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Landmark Worldwide

Company type	Private LLC
Industry	self-help, self-improvement, personal development, management consulting, continuing education
Founded	January 1991
Headquarters	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Key people	Harry Rosenberg: Director; CEO Mick Leavitt: President Joe DiMaggio – Director, Research, Design & Development Nancy Zapolski: Vice President, Program Delivery Division
Products	The Landmark Forum, associated coursework
Revenue	USD$77 million (2009)
Number of employees	525+ employees; 800 trained leaders, some of whom volunteer their time;
Subsidiaries	The Vanto Group (formerly Landmark Education Business Development or LEBD, from 1993 to 2007) Landmark Education International, Inc. Tekniko Licensing Corporation Rancord Company, Ltd.
Website	Landmark's homepage

Landmark Worldwide (formerly Landmark Education), or simply Landmark, is a limited liability company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It offers programs in personal development.

The company started with the purchase of intellectual property based upon Werner Erhard's est large-group awareness training techniques. Landmark has developed and delivered over 40 personal development programs. Its subsidiary, the Vanto Group, also markets and delivers training and consulting to organizations.

Landmark's programs have been categorized by some scholars and others as religious or quasi-religious in nature. Landmark and many of the company's customers deny such characterizations, while some researchers question that categorization as well.

History

Landmark Worldwide LLC was founded in January 1991 by several of the presenters of a training program known as "The Forum". Landmark purchased the intellectual property rights to The Forum from Werner Erhard and Associates and used that as the basis for its foundation course named "The Landmark Forum", which has been further updated over the years. It has since developed around 55 additional training courses and seminar programs throughout 20 different countries around the world.

The corporation was originally registered as Transnational Education and changed its name to Landmark Education Corporation in May 1991. In June 2003 it was re-structured as Landmark Education LLC, and in July 2013 renamed Landmark Worldwide LLC.

According to Landmark, Werner Erhard (creator of the controversial est training which ran from 1971 to 1984 and from which the forum was derived) consults from time to time with its "Research and Design team". Terry Giles, Chairman of the Board, is credited with resolving a long-standing rift among the descendants of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Corporation

Landmark Worldwide LLC operates as an employee-owned for-profit private company. According to Landmark's website, its employees own all the stock of the corporation, with no individual holding more than 3%. The company states that it operates in such a way as to invest its surpluses into making its programs, initiatives, and services more widely available. In addition, its subsidiary, the Vanto Group, focuses on marketing and delivering training and consultation services to corporate clients and other organizations.

Business consulting

Vanto Group, Inc., founded in 1993 as "Landmark Education Business Development" (LEBD), a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Worldwide Enterprises, Inc., uses the techniques of Landmark to provide consulting services to various companies. The University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business carried out a case study in 1998 into the work of LEBD with BHP New Zealand Steel. The report concluded that the set of interventions in the organization produced a 50% improvement in safety, a 15% to 20% reduction in key benchmark costs, a 50% increase in return on capital, and a 20% increase in raw steel production. LEBD became the Vanto Group in 2007.

Companies such as Panda Express and Lululemon Athletica pay for and encourage employees to take part in The Landmark Forum.

Licensing intellectual property

Tekniko, Inc., formerly owned by Werner Erhard, was the successor organization to Transformational Technologies, which was incorporated in 1984 by Erhard and management consultant James Selman. Tekniko Licencing Corporation, a California corporation owned by Terry M. Giles, later acquired this technology. In 2001 Landmark Education formed Tekniko Licensing Corporation, a Nevada corporation, which purchased Tekniko Technology from Giles' company.

Since that time, the Vanto Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Worldwide, has used Tekniko to license the "Tekniko methodology and intellectual property to a wide variety of corporations".

Course content

Course size varies between 75 and 250 people. Rules are set up at the beginning of the program, such as strongly encouraging participants not to miss any part of the program. Attendees are also urged to be “coachable” and not just be observers during the course. The program is arranged as a discussion where the course leader presents certain ideas and the course participants engage in voluntary sharing with the course leader to discuss how those ideas apply to their own life. Various ideas are presented, asserted and discussed during the course. For example, the course maintains that here is a big difference between what actually happened in a person’s life and the meaning or interpretation they made up about it, and that human behavior is governed by a need to look good

Another tenet of the course is that people pursue an "imaginary someday of satisfaction", and that people add meaning to events in their life which are not necessarily true The course also maintains that people have persistent complaints that give rise to unproductive fixed ways of being, but that people can “transform”, by a creative act of bringing forth new ways of being, rather than trying to change themselves in comparison to the past. Course participants are encouraged to call people they know during the course, with whom they feel they have unresolved tensions, and either be in communication with the other person or be responsible for their own behavior.

The evening session that follows closely on the three consecutive days of the course completes the Landmark Forum. During this final session, the participants share information about their results, and bring guests to learn about the Forum.

Community projects

Some other Landmark courses encourage or require participants to create a community project. In the Self-Expression and Leadership Program, participants are required to undertake a project that benefits the larger community or society as a whole.

In the Team, Management, and Leadership Program, participants create four team-based community projects.

Reviews and criticisms

The New York Times reporter Henry Alford summarized his review of The Landmark Forum by saying "Two months after the Forum, I'd rate my success at 84 percent. I'm more prone to telling loved ones and colleagues, in person and without glibness, that I love or admire them. But I still operate from a base position that people are a lot of effort." Time reporter Nathan Thornburgh, in his review of The Landmark Forum, said "At its heart, the course was a withering series of scripted reality checks meant to show us how we have created nearly everything we see as a problem …I benefited tremendously from the uncomfortable mirror the course had put in front of me."

The Irish Mail on Sunday says the effects of The Landmark Forum "...can be startling. People find themselves reconciled with parents, exes and friends. They have conversations they have wanted to have with their families for years; they meet people or get promoted in work." Alternately, Some employees of businesses utilizing Landmark's services have criticized Landmark as overzealous in encouraging people to participate in its courses.

Landmark makes extensive use of web-published and word-of-mouth testimonials from customers to portray its effectiveness, and supplements these with studies, surveys, and opinions.

Mayfair’s Amber Allison describers Landmark’s instructors as “enthusiastic and inspiring.” Her review says that after doing The Landmark Forum, “Work worries, relationship dramas all seem more manageable”, and that she “let go of almost three decades of hurt, anger and feelings of betrayal” towards her father.

Disputed religious character

Some scholars have categorized Landmark and its predecessor organizations as new age, self religion or a new religious movement. Other observers have noted relationships between the training programs and religion or a spiritual experience, including a lack of religious elements in the programs and the compatibility of the programs with existing religions. Others, such as Chryssides, classify Landmark as either quasi-religious or secular with some elements of religion. Various governments have also classed Landmark and its previous iterations as new religion and some have classified it as dangerous (although various scholars have disputed this characterization). or commented on characteristics shared with such groups without labeling it as a cult. Landmark has denied that it is a religion, cult or sect.

Journalists Amelia Hill with The Observer and Karin Badt from The Huffington Post have witnessed the Landmark Forum and concluded that, in their view, it is not religious or a cult. Hill wrote, "It is ... simple common sense delivered in an environment of startling intensity." Badt noted the organisation's emphasis on "'spreading the word' of the Landmark forum as a sign of the participants' 'integrity'" in recounting her personal experience of an introductory "Landmark Forum" course; "at the end of the day, I found the Forum innocuous. No cult, no radical religion: an inspiring, entertaining introduction of good solid techniques of self-reflection, with an appropriate emphasis on action and transformation (not change)".

Legal disputes

In 2006, Landmark initiated actions against websites such as Google and the Internet Archive to remove material it deemed to violate the company's copyrights and to protect the privacy and confidentiality of participants in its courses.

Following a series of investigative articles in the national daily Dagens Nyheter and programs on the private TV channel TV4, Landmark closed its offices in Sweden as of June 2004. Subsequent to a site visit of the French office of Landmark that noted the activities of volunteers, labor inspectors made a report of undeclared employment. That office then closed in July 2004. An investigation involving the use of volunteers was also conducted by the US Department of Labor in 2006. The company agreed to pay overtime for a non-exempt salaried employee, but denied that their volunteers were employees.

References

1. (January 7, 2002). "Landmark Education Celebrates 11 Years of Business and Growth". LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
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3. The Landmark Seminar Leader Program. LandmarkWorldwide.com. Retrieved on July 16, 2013.
4. (January 16, 1991). Articles of Incorporation, dike.de. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
   Quote: "This letter serves as the consent by Landmark Education Corporation for the use of the name "Landmark Education International, Inc." by our wholly-owned subsidiary, currently known as Werner Erhard and Associates International, Inc."
5. Pressman, Steven (1993). Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-09296-2, p. 254. (Out of print).
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   • Farber, Sharon Klayman (2012). Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, the Brain, and the Influence of the Sixties. Lanham, Maryland: Jason Aronson/Rowman & Littlefield. p. 131. ISBN 9780765708588. One of them began as est, or Erhard Seminars Training, the most successful and most controversial of the encounter groups of the seventies, and the progenitor of hundreds of others that have been marketed to the public and the business community.;
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   • Lockwood, Renee (2011). "Religiosity Rejected: Exploring the Religio-Spiritual Dimensions of Landmark Education". International Journal for the Study of New Religions. 2 (2). Sheffield, England: Equinox: 225–254. doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v2i2.225. ISSN 2041-9511.;
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   • Ramstedt, Martin (2007). "New Age and Business: Corporations as Cultic Milieus?". In Kemp, Daren; Lewis, James R. (eds.). Handbook of the New Age. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion. Vol. 1. Leiden: BRILL. p. 196. ISBN 9789004153554.;
   • Atkin, Douglas (2004). "What Is Required of a Belief System?". The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers. New York: Penguin/Portfolio. p. 101. ISBN 9781591840275.;
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10. Faltermayer, Charlotte; Richard Woodbury (March 16, 1998). The Best of Est?. Time. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
11. Dewan, Shaila (May 3, 2010). "Hired to Bring Order, Kings' Adviser Brings Peace". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-11-02. Terry M. Giles ... the self-improvement techniques of EST. (Werner Erhard, the creator of EST, is a client.)
12. Dow Jones & Co., Inc. (2010). "Landmark Education Corporation". The Business Journals. American City Business Journals, Inc. Retrieved 2010-11-02. Landmark Education Corporation - Company Executives - Terry Giles - Chairman of the Board
13. (February 1, 2008). "Landmark Education Business Development, LEBD, Changes Name to Vanto Group". Reuters. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
14. Logan, David C. (1998). "Transforming the Network of Conversations in BHP New Zealand Steel: Landmark Education Business Development's New Paradigm for Organizational Change", University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, L984-01.
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26. "Velo and Vintage on Second Saturday". Sacramento Press. 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
27. 31/entertainment/24990821_1_breast-cancer-survivors-breast-cancer-survivors-duck-breast "Cherish the mammary: Restaurants raise funds for breast cancer survivors". Philadelphia Daily News. 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2011-03-14. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
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33. "Local couple finds true love is closer than you think". The Daily Courier. 2011-02-13. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
34. Alford, Henry (2010-11-26). "You're O.K., but I'm Not. Let's Share". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
35. "Change We Can (Almost) Believe In". TIME Magazine. 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
36. "Landmark Forum: One Weekend to fix your LIFE?". Irish Mail on Sunday. 2012-02-18.
37. Graham Rayman, "Suit Against Sperm-Bank Firm Claims Sexual Harassment and Cult-Like Behavior", Village Voice, 20 May 2008
38. "Brief Quotes". LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
39. Allinson, Amber (April 2014). "Mind Over Matter". The Mayfair Magazine (U.K.).
40. See:
    • Barker, Eileen (1996). "New Religions and Mental Health". In Bhugra, Dinesh (ed.). Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies. London and New York: Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 0415089557.;
    • Beckford, James A. (2003). Social Theory and Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 156. ISBN 0-521-77431-4.;
    • Lockwood, Renee (2011). "Religiosity Rejected: Exploring the Religio-Spiritual Dimensions of Landmark Education". International Journal for the Study of New Religions. 2 (2). Sheffield, England: Equinox: 225–254. doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v2i2.225. ISSN 2041-9511.;
    • Beckford, James A. (2004). "New Religious Movements and Globalization". In Lucas, Phillip Charles; Robbins, Thomas (eds.). New Religious Movements in the 21st Century. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. p. 256. ISBN 0-415-96576-4.;
    • Clarke, Peter B. (2012). "New Religious Movements". In Taliaferro, Charles; Harrison, Victoria S.; Goetz, Stewart (eds.). The Routledge Companion to Theism. London: Routledge. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-415-88164-7.;
    • Heelas, Paul (1991). "Western Europe: Self Religions". In Sutherland, S.R.; Clarke, P.B. (eds.). The Study of Religion: Traditional and New Religions. London: Routledge. pp. 165–166, 171. ISBN 0-415-06432-5.;
    • Ramstedt, Martin (2007). "New Age and Business". In Kemp, Daren; Lewis, James R. (eds.). Handbook of the New Age. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion. Leiden: Brill. p. 196-197. ISBN 978-90-04-15355-4..
41. See:
    • Ben Porat, Shahar (April 2006). "Teacher of the Confused". Time Out. Israel. pp. 42–44.
    • Cannon, Patrick Owen (June 14, 2007). "Communication for Planetary Transformation and the Drag of Public Conversations: The Case of Landmark Education Corporation". Tampa, Florida: University of South Florida: 1–504. SFE0002150. Retrieved 26 January 2010. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
    • Lazarus, Baila (April 11, 2008). "Attain Freedom from the Past". Jewish Independent.
42. See:
    • Bhugra, Dinesh (1997). Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 0-415-16512-1.
    • Chryssides, George D. (2006). The A to Z of New Religious Movements. Scarecrow Press. pp. 197–198. ISBN 0-8108-5588-7.
    • Kronberg, Robert; Kristina Lindebjerg (2002). "Psychogroups and Cults in Denmark". Cultic Studies Review. 1 (1). International Cultic Studies Association.
    • Beckford, James A. (2003). Social Theory and Religion. Cambridge University Press. p. 156. ISBN 0-521-77431-4.
    • Partridge, Christopher (2004). New Religions: A Guide. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 406. ISBN 0-19-522042-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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    • Lewis, James R. (2005). Cults. ABC-CLIO. pp. 123–124. ISBN 1-85109-618-3.
43. See:
    • Beckford, James A.; Demerath, Jay, eds. (2007). The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. London: SAGE. pp. 229, 687. ISBN 978-1-4129-1195-5.;
    • Chryssides, George D. (1999). Exploring New Religions. New York, New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 314. ISBN 0-8264-5959-5.;
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44. See:
    • Wright, Stuart (2002). "Public Agency Involvement in Government–Religious Movement Confrontation". In Bromley, David G.; Melton, J. Gordon (eds.). Cults, Religion, and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 0-521-66898-0.;
    • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Office of International Religious Freedom (2005). "International Religious Freedom Report 2005: Austria". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of State. Retrieved 28 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link);
    • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Office of International Religious Freedom (2006). "International Religious Freedom Report 2005: Sweden". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of State. Retrieved 28 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link);
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    • Chryssides, George (1999). Exploring New Religions. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 229, 687.;
    • Schneider (1995). "Der Pädagogische Bereich als Operationsfeld für Psychokulte". 20 Jahre Elterninitiative. e.V.. University of Tubingen, Theologische Abteilung: 189–190. ISBN 3-927890-23-5. ISSN 0720–3772. {{cite journal}}: Check |issn= value (help);
    • Sharot, Stephen (2011). Comparative Perspectives on Judaisms and Jewish Identities. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. p. 182. ISBN 9780814334010..
46. Goldwag, Arthur (2009). Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies. New York: Vintage/Random House. pp. 29–30. ISBN 9780307390677.
47. Puttick, Elizabeth (2004). "Landmark Forum (est)". In Partridge, Christopher Hugh (ed.). Encyclopedia of New Religions. Oxford: Lion. pp. 406–407. ISBN 978-0-74-595073-0.
48. Electronic Frontier Foundation. Landmark Education. Retrieved on September 1, 2013.
49. See:
    • Christian Palme (2002-06-03). "Landsting köpte kurs av Landmark". DN.SE. Retrieved 2012-04-18..
50. Tidskriften Analys & Kritik - Irrationalismen
51. See:
    • Marie Lemonniera, "Chez les gourous en cravate", Le Nouvel Observateur, 19 May 2005, accessed 7 December 2008; French text: "L’'Inspection du Travail débarque dans les locaux de Landmark, constate l'’exploitation des bénévoles et dresse des procès-verbaux pour travail non déclaré." English translation: "Labor inspectors turned up at the offices of Landmark, noted the exploitation of volunteers and drew up a report of undeclared employment."
    • (May 26, 2004). "Landmark Education - Droit de Répons - France 3" (French). landmarkeducation.fr. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
52. US Dept. of Labor (15 April 2009). "US Department of Labor investigation into Landmark Education, 2006". WikiLeaks. Sunshine Press. Retrieved 3 September 2014.

External links

Template:Z148

• Landmark official website
• Landmark Education page in the Skeptics Dictionary

• Companies established in 1991
• Employee-owned companies of the United States
• Companies based in San Francisco, California
• Training companies of the United States
• Human Potential Movement
• Personal development
• Large-group awareness training