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105Increased ProductivityThrough Improved Leadership1716151413121110Composite Challengingthe ProcessEnablingOthers To ActEncouragingthe HeartInspiring aShared VisionModelingthe WaySelf-Rating ScaleControls Meditatorsp < .01 p < .05 p < .10 p < .01 p < .05 p < .05tm-013BETTER LEADERS INCREASE PRODUCTIVITYThis study was conducted at an international company in the wholesale food industry. It approached increasing productivity by improving leadership through a self-development program to strengthen the person from within. The selfdevelopment program used was the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, because it is known to decrease stress and increase creativity. TM subjects and non-meditating control subjects were measured on leadership behaviors before and after 4 months, and later 8 months, of TM practice. %u2022 The TM subjects improved signifi cantly compared to controls on all leadership behaviors. %u2022 They became more innovative in their thinking, challenging existing processes with %u201cout of the box%u201d original ideas. %u2022 They became more helpful and more likely to enable others to act. %u2022 They began to encourage fellow employees by using %u201cheart values%u201d to motivate them. %u2022 They inspired others to act with the shared vision of the company%u2019s goals, and they increasingly became models of ideal employees and supervisors. Almost everyone interviewed during the program a year and a half later commented that the company as a whole was much more upbeat and that employees were more rested and were enjoying work. An outside observer said all the employees seemed more on top of their work, much less in crisis mode. From a business angle, the company reached highs in quarterly sales.Reference: McCollum, B. (1999). Leadership development and self development: an empirical study. Career Development International, 4(3), 149%u2013154.