In theory, Memorial Day is to honor the memories of those who sacrificed their lives in military service for our country. In practice, we typically celebrate this long weekend as the unofficial start of Summer and the beginning the bar-b-q season. Why is it important to remember and honor those who gave their lives so that we can enjoy our freedom?

President Abraham Lincoln said:Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure."  It is important not to forget that freedom does not come cheaply. We can enjoy what we have because so many Americans through the years were lost defending us and our ideals as a nation.

Talent retention and management is one of the current worries in the corporate world. One of the most frequently cited reasons of talented people for leaving jobs is that they did not feel appreciated, and their talent was wasted. This was especially brought to my attention last week, when I went to the University of Delaware for a Roundtable discussion regarding Employee Development.

Dr. Robert Eisenberger has been doing research on how employees view their relationship with the work organization and how it affects their commitment to the organization. He mentioned that there are more than 350 other scientific studies that support his own results. In a nutshell, those studies show that when employees feel their contributions are valued and their supervisors care about their well-being, they have less stress and work harder. They also increase involvement in the organization, standard job performance, creativity, and loyalty, which results in higher retention rates.

The Creative Power of Dialogue and Collaboration. This past Saturday I visited Williamsburg, Virginia, the town that was home to some of the most important architects of the USA. Men like General Washington, Governor Jefferson, and Governor Henry. While walking the Colonial living history site, hearing the stories, and remembering the struggles of a small colonial community, I found myself meditating in the creative power of dialogue and collaboration.

Fears are proliferating in people’s lives and in workplaces around the world today, with very detrimental results. As a psychologist I know the impact of positive and negative "affect," or mood on people and organizations.

Studies show that positive affect pumps up creativity and productivity, while negative affect (like fear) stifles it and leads to mistrust, cynicism, isolation, and competition. Not exactly the stuff we want in our high-performance organizations! No wonder Edmund Burke said: "No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as does fear."

I have been reading M. Gladwell’s latest book “Outliers” and have confirmed once again how it truly “takes a village,” not only to raise a child, as Mrs. Clinton wrote in her well known book, but also to reach your human potential. Gladwell contends that “the culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forbearers shape the patterns of our achievement in ways we cannot begin to imagine.”

How Dialogue and Collaboration can Help Accelerate Change.- In his State of the State Address, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland talked about what the state has been able to do and continues doing through dialogue and collaboration. Especially compelling is what Ohio’s public education system is doing to "reconceive" their educational system (see their article, for more information and my Newsletter for more of my thoughts).

It is time to Stand for Change! As I write this, Barack Obama is four days away from his inauguration as president of the United States. He ran on a platform of Change and Hope. Today’s leaders also need to think about hope, action, and change.

Today, as reported in the New York Times, he again talked about change, returning to the now familiar theme. “It’s not too late to change course, but only if we take dramatic action as soon as possible,” Mr. Obama said, speaking to workers in a suburb of Cleveland, pitching his economic recovery plan.