Encourage Employees To Take Charge. At Orange Tree employees are involved in many decisions and on many different levels.

Topic for Discussion: What does Carol call the process she uses to reach conclusions?

Answer: She says they run the business as a, "participative democracy." She and Dean will invite employees to weigh in on most every topic. All of the employees even vote on new hires. This style forces employees to think and to share their thoughts. Over time, it builds confidence so that employees who have been at the store for many years can run many of the aspects of the operation without supervision.

Nancy and Eric Goshow own Goshow Architects based in New York City and they are using similar techniques to tap into the genius of employees. Nancy says, "Collaboration is at the root of everything we do."

Peter Metcalf, founder of Black Diamond, says, "I believe that leaders look great because of the people behind them. And the best way to have a company succeed is to have a very strong group of people. Give people as much responsibility and authority as possible, and let them go for it. Let them do it because, ultimately, if you give them that, they're going to have more energy than you can ever possibly have."