42 Rules for Creating WE

A hands-on, practical approach to organizational development, change and leadership best practices.

by Judith E. Glaser

For 200,000 years, human beings have moved back and forth between I-Centric and We-Centric societies. Time and again, we’ve seen the “I to WE” pendulum swing. Yet, history has shown us that societies that prospered, withstood adversity, and created real and lasting advancements understood the power of Creating WE.

Currently, most organizations today operate in an “I” paradigm. In this arena, we keep score – “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” We are taught to control our needs and emotions because they are destructive---logic prevails. We are punished for making mistakes and we hide our thoughts for fear of losing our power or status. In a WE paradigm, things are different. 42 Rules for Creating WE offers new insights from thought leaders in neuroscience, organizational development, and brand strategy, introducing groundbreaking practices for bringing the spirit of WE to any organization, team or cause. In the book, readers learn how to:

• Shatter Old Paradigms
• Acknowledging the “I” inside the “WE”
• Understand What Moves People
• Foster Integrity, Candor and Caring
• Create Worlds with Words

Each of these concepts contains a set of timeless guidelines, practices and tools for becoming a WE-Centric leader and fostering dramatic improvements in productivity, engagement, and focus. Leaders who have the courage to explore these new concepts will begin to see more productive norms emerge in their organizations. They will see people working together toward common goals, energetically and enthusiastically. And that’s when the real magic happens.

42 Rules for Creating WE is written by The Creating WE Institute, an international group of critical thinkers with multi-disciplinary expertise, who have come together to harvest new forms of engagement and innovation in the workplace. The Creating WE Institute’s mission is bring a spirit of WE to organizations currently operating as a group of I’s.

Judith E. Glaser

Judith E. Glaser (www.creatingwe.com) is founder and CEO of Benchmark Communications, Inc. a pioneering culture, leadership and brand firm that works with Fortune 100, 500 and private companies. In 2007 Benchmark launched the Creating WE Institute (www.creatingweinstitute.com), a research and consulting partnership that offers clients opportunities to expand WE-centric thinking in their organizations. Ms. Glaser, who calls herself an Organizational Anthropologist, is a sought after keynote speaker, and a renowned executive coach and innovation specialist helping leaders rethink strategies, new products and services, leverage mergers and acquisitions and create new business models that drive profitability and growth.

She has published hundreds of articles on strategic leadership and two best selling books, Creating WE: Change I-Thinking to We-Thinking & Build a Healthy Thriving Organization and The DNA of Leadership, selected by both Forbes and Business Book Review as one of the top business books of 2005 and 2006. Creating WE won an AXION Leadership Award in 2008. Ms. Glaser is contributing editor of Executive Excellence magazine and has appeared on dozens of programs, including the NBC Today Show, ABC World News, Fox News, and the Martha Stewart Show, and has been quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Crain’s, and the Harvard Management Review, among many publications. She served as an adjunct professor at Wharton and guest speaker at Temple, Kellogg, Harvard, Loyola, University of Chicago, NYU, IIT and others, and is a founding member of The Executive Woman’s Business Forum, and the We Are Family Foundation.

Judith graduated from Temple University with degrees in Psychology and Interdisciplinary studies. She was awarded a Research Fellowship Drexel University and received her MS in Human Behavior & Development with courses at Harvard Bales School of Social Relations. She took additional graduate studies in Corporate & Political Communications from Fairfield University. She was awarded Woman of the Year 2004 in NYC and Inducted into the Temple Gallery of Success in 2007.