My company just enlisted this group to "brainwash" the way we are leading our company. I looked up the former movement of EST and found many similiarities , modified of course to the modern times.

I asked my manager what would happen if I left early and he said i could possibly lose my job or have to step down from my management position. This group held a four day ten hour a day 'seminar" and gave us exactly 12 min breaks every 1hour and 20mins. We had a 45 min lunch and had to be on time for everything or they would humilate you in front of the group. We even had to move our seats everytime we came back from break and then have "exercises" where we had to turn to the person or persons next to us.

The facilitators then asked for your committement to our company on a scale of 1-10 and you had to sit or stand to acknowledge. If you were not a 10, he said you need to leave your job now. Can I persue legal actiion for this?

An answer i typically see tossed out for this kind of question is:

--- A lawyer who understands this kind of legal stuff would be the one to ask.

What you're describing at your job sure does sound annoying and nasty. Bleh.

No doubt someone at your company got a kickback for hiring this company to do training. I agree that you should seek legal advice, and I also recommend gathering as much information and doing as much research as you can on this group, their methods, teachings and history, founders, and financial information on them if you can find it.

If what you dig up on them is cause for concern, then make an appointment to discuss it with management in a calm, non-confrontational, professional manner and stress how it might adversely affect your firm and its employees. Make sure you are coming from a place of "I want what's best for our company, and I wanted to bring this potential problem to your attention" rather than, "This is unfair - I'll sue you."

My company has been "brainwashing" the employees with the garbage being spewed forth by this Meridian Insititute cult. I was forced to sit through it for 4 days and it was absolutely nonsensical garbage.

I was a lower to mid level manager at the time, and while I'm no Peter Drucker or John Maxwell, I am an avid student of both and I saw straight through the Meridian nonsense from the beginning.

"Old 'Acme' bad...new 'Acme' good" (purposely withholding the name of my company, but its a large airline based in Atlanta). They shoved this down everyone's throats. "Accountability, accountability, accountability," was hurled at us time and time again. From our departmental vice-presidents on down (there are many of them too, by the way), this word was hammered on us time and again. The only problem was that we've historically done a hell of a job holding people accountable and being held accountable, but the "New 'Acme' folks" are deplorably unaccountable and the word rings hollow within their "protected group."

I was so sick of the Meridian nonsense, and it was hell sitting through it for 4 days. When I found out some senior level people walked out of it in December, I thought it would disappear. Boy was I wrong...it's been shoved down the throats of the rest of the company. Now, the mindless, unethical "Kool-aid drinkers" are preaching "Meridian" to everyone, meanwhile the people with real brains are being systematically victims of one of the nastiest cases of corporate cultural genocide I've ever seen.

I know...I was literally fired recently in retaliation for holding my boss, her boss, and his boss "accountable." A spotless 17 year record down the tubes. Fired by people with less seniority, less experience, and less education than me, and noticably more female and/or not-caucasian than me as well. If I were female or black, I'd have a job today, no doubt.

I'm very interested to hear privately about those who have experienced similar things with this Meridian bunch. They are not certified consultants, nor do they seem to belong to any consultant group or guild. They are a family of three (dad, mom, and son/step-son) plus a couple of other people they've brought on board with them. Their headquarters are a residence in Nebraska.

They're sucking my company out of hundreds of thousands, and more likely in the low millions by now, meanwhile they're systematically destroying the culture that made the company so great.

[www.themeridianinstitute.com]

Here you will find that they have posted training with Delta airlines and you can read the bios of their staff and founder as well as a description of their radical corporate transformational training methodology.

The owner of the Meridian Institute is Gary Koyen see bio on website above. Apparently Dr.Koyen is a graduate of Lifespring.

[www.culteducation.com]


[perso.orange.fr]

While Wings certainly exists as a supplement to mainstream religion for many, to look for an official theology or liturgy, one could glance at Scientology or even further back to the New Thought Movement of the early 1900s. However, if Wings had an official doctrine from which it sprang, it would be Mind Dynamics Incorporated. Mind Dynamics Inc. was started by William Patrick Penn, owner of Holiday Magic Cosmetics. He designed methods of self-growth for his staff, particularly salespeople, which included physical beatings and locking people in coffins. Before any accusations were proven, Mind Dynamics Inc. was closed in 1974. Two famous students emerged from these seminars: Werner Erhard and John Hanley. Erhard started est. Hanley started Lifespring. A Lifespring graduate named Gary Koyen began Koyen and Associates in Eugene, Oregon. Koyen sold his business to Kris King and James Newton in 1986. (Register-Guard, 1990)
Wings has adapted to environmental concerns and improved upon problems in the past. It has also reflected the individual personalities of the different owners. (James Newton left, and now Michael Morrow is part-owner.) In this way it takes its primary symbol system from a main tradition (Mind Dynamics, Lifespring, Koyen & Associates), yet it also has its own sayings, martyrs, celebrations, and even dances – all built around their own rites of passage, as we shall see.
More importantly, Wings fits with Leonard Primiano’s definition of folk religion as “lived” religion as “religion as expressed in everyday life” (Primiano, 1995). This is clear from my interviews. For example, Kris King talked about how Wings “opens up [seminar participants] perspective of what is possible” and that even she didn’t realize she could create her own day to day life until attending a like seminar. Also, all of the graduates made similar statements to Mindy’s (one of the graduates) that her “life has been on a different track from, basically, then on.” Whatever a participant feels he/she learned from the seminar, they are keenly aware that these lessons have a direct impact on their lives. I believe that not only is Wings a form of “religion as expressed in everyday life,” but is the expression of a desire to express religion in everyday life in reference to the specific compensators supplied by the Wings organization. These elements are happiness, meaning, and fulfillment.
The essence of the religious overtones of Wings folklore and Wings as a vernacular religion is in the Wings seminar: the rite of passage designed specifically for clients who pay upwards of $500 for this experience.

My company did the same thing with a program called "Act One". They shoved the 'accountability' thing down our throats too. What it came to mean was that who ever at the end of the chain was held responsible for everything. Your department didnt make it's quota because the computer system went down? Too bad,, so sad, penalty time! Accountability is just good old punishment system. Dont train you, dont inform you, dont communicate, but train by punishing so that people will avoid punishment and finally figure out how to do their job.

There were so many issues that needed to be addressed and this was the avenue my company chose. It was such a waste of time. Some people swallowed it hook line and sinker, and others of us realized how worthless most of it was. People almost lost their jobs over it. They threatened to fire people, but people contacted their lawyers immediately.

they forced participation of people who would faint when speaking in public, who had extreme anxiety disorders and people under psychiatric care who could not deal with exposing their personal life the way the company expected.

This is the mantra handed down from Republican business practices. and why do the minorities & women remain? sometimes because they are so deserate for a job that they will buy into hook line and sinker. They are also easier to intimidate by management sometimes. They are used to being discriminated against, they may not recognize it as such or take it as more crap they just have to put up with.

In my unit after 5 years the only people left were the incredibly shy people who would never stand up for themselves or the incredibly agressive people who took advantage of the situation. I couldnt hack it anymore, i quit. A luxury, other people dont have!

how can I set a car avatar on this message board?

jaxtb:

Some of the name calling you are doing here is pretty harsh.

Calling an organization a "cult" seems like a very serious allegation.

And also using the following to describe them:

Quote

mindless, unethical "Kool-aid drinkers"

Meridian may be a large group awareness training (LGAT) program much like Landmark Education, which offers a philosophy for "leadership" to corp. American, but that doesn't make them a "cult."

To better understand the problems LGATs or mass marathon training frequently pose see the following:

[www.culteducation.com]

For examples of LGATs such as Lifespring or Landmark see the following:

[www.culteducation.com]

[www.culteducation.com]

To better understand a working definition for a "cult"...

See [www.culteducation.com]

Here is an excerpt from this FAQ section:

[b:d7ecee0a98]Question: [/b:d7ecee0a98] Isn't the word "cult" a pejorative label used to discriminate against new religious movements?

[b:d7ecee0a98]Answer: [/b:d7ecee0a98]No. It is disingenuous to ignore the historical significance and modern day applications of the word cult. Today many controversial groups, that have been called "cults", are seeking to either eliminate the word, or create through fear of litigation a reluctance to use the term. Some cult apologists have literally said that "'cult' is a four letter word," and should be replaced by the politically correct title "new religious movement" (NRM). However, historically cults have always been with us and they continue to be a part of the world today.

How is the word "cult" defined?

Webster's Dictionary defines a cult as:

"1. A formal religious veneration 2. A system of religious beliefs and rituals also its body of adherents; 3. A religion regarded as "unorthodox or spurious."; 4. A system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator; 5. a: A great devotion to a person, idea, thing; esp.: such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad, b: A usually small circle of persons united by devotion or allegiance to an artistic or intellectual movement or figure."

This definition obviously could include everything from Barbie collectors to old "Deadheads," "Trekkies" to diehard Elvis fans. American history might also include within such a definition the devoted followers of Mary Baker Eddy the founder of Christian Science, or the Mormons united through their devotion to Joseph Smith. Both these religious groups were once largely regarded as "unorthodox or spurious." However, the most important concern today is not simply who might be somewhat "cultic" in their devotion now or historically, but what groups might represent potential problems regarding personal or public safety. That is, groups that are potentially unsafe and/or destructive.

Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, who wrote the definitive book about thought reform (often called "brainwashing") also wrote a paper about cult formation. Lifton defined a cult as having the following three characteristics:

1. A charismatic leader, who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power.

2. A process [is in use] call[ed] coercive persuasion or thought reform.

3. Economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie.

Do you honestly think Meridian meets these three criteria specifically?

And "drinking the Kool-aid" denotes the most extreme cults, so "brainwashed" they would be willing to kill not only themselves, but also their children if the leader asked.

Does this really describe employees that have taken Meridian training?

Think about it.

Let's try not to not make harsh statements/judgements that can't be backed up with objective proof.

Calling someone a "cult" and comparing them to the victims of Jim Jones at Jonestown (that drank cyanide laced fruit drink) is very, very harsh.

RRMODERATOR,

You obviously either never attended a Meridian/Lifespring meeting, or you work for one.

I must make it very clear that this group is a cult in every sense of the word.

So step off your condescending high-horse and quit quoting dictionaries (obviously your only limited source of information).

I know what I am talking about, and many at my company know what we are talking about. You clearly don't. I don't think I need any further clarification.