to no avail. What can I say, I loved math. Then, as with our inventor and scientist, the answer just came to me in my sleep. No amazing dreams, just the answer.

Later, when working as a Features Editor, we did a story on just this topic. And we discovered it doesn’t require waiting for nighttime shut eye. A TV repairman just took a nap any time he was stumped, and voila, he awoke with the solution.

So how does it work? Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, spearheaded by a leading expert on the positive benefits of napping, gives us a clue. Sara Mednick, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego and the VA San Diego Healthcare System, reported that REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is rich in dreams, stimulates associative networks, allowing the brain to make new and useful associations between unrelated items.

“Fluid interpretation is a hallmark of a creative mind, from idle word play to the abstraction of shapes that led to the solving of neurochemical transmission or structure of the benzene ring,” wrote the research team in their findings. They go on to support the experience of our scientific dreamer. “These findings on the role of REM sleep in creative problem solving underscore the Nobel Laureate Friedrich A. Kekule’s recommendation: ‘Let us learn to dream.’”

The key was to prime the brain before sleep. In doing so, many have a hard time shutting off the conscious mind, which, in addition to being incapable of the same cognitive level as the subconscious, runs interference. REM sleep is the key, allowing the subconscious to do its magical connections without distraction. In a way, it’s a form of multi-tasking, a seemingly effortless one.

Most of us will still need to make the most of our days. And that, quite frankly, will take some conscious time management. But, as our friend of a couple of blogs ago, Thomas Edison, would say, “Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”

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

It was a blustery, winter day, much like those we are all too familiar with in Vermont. But no one was cold, even though they were all outside. I suppose they were hot with excitement, or perhaps fear.

You could hear a father yelling to his son, “Go get your mother, she’ll never have another chance to see anything like this.”

The day was December 9, 1914. The man was the owner of the largest laboratory in the world. His name is a familiar one: Thomas Edison. At age 67, he was watching his research complex go up in flames. All but a few buildings of the Edison Industries burned to the ground that day.

The losses exceeded $2 million. He had some insurance; less than $300 worth though. The building was made of concrete and in those days it was believed fire could not destroy such a structure. That belief couldn’t have been more wrong.

So how do you think our “light up the world” guy reacted? Remember he’s 67; he’d stuck it out through thousands and thousands of attempts (or some might say, mistakes) to succeed in developing the light bulb. How would you react if you showed up at work to find the place lost to fire? Imagine what would be happening in the next few days… the next weeks.

Edison didn’t waste much time wallowing in his sorrow. Nor did he let the expense of his losses drown him in pity or despair. No, it was quite a different reaction.

The next morning he returned to where his life’s work had been housed. While the fire had been brought under control through the night, all that remained were a couple of buildings and smoldering rubble. Edison stood there, looking over his losses. We don’t need to guess what his thoughts were, for he proclaimed:

“There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.”

And start anew he and his team did, as if there was no time to waste. In just three weeks, Edison Industries introduced the world to a new and better phonograph.

Edison could have been a best selling author with a book on how to move beyond disaster. An appropriate title could’ve been: Don’t Sweat the Big Stuff.

Pretty much, Edison lived his life that way. He didn’t get more squeamish or weak-kneed as he aged. So often, we seem to tire of dealing with even the smaller, everyday adversities as our years accumulate. Not Edison, he kept a strong, youthful and atypical ambitious attitude

His perspectives were not the norm. For example, he never claimed to be an inventor despite his more than one thousand patents. Once when the governor of North Carolina complimented him on his inventiveness, he declared he was not a great inventor. His only claim to an original invention was the phonograph.

He explained all the ideas were not original to him. Instead he referred to himself as a sponge, soaking up ideas any where he could. Those with whom the ideas originated just never developed them. So he’d take them, do a little tweaking and improve them to a point of having value.

How is it that Edison worked his way through about 10,000 attempts to create the light bulb? How many goals have you ever pursued with such persistence? How about your company?

How could he move so many ideas to fruition when those with the actual concept took them no where? How many times have you or a friend had an idea only to see someone else develop it?

Why is it there are a few like Edison who don’t let even the big stuff get in their way, and then there is the majority, who often let even the little stuff stop them?

It’s time for the heart to heart, a look inside, some deep reflection. Can you honestly say you have a habit of pulling yourself up, getting on with life and business no matter the circumstances?

I can hear the excuses now. There’s always a reason why the other guy or gal can move on, but you can’t. There was something special about Edison’s situation, you’re so sure. There’s a piece of the story missing, some advantage or benefit that wasn’t mentioned.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. No special circumstance in this case, just a special person. Edison just didn’t believe in stopping. He didn’t see failure and disaster in the same way as others. Perhaps he didn’t see them at all.

So let’s cop ourselves an Edison attitude, and never acknowledge obstacles in the average way again. Let’s commit to not sweating the big stuff, and moving on.

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

You can often hear the assumptions being made if you listen for them in a conversation. Sometimes it’s a comment that will give it away, other times it is the lack of one. Either way, assumptions tell about the people making them.

These conclusions, made in the absence of knowledge, might be made at the conscious level, but frequently are driven by some kind of subconscious belief and can involve being judgmental. This does not imply, however, that there is any ill intent.

When facilitating communication sessions on this topic, I often start off by tripping into the room. A little later, I’ll ask participants if they checked to see what I tripped on or just assumed that I was a klutz. Klutz it is.

We all make assumptions, but we may not always be aware of it, or why we do so. A great illustration of this is the last jury scene from “Twelve Angry Men,” a 1957 movie starring Henry Fonda.

By the last scene there are three guilty votes, down from 11 jurors believing a boy stabbed his father to death. It is 6:15 in the evening and some want to declare a hung jury. Tempers are all too evident. They decide to go through the evidence one more time.

The last holdout switches his vote after a photo of he and his son falls out of his wallet. He loses it, saying something about rotten kids. He, along with all the other jurors, now understands the bias that was driving his perspective.

You’ve probably run into such prejudices. I have. I’m not a car person, but there is one car that I’ve always liked, an Audi TT. I have one. It’s a 2001, silver with the classic lines that are lost on today’s models. It’s a fun car to drive and gets about 33 miles to the gallon. Oh, and I bought it used, as part of my recycling philosophy.

Friends or not, the typical assumption is that I am rich and this is an expensive car. Well, it was cheaper than the used Subaru Outback that I used to drive when I had kids to chauffer. And it was cheaper than most of the cars these assumers buy.

My husband works with some engineers who had a similar experience. They bought an old, inexpensive Jaguar. After losing too many jobs to assumptions that they would be too expensive or were making too much money, they got rid of it.

Now, I don’t think there is anything wrong with buying a new, expensive car. I don’t assume that people who do are greedy, uncaring or self-centered. But sadly, I’ve heard such assumptions.

Sometimes people just can’t help themselves. As was the case with one friend, who, after I quit my job commented, “You must of gotten one heck of a package.” I realized quitting such a job just wasn’t in his realm of possibility.

Another friend said I was able to quit because I had a husband to support me. I kindly told her it wasn’t the first time I had quit a high paying job. The first time I was a single mother with two children still at home.

Remember our subconscious often plays a part in assumptions, while we remain unaware. You can test this for yourself, if you’d like. I’d suggest you try Race Implicit Association Test or IAT at www.implicit.harvard.edu. It measures your subconscious attitudes toward blacks and whites.

Know that you probably have conscious attitudes that will differ from, contradict even, those that show up on the IAT test. Most do. Harvard’s Mahzarin Banaji says if you’ve lived in North America long, you’ve been inundated with images and information that link whites with good things, and will accordingly create a subconscious bias.

You know, you can’t go wrong with making one assumption. I’ll bet you know what it is.

A few weeks ago I likened a business environment heavy with policy to the culture of a prison. My point was that managing for the worst case employee makes everyone an offender, disengaging them and costing the bottom line.

Let me be the first to say, “Shame on me,” for I was acting as if all prisons are awful places. I stand corrected. There are lessons to be learned from what is tagged as the most humane prison in the world. Located in Norway, Halden Fengsel is featured in this week’s Time magazine.

Before you dismiss me as a nut case, read just a bit further. Let’s treat this as a business case study, relating it to motivating and engaging employees. We’ll judge success on bottom line results as they relate to the vision, mission and core values.

For fairness sake, we need to admit upfront that motivating murderers, rapists and drug dealers to align with the prison’s goals is a bit more of a challenge than getting qualified employees to do likewise for a business. While prisoners are more of a captive audience, their attitudes are generally not conducive to collaboration. And we all know the difference a bad attitude can make.

A prison’s short term goal is to separate criminals from the rest of society. The longer term mission is to rehab criminals, helping them to become contributing citizens instead of repeat offenders. The vision, therefore, is to create a safer world, reducing crime and its overall cost to society.

Halden succeeds on all fronts, especially when compared to the United States. After two years, Time reports, Norway’s recidivism rate is 20 percent, compared to 50 to 60 percent in our country. And there are fewer criminals: 69 per 100,000 people in Norway, to 759 in the U.S.

The spread in these prison success rates can be likened to those established between businesses with the most and least engaged employees. To state the obvious, it’s significant. And in both situations success can be linked directly to the valuing and treatment of individuals.

The Towers Watson 2010 Global Workforce Study, involving 20,000 employees in 22 markets, concludes just that. For businesses to experience optimum results, according to the study, they will need to “create a more personalized work experience and foster self reliance by enabling employees to build their skills, plan for their financial future and live healthy lives…”

In this workforce study as well as the previous one, the relationship between leadership and employees is tagged as being critical. Trust, respect and appreciation for employees are among the gauges that have been correlated with business growth.

Back at the Norway prison, we learn that Halden’s greatest asset may be the relationship between the managing staff and inmates. Instead of carrying guns, guards share meals and engage in sports with those serving sentences.

Referring to them as pupils, the goal is to give inmates “a meaningful life inside these walls.” Through education and work, the intent is to “build them up (and) give them confidence.”

The culture is one of family, and the environment one that could easily be referred to as “home, sweet, home” With long windows to let sunlight in, flat screen TVs, mini fridges and shared kitchens and living rooms, inmates are given comforts unlike most of their real homes.

And not unlike business climate studies, Halden surveys inmates to find out how the prison experience can be improved. It’s a partnership, with organizational and personal goals being respected and realized.

For those who think a prison’s business is that of punishment, I remind you that our own penal system is costly proof that doesn’t work. And for those who think businesses can’t afford the attention or expense to provide much beyond a paycheck for employees, I ask you to compare your results to those companies with engaged employees. You’ll think differently.

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.

It’s a rainy Monday here in Vermont and I refuse to see it as dreary.  Rain sparks sensations of freshness: scents of lilacs and lilies of the valley, visions of color as flowers begin to stretch and grow their way to the surface, and sounds of birds and high pitched peepers as they make their returns

Imagination is a wonderful thing, not only for dreary days, but for stagnant businesses, ongoing problems and unfulfilled lives. Some may think of it as an escape, avoidance and foolishness. They’re the ones who don’t get it.

Imagination is the first step in creation and progress. It is fun, not work. It engages our playfulness, our inner child and our laughter.  It takes us to places that pure seriousness never goes. And it is necessary.

Of course, it’s not so common in business, and is often discouraged in life.  Let’s get serious. Quit wasting time. Stop that foolishness. Follow the rules.  Stay inside the lines.  That’s not logical. Be practical. These comments shut down our imaginations and knock the creativity right out of us.

Neuroscientist Rodolph Llinas tells us why these comments dampen creative spirits. In his book I of the Vortex, he wrote: “The neural processes underlying that which we call creativity have nothing to do with rationality. That is to say, if we look at how the brain generates creativity, we will see that it is not a rational process at all; creativity is not born out of reasoning.”

At an economic development meeting about a year ago, as we gathered to find ways to respond to youth leaving our state, a person stood up to remind us to be more youthful and creative in our thought.  She asked how many people thought they were creative.  A few hands went up. She shared that when that question is asked of a class of kindergartners, all hands go up.

Another interesting tidbit, children laugh several hundred times a day.  By time were 35, we laugh only about a dozen times a day. So what happens to us through life?

Bad habits, that’s what. The most damaging habit we are taught throughout our formal education is that there is just one right answer or one way to see things. I was about to write that may be true with mathematical problems when I remembered my answer to a 10^th grade geometry proof.  The teacher told us it would take 27 steps as a clue for us to know when we had it right. 

I never got to 27 steps.  For me it only took three steps. My teacher, to his credit, didn’t automatically dismiss it as wrong.  He studied it and then called in the other teachers in the math department to take a look.  They all agreed it was right, even though they had never before seen it done that way.

My point: rarely is there just one answer or one way. Going beyond routine, assumptions, appropriateness, long-standing rules, and the tried-and-true requires a letting go and sanctioning of the new, different and even uncomfortable.  It will lead to progress, though maybe not directly. You might just have to travel the messy, unpredictable path that creativity sometimes requires.

To illustrate my point, I’ll leave you with a story from one my favorite books on creativity: A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech:

“In 1792, the musicians of Franz Joseph Haydn’s orchestra got mad because the Duke promised them a vacation, but continually postponed it. They asked Haydn to talk to the Duke about getting some time off. Haydn thought for a bit, decided to let the music do the talking, and then wrote the ‘Farewell Symphony.’ The performance began with a full orchestra, but as the piece went along, it was scored to need fewer and fewer instruments.  As each musician finished his part, he blew out his candle and left the stage. They did this, one by one, until the stage was empty. The Duke got the message and gave them a vacation.