Today’s contemporary structures in the business world are much different than they were ten or twenty years ago. The trends which are running through the currents today, however, do have their roots back in the earlier decades. In our lifetimes, we have seen a move from one significant paradigm into an opposite paradigm. Businesses that work now are finding that the contemporary paradigm has its roots in something even more elemental than that’s lead to the current models.

It wasn’t long ago that the culture at large was speaking about willpower, and using your own clout in order to get what you wanted. People worked on principles of clever manipulation , and it was even accepted that this was a normal business practice, even if the manipulation had some elements of deception. It was accepted because it was generally acknowledged that everyone practiced this way. Thus, it became the norm, and the ones who could really succeed were the best at deftly covering up the manipulation.

Today’s model, where leadership qualities come from an internal sense of right and wrong, is much more effective, and also efficient. That’s because it’s based on honesty, and transparency . If there is nothing to cover up, then there is less time wasted, trying to figure out how to hide the truth. That’s a basic principle that has always been effective in any kind of setting, including business.

Seeing a return to this transparency in our lifetimes comes from a number of factors, but the single most important contributing circumstance is that it works. Honesty works. It’s something that comes naturally to everyone, but that doesn’t mean that a business training seminar won’t help to refresh ourselves on what’s always been effective. The question of leadership is always one of character, and one of the most successful tools is to start with the assumption that good character is something everyone has. This levels the playing field, so that our natural leadership potential can really come through and shine.

There was a time when I traveled to Kansas annually; I’d rent a car from the Wichita airport, then drive to friends and relatives in Hutchinson and northern Oklahoma; Wichita is so close to the line that it took me less than three hours to reach the farming community of Cherokee, where my father grew up.  But I’ve gone in the opposite direction as well, heading north, throughout the state, where I’ve had the occasion to find some of the best of the hotels Kansas offers its visitors.  Along the way, I’ve stopped off at some of the more intriguing sights available in that state.  Here’s a sampling of one possible trip and the sights you might see along the way:

In Wichita, check out the Wichita Art Museum, the largest art museum in the state.  Through March, you’ll find an photographic exhibit called This is My Land: A Photographic Portrayal of America by James Yarnell.  The photographs document a cross-country tour of the U.S. from the air, from a book first published in 1962.

Travel northwest along the 96 highway to Hutchinson, where you can check out the Underground Salt Museum, opened in just the last few years.  The museum takes you down 650 feet below the Earth’s surface to witness a salt mine and salt deposits millions of years old.  In the winter months, it’s advisable to call ahead and to make reservations.  From Hutchinson, you can head north, rejoining the I-135, headed for Kansas City (if you want to take quite a detour, keeping going north once the I-135 turns into the 81, and take a left at the 24, until the 24 joins the 9.  On Highway 9, continue until you pass Beloit, pass Glen Elder, and you’ll find yourself at Cawker City, and the world’s largest ball of twine!  If twine isn’t the thing you want to see, take a left from the I-135 onto the 70, and head on over to Abilene, where you’ll find the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.  Continuing along the 70 will take you to Kansas City.  Check out this city’s boutique hotels (in one hotel, you can step outside and smell coffee from a nearby coffee plant!), and also the city’s train station, where you’ll find an excellent steak house.

If you happen to make this journey, definitely watch out the window for camels.  Kansas, in fact, has a small population of camels.  I’m not exactly sure how many, but they are there, grazing the small hillsides somewhere between Abilene and Kansas City!