As human beings we are all on the hero’s journey.  We will encounter opportunities in our lives where we will be given a choice.  Answer the call to action or stay behind?
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9/11 is a reminder of the deadly attacks that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people.  It is also a day in which we should take a pause… say thank you to the universe… and remember we all have the capacity to be a hero.
 
Welles Crowther, "The Man in the Red Bandanna," was a 24-year-old equities trader on the 104th floor of the South Tower on 9/11.  Minutes after United 175 hit the World Trade Center he led a heroic charge to save the lives of the people around him.   Answering the call to action, Welles covered his face with a red bandanna, draped an injured woman over his back and ordered people to follow him.  Through the soot and smoke Welles led people down the only passable stairway 17 floors down to a team of firefighters.   Welles refused to stay behind and went back up for more.  
 
The red handkerchief that he wore was given to him after church one Sunday by his father.  He wore it in his hockey helmet as a boy, under his fireman helmet as a volunteer firefighter as a teen, and under his lacrosse helmet while attending Boston College.  He wore it every day in his suit pocket.  “The Man in the Red Bandanna” was found with a team of firefighters making their way back up the stairwell to save more lives.  It’s been reported that Welles Crowther saved as many as 18 lives.
 
A select few will encounter an instance like Welles Crowther in their lives.  But we will all encounter opportunities where we will be given a choice to answer the call to action or stay behind.  

When an opportunity presents itself push through the uncertainty, insecurity and fear.  In business and in life we have the opportunity to change the world.  Every customer interaction, every client relationship, every employee that we mentor is an opportunity to be a hero. 

The creative business, a MetaBusiness, stays on the creative levels and off the negatively competitive levels by doing 5 things differently.

1. The purpose motive is balanced with the profit motive.
2. Creativity replaces negative competition
3. Gratitude replaces greed.
4. Rhythm replaces rush.
5. Whole living replaces the work ethic.

Let’s take a brief look at each of the five.

A MetaBusiness balances purpose and profit while being motivated from purpose.  What is purpose?  Purpose has to do with love.  You love something so much that the line between work and play fades.  When you come from purpose, joyful doing describes your “work” day.
 
A recent magazine article quoted a leading television advertising executive as saying, “The only comfort we can take in these figures is that our competition is suffering losses as well.”  To a MetaBusiness person such a thought would not make any sense.  Rather, a MetaBusiness takes comfort in creativity, cooperation, mutual success and well-being.
 
On the competitive levels fear breeds greed.  More, more, more.  Ultimately, greed is not good for business.  Destructive and even illegal behaviors result.  A MetaBusiness focuses on gratitude and feels grateful.
 
One of the quickest ways to become identified with the competitive levels is to rush.  When you start doing too many things in too short a time you short-circuit your nervous system.  A MetaBusines person sets up a flowing rhythm between activity and rest.  They know when to speed up and when to apply the brakes and slow down.  They know when to stop and do nothing.
 
The MetaBusiness person is not content working all the time.  They enjoy a wholistic lifestyle where there is a dynamic balance among work-play-rest.  Hobbies, family life, spiritual practices, physical fitness and work are integral parts of a whole life.
 
If you find work has become tiring, draining, excessively stressful or fearful then a MetaBusiness approach may be better for you.  Give it a try.  Transform yourself, transform your culture.  Discover how good it feels to be energized, relaxed, creative and joyful.

Corporate cultures have long since devoured the souls of employees around the world.  The greed seed puts people over profits and creates a worldwide economy based off working human beings into the ground with little generosity. 

Dr. Greg Nielsen is a former prisoner of a dead corporate culture.  He is an author, professor and creator of MetaBusiness.   Dane Nielsen is his son.   He is a leader of a company that puts people over profits.  Together, father and son have created Culture Vulture to cannibalize cultures by helping businesses create new global cultures that don't suck. 

Enjoy the journey as father and son help give you guidance on how to change the culture of your company whether you're an executive or the most important stakeholder of any company... the employee.