Judith E. Glaser

What If....

2008-11-22T23:53:00.005-05:00

WE think we're communicating, we are not.

WE use words that are familiar without the same meanings.

WE drive each other down into the dumps on not delivering.

WE didn't even agree on what to deliver.

WE think others are foes before they are friends.

WE fight for what we want rather than ask for it.

WE find others wrong before they are right.

WE play to win not to include.

WE harbor bad feelings till we burst.

WE confront disappointments late.

WE seek to blame before we seek to take initiative.

WE hide behind our fears and hold onto them too long...

WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS...

WHAT IF we had a real choice to make...

To give each other a chance to learn, grow and nourish.

To listen from the heart first before the head.

To ask when we don't understand, then listen until we get what others really mean.

To make winning the outgrowth of doing great things together with others.

WHAT IF we made the VITAL choice today...

To honor how far we've come and stay focused on the journey ahead.

To understand that without others we'll never get there.

To realize that we create the future and then step into it.

To take the time to author the future WE want to create together.

Judith E. Glaser is the Author of two best selling business books:

Creating WE: Change I-Thinking to We-Thinking & Build a Healthy Thriving Organization - winner of the Bronze Award in the Leadership Category of the 2008 Axiom Business Book Awards, and The DNA of Leadership; and the DVD and Workshop titled The Leadership Secret of Gregory Goose

Observations of the Historic 2008 US Presidential Election

2008-11-22T23:44:00.003-05:00

Most of us have grown up reading about historical turning points. This year, on November 4th, 2008 we experienced one together - not just our nation - the whole world.

As the world watched, we elected the first black President of the United States. Barack Hussein Obama represents a new way of being and a new way of thinking in the world.

During the first debate, some people criticized Barack for 'not being tough enough' and 'not fighting back.' His response was, 'this is my way - this is who I am.'

Barack has ushered in awareness that enables us to see the 'Fear - Hope' continuum in the words we speak with each other, in the conversations that connect us, and in the actions we choose to take.

We need teachers and sages in politics, not just politicians. Barack has given us light to be clearer on our choices, and to understand when we are choosing hope and accountability over fear, and why we are choosing hope. Barack is teaching us to be leaders, not followers.

During the election, each of us was asked to soul search. To dig inside and see what we each wanted to stand for. We had a chance to hold up a mirror and decide. And the world did.

Never before have we had such a voting-turnout. Never before have we had so many young and old people standing in line side-by-side to vote. Never before have we had such spirited debates and such lifting of consciousness about what it really takes to live in a WE-Centric world.

And now the healing begins. Democrats and Republicans are coming together to address one of this century's most threatening economic crisis; a crisis that not only touches our land, but reaches around the globe. We are all in this together whether we like it or not.

WE -as a global community - must find new ways to talk with each other; new ways of embracing our differences; new ways of having conversations. Now is the time to face each other in peace and unity - now is the time to seek new ways of framing our challenges to invite our best thinking to emerge. Now is the time for WE, now is the time for Change.

Judith E. Glaser is the Author of two best selling business books:

Creating WE: Change I-Thinking to We-Thinking & Build a Healthy Thriving Organization - winner of the Bronze Award in the Leadership Category of the 2008 Axiom Business Book Awards, and The DNA of Leadership; and the DVD and Workshop titled The Leadership Secret of Gregory Goose

News & Events

2008-09-27T23:10:00.004-04:00

Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Boston

Career Track Event
Deciphering the Language of Leadership

Leaders and managers in business often talk about "leadership" and "management" as though they are the same. We have been asked to lead a discussion exploring the distinctions between the two and the overlaps.

Date: Monday, October 27th, 2008
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: HBS Hawes 101

Click here for additional information and to register for the event.

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Interview with Jim Blasingame on
The Small Business Advocate Show

How many brains do you have? Listen to our recent interview on the The Small Business Advocate Show with Jim Blasingame discussing what experts describe as our five brains and how to know when to listen to the right one at the right time.

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Creating WE Institute - Workplace Negativity

The Center for Sustainable Leadership together with The Creating WE Institute are offering a 4-hour workshop titled Workplace Negativity - Performance Inhibitor or Business Accelerator?

Workplace negativity has been blamed for everything from stagnate productivity to declining morale. Management gurus routinely offer advice on how to "overcome" negativity and several bestselling books have been published on the topic. But what if negativity was not necessarily a bad thing? What if, instead of being something to be overcome, negativity could be harnessed as a source of heightened productivity and breakthrough innovation? Learn how companies like Capital One, IBM and Motorola are using this new understanding of negativity to enhance leadership effectiveness and improve teamwork.

In this 4-hour program, you will:

Learn why traditional approaches to managing negativity "leave money on the table"
Learn about a radical new understanding regarding the nature of negativity and how, when properly interpreted, negative emotions can become a source of penetrating insight, heartfelt compassion and breakthrough creativity
Learn a 5-step method for transforming negative emotions into prudent action and apply this method to an emotionally-charged situation at work
Leave with a Workbook and Job Aid to support you in applying these principles in your day-to-day interactions.

Click here to learn more about this workshop.

Judith E. Glaser is the Author of two best selling business books:

Creating WE: Change I-Thinking to We-Thinking & Build a Healthy Thriving Organization - winner of the Bronze Award in the Leadership Category of the 2008 Axiom Business Book Awards, and The DNA of Leadership; and the DVD and Workshop titled The Leadership Secret of Gregory Goose

Vital Conversations - Deciphering the Language of Leadership

2008-09-27T23:00:00.005-04:00

The brain is like a black box, which has always been a mystery to human beings since the beginning of time. Every generation tests the brain with different forms of "drugs" and "chemicals" to try to see what the impact will be, making us better from illness, giving us highs, helping us see the world in a positive way if we are depressed; all forms of substances that test the brain's capacity to be changed. When we impact the brain chemically, we impact our state of "being" - we impact what it means to be a human being.

Language evolved only 6,000 years ago. Its function is yet to be fully understood. My premise is that language is the "new and natural medicine" with the capacity to trigger states of being as powerful as do drugs. That is why we are seeing a rebirth in psychiatric counseling in the treatment of psychoses and a big movement in the business world toward Appreciative Inquiry and Positive Psychology.

Historically, the medical model has been about fixing what is broken. However if we adopt this new thesis about the power of language, and we focus on the facilitative role language has in evolving the brain's capacity to expand perspectives, and create a "feel good" experience, then leaders can shape the workplace in profound ways.

Business Case for Mindfulness

We now have a business reason for understanding the power of this new linguistic framework for leaders. In the past decade, neuroscientists have corroborated that there are two types of genes. Those that are fixed - called template genes, and those that are impacted by the environment - called transcription genes.

We now know that children who are raised by parents who understand how to positively shape a child's environment with appreciative and value based conversations, will shape the child to become more optimistic about life, and more confident about themselves. Those children who grow up in punitive and judgmental environments will tend to be less positive about themselves, and more judgmental about others - passing along the "gene" for judgment to others with whom they interact.

We have a strong belief now that many of the "illnesses" we see today can be reduced by focusing on the "feel" of the conversational environment that we create both for our children and for our employees. To take this a step further, this suggests that mentally healthy people will have a strengthened immune system, affording them increased protection against disease. Studies of those who grew up in families where they were loved, where they learned to discover their strengths, and where they were challenged in positive ways, tend to be very healthy of mind, body and spirit. They will lead healthier lives.

Truth Be Told

What is exciting is that the field of genetics is proving that this premise of the power of language is actually true. There are many, many scientists working on deepening our understanding of genetics and neurobiological changes and they apply to human development and human behavior. One scientist, Dr. David Haig from Harvard University has spent 30 years studying life in the womb and the birthing process. He has shown that genes are turned on and off in utero and that they continue to be turned on and off during life based on the impact of conversations and the environment at large. These genetic changes, some permanent and some temporal, have a profound impact on our well-being.

Bruce Lipton, Ph.D. believes that every cell in our body is part of our body-language system talking continuously to ensure we are in a state of optimum health. Language is an environment in the same way that food is an environment, or unhealthy water is an environment, or toxic waste is an environment. Language impacts our state of being, and through that impacts our evolution as human beings.

We are Social Beings

No human being can function in a healthy way alone. When we are alone our brains shrivel up and we die earlier. Feral children, children experiencing no human contact, are unable to function in society simply because their FOXp2 gene is not activated during their development.

We need each other to grow and develop - and that development continues from our birth to our death. The notion of independence is false. We are interdependent and thrive through conversation. Conversations drive our social evolution - and raise all of our intelligences. Conversations shape our future.

Creating WE Institute's focus is to help leaders understand the power of language to trigger health and create positive growth. In genetic terms, it's to create positive epigenetic changes. What is pivotal to our work is that through language we connect with others and how we connect has a huge impact on us all, not just on a personal level, but on the future of the world.

Judith E. Glaser is the Author of two best selling business books:

Creating WE: Change I-Thinking to We-Thinking & Build a Healthy Thriving Organization - winner of the Bronze Award in the Leadership Category of the 2008 Axiom Business Book Awards, and The DNA of Leadership; and the DVD and Workshop titled The Leadership Secret of Gregory Goose

Contact: 212-307-4386

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