I guess I wanted to “hear” your perspective, which is why I was asking this question of how you perceive parallel vision to be defined, especially since you wrote about it.

Hmmm…interesting. I understand what you mean when you say “you imagine what you are seeking before it goes through the motions to take form in the physical world” because I’ve had that happen to me. I imagined myself flying planes when I was told I could not do a such a thing yet it happened. I imagined myself lounging by the hotel the winners of a sales contest would be staying at if they won. I was one of the winners.

Very interesting!

I don’t know why you say the first time you posted your comments “was a mess” but I went ahead and deleted that for this one.

Thanks for answering my questions – it greatly clarified your journey on Wall Street and how you ended up leaving. I find it all fascinating! It’s true that sometimes when a merger happens, there’s a clash of cultures and that can lead to a lot of scattered bodies and reduced morale. Thank goodness you took the MS/Dean Witter merger as a sign for you to move on to other opportunities. Congratulations!

Your description of how you dealt with dyslexia was even more fascinating because I cannot fathom how a person cannot get words on the page into the conscious mind. This is just like how people who can hear cannot fathom going through life not hearing a sound. They can’t understand how I can function without music, for example.

Thanks Michael for your compliments, especially with regards to the “Intentional Connecftor” statement. This is quite a compliment. And interestingly enough, I had a conversation with a friend a while back. She recommended that I write down qualities that I think make me “useful” to society (for a lack of a better word). Would you know that one of the things I wrote on that piece of paper was “connector”?

Amazing!

Sorry I messed up the above post. Here’s the correct one:

Thank you for interviewing me and for your thoughtful commentary on my answers. I’m just now getting around to answering your additional questions. After returning from a business trip to North Carolina, I went straight to a cheerleading competition my two daughters were in near Hartford, CT. They’re spending the night there with my wife Katie so I’m on my own at home with our family dog and two movies with helicopters (a sure sign that I will like them . Deb and Liara, thank you for commenting on Stephen’s post.

I’m going to try to answer your questions Stephen so here goes.

I decided to leave Wall Street when my values differed dramatically from those of some of the leaders I met. A series of events caused me to leave. I had a great boss at Morgan Stanley named John Strauss, who headed the private wealth management group but John was replaced with someone from Dean Witter. Morgan Stanley prided itself on an open culture where it was safe to express opinions and ideas and where promotions were based on merit rather than favoritism. When that changed with the new boss, I left to head marketing at Charles Schwab’s U.S. Trust Group. The larger story about the Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter merger was captured in a book entitled “Blue Blood and Mutiny: The Fight for the Soul of Morgan Stanley.” Schwab had bought U.S. Trust and then discovered their cultures clashed. Schwab was a superior culture. These experiences convinced me I needed to write a book about why cultures like Morgan Stanley’s and Charles Schwab’s were superior to Dean Witter’s and U.S. Trust’s.

Thanks for sharing the story about the needs for students, parents and teachers to be connected at school. I couldn’t agree more!

Your paraphrase of my quote is spot on. Actually, Abraham Lincoln and Mother Theresa both said something similar. I learned it from the legendary basketball coach John Wooden.

My dyslexia is in the area of decoding skills. I’m slow to get words on the page into my conscious mind. It’s a bottleneck, like sucking a milkshake with a cocktail straw. I don’t remember kids making fun of me about it. My parents paid for me to go to a tutor and to Catholic summer school so that I would improve. This was not easy for them to afford and I was grateful for their sacrifice. College, business school and law school helped make me a much better reader. Now I read a lot and love it. Because of the human brain’s plasticity, hard work to improve reading pays off. I do agree with your point, Stephen, that adversity made me work harder in part out of a sense of insecurity and inferiority. Sports and the love of my family helped balance that out.

For your blog readers, I would like to add just how much I appreciate you, Stephen. You are what I describe in my book as an “Intentional Connector.” You intentionally and fearlessly reach out to connect with many people. That takes courage and a lot of energy, both of which you have in abundance. I know that’s something that your blog readers must admire too.

I had no idea that the E Pluribus Unum is on all US coins and dollar bills! That’s way cool. I bet Michael was aware of this when he first looked for a name for his business.

You bet I felt he was/is a kindred spirit because of similar “Wall Street and quitting background”!

I loved your well thought out commentary! It made me smile, especially at the end when you used the Wizard of Oz analogy. I’ll bet Michael will also enjoy it when he reads this! Thanks for chiming in!

I find “parallel vision” to be fascinating – it reminds me of “parallel universes.” What is your take on the meaning and significance of “parallel vision”? This is a new topic for me.

You say a parallel vision appears in mind before any individual ever appears. Give me an example of what you mean by that.

Yes, I agree that meeting kindred spirits is a wonderful thing. I’m glad you find the people I’m introducing to be inspiring and fascinating. That’s my intent.

As you discern certain kinds of growth in your own life, you attract people you relate to on multiple energy levels. You are identifying a mental target and hitting it, spot on! Meeting kindred spirits is a wonderful thing. You discover new sides of yourself mirrored back and you also introduce blog readers to fascinating and inspiring people.

I’m sure you felt a kindred spirit in Michael when
you learned that he ‘he quit Wall Street to pursue a calling’.

I jumped over to Michael’s site before making my comment here.
After reading the 5 paragraphs describing his company, my eye
was instantly drawn to a link: Free E-book

I arrived at a page where Michael says this…

The Connection Culture – A New Source of Competitive Advantage

Michael Lee Stallard “I want to share something with you I’ve learned over the last decade of my life that I believe can be as helpful to you as it has been to me. In a nutshell, one of the most powerful and least understood aspects of business is how an emotional connection between management, employees and customers provides a competitive advantage. Unless the people who are part of a business feel a sense of connection –an emotional bond that promotes trust, cooperation and esprit de corps – they will never reach their potential as individuals, nor will the organization.”

You will then see the link where you can download the PDF file:

The 20 slide PDF starts out this way….

The Connection Culture

“I want to share something with you I’ve learned over the
last decade of my life that I believe can be
as helpful to you as it has been to me.”

THIS IS A MUST READ for everyone.!!!

Thank you so much Michael for sharing your story here
through Stephen’s interview. I look forward to part 2.

One of my favorite quotes is….
“There are blessings in problems”.

And Stephen, E Pluribus Unum happens to be on all
U.S. coins as well as our paper money. Look close
and you will see it. It was the U.S. motto up until
it was changed in 1956.
President Dwight D Eisenhower, signed into law the
motto of… In God We Trust.

And to quote the Wizard of Oz:

‘Why, anybody can have a brain. That’s a very mediocre commodity.
Back where I come from we have universities – seats of great learning -
where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out,
they think deep thoughts, and with no more brains than you have. But -
they have one thing you haven’t got – a diploma! Therefore, by virtue
of the authority vested in me by the Universita Committeeatum E Pluribus Unum,
I hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of Th.D.’

Scarecrow — Th.D.?
Wizard — ‘Yeah – that – that’s Dr. of Thinkology’

Later on in the movie The Wizard says this:

‘And in that balloon, my dear Dorothy, you and I will return to the Land of E Pluribus Unum!’

xo xo
Deb Estep