This past week, we all watched joyously as the 33 Chilean miners were pulled alive from the depths of the earth that had entrapped them for 69 days.

It was back on August 5th when the copper mine in Copiapo, Chile collapsed, leaving 33 men trapped 2,300 feet below the earth’s surface. Seventeen days passed before rescuers received any sign of life, when the eighth test bore drill came back to the surface with notes attached to the drill bit stating that 33 miners were indeed alive.

At that point, the world rallied to help Chilean officials and mine experts craft complex plans to rescue the miners. Three drill plans — A, B, and C — were launched using different drilling technologies in an effort to reach the miners with a shaft just large enough for their escape. Meanwhile, medicine, liquid food, and oxygen were sent nearly half a mile down via the tiny bore hole as the three drilling rigs worked for weeks around the clock.

NASA developed and built a special transport cylinder to bring the miners to the surface that was a mere 21 inches in diameter inside. Some miners, who had lost over 20 pounds during the first 17 days, were later put on a special diet to ensure that each could fit into the slender rescue tube. Miners were also put on an exercise regimen to minimize muscle atrophy. Mental health experts were consulted on how to engage the miners in certain routines to address the severe mental stress from the ordeal.

In the end, it was the “Plan B” drill that finally reached the small refuge area on October 9th where the miners were located. The “Plan B” drill used a special drill bit from a Pennsylvania company with a hammering mechanism never before used by the Chilean mining industry.

The Chilean government, including its President and its Mining Minister, deserve a lot of credit for the unprecedented rescue. Against enormous odds, they put together a plan of action that embraced both the known and the unknown, while giving themselves necessary contingencies. They also were willing to accept critical input, assistance, and know-how from around the globe, yet remained in control of one of the most complex and intensive rescue operations in history. They proceeded to relentlessly pursue their plan, and 33 lives were saved as a result.

It is a tribute to human ingenuity and the human ideal. When lives are at stake, I marvel at what humans can do when working together.

Corporate executives can learn from this survival phenomenon. The last two years have brought near-death experiences to many companies around the globe. Those companies whose managers and employees rally together, stay focused, and design necessary contingencies are more apt to come out of their hole alive.

It ultimately just might be your “Plan B” that saves your company.

In watching the weather reports today, which show three to four hurricanes lined up in the Atlantic heading toward the eastern coast of the United States, I am reminded of one of the more memorable lines in American cinema.

In the 1990 “Die Hard 2: Die Harder,” the actor and former U.S. Senator, Fred Thompson, plays the Chief of Air Operations at Washington Dulles Airport and utters the great metaphorical line, “stack ‘em, pack ‘em, and rack ‘em.” With this line, he gives the order to his air traffic control staff to keep all incoming aircraft in a holding pattern until hijackers are no longer controlling the airport. The intent is to buy time until Bruce Willis (John McClane) can save the day.

So when I saw the colorful, eye-popping flight path this week on our television screens of the incoming hurricanes and tropical storms — Earl, Fiona, and Gaston, I thought of Fred Thompson’s 20-year-old line and the image of the jetliners lined up over the dark skies of Dulles Airport.

Whether it’s turbulence as a result of Mother Nature or man-made disasters, companies are best served by executives and managers who are able to keep their cool and focus in response to both seen and unforeseen events. These necessary attributes can only come through experience, effective training, and a corporate culture that values and cultivates them.

When crisis strikes, do not bet the company on managers knowing what to do. Spend time and resource to make sure they have the tools and know-how at the ready.

Have a safe and restful upcoming Labor Day weekend.

It’s not everyone who can say they accomplished what relatively so few others have done, beat the long odds and the obstacles, faced adversity head-on, and finally reached the pinnacle of achievement where you can plant a flag and mark it as your own.

As the photo shows above, this past weekend I did reach a once seemingly unobtainable peak …or so it would seem.

What may appear as a desolate and snowy peak just before sunset, is in fact a photo of my neighbor’s roof taken yesterday in late afternoon after a near-record 24-inch snowfall in the Washington, DC area.

Images and words can sometimes create a powerful illusion. They can lead one to take action – or result in inaction – in light of a perceived set of facts. Such a phenomenon is not limited to an individual, but can also beset an entire company or organization.

Companies, which possibly once enjoyed a leadership position or a genuine high level of performance, many times find themselves operating in a culture of perceived accomplishment. The management may convince itself that yesterday’s achievements are still in play, or it may insist that it is further down the field than reality would allow.

Worse yet, management may believe that the company’s employees are fully motivated, productive, and eager to take the next hill.

Things aren’t always as they appear. A false sense of achievement can erode the foundation of an organization, and can eventually bring it down. An honest and candid assessment is a good start, but should be followed by high-value leadership development, employee training, and a creative incentive program that can help put your company at the top if its game.

Let New Lantern help your company truly reach its peak performance.

Chances are your company will host a number of off-site or on-site meetings in 2010 aimed at driving corporate strategy development and execution; employee, manager, or executive training and development; or engagement with customers, partners or other individuals important to your business.

If this is the case, chances are also high that you’re not getting as much from these meetings or events as you could be. You probably continue to use the same meeting template year after year, and put it in the category, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

It may not be “broke,” but ask yourself this question: Are your investments in these activities costing you more than they are giving back?

It’s time for some fresh thinking and a new template when it comes to your important corporate events and meetings. Attendees and participants should be provoked, engaged, challenged, and inspired. They should be exposed to leaders in their fields, as well as other high-value leaders and innovators. And, they should be put into environments and frames of mind that truly promote development and innovation.

For example, how about a quarterly “innovation” or “strategy” off-site meeting for 40 of your most promising mid-level managers from across the company? Host it in an offbeat and creative setting. Build the agenda around a relevant topic for your business. Bring in one or two inspiring thought leaders. Create some break-out group competition to drive meaningful meeting takeaways. Spotlight the best ideas. Top it off with an imaginative social component.

Create buzz around these events within your company so that other employees will want to attend future off-sites. This alone will give rise to higher personal performance, not to mention the idea generation that comes from the events themselves.

This is only one example. There’s many more where this came from. Let New Lantern help you get the most out of your corporate meetings and events in 2010.

Labor Day was first celebrated in 1882 as a day set aside to commemorate the “social and economic achievement of the American worker,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Labor Day has since come to represent the end of summer, the beginning of football season, and one of the last opportunities to get in those picnics, barbecues, and backyard family gatherings before the chill of autumn sets in across many parts of the country.

This year, Labor Day for your company should serve as a reminder to re-invest in your employees. Your employees are your company’s single most valuable asset. You already invest heavily in your employees through wages and benefits, but are you truly getting a solid return on that investment? Most likely you are not, and you have no one to blame but yourself.

Treat your employees like a valuable resource, and you will in turn reap the benefits. Nurture their talents, encourage risk-taking, and incent creativity and innovation.

In the article “Where Headhunters Fear to Tread,” this week’s Business Week examines factors that are contributing to an erosion in management talent at some of the country’s top companies. The article notes that “red-flag cultures are those that suffer from bureaucracy, narrow skill-building, risk aversion, or boy’s club aggression.”

Developing talent within your organization does not happen overnight. It takes persistence, a sustained dose of right-brain stimulus, and a senior management team who is willing to provide a culture where talent and creativity can take root and thrive.

Let New Lantern help your company mine and grow the talents of your employees through creative leadership training, performance-based compensation and incentive programs, and other inventive business innovation methods.

The pay-off for your company could be the next hot product or service offering – which would indeed be cause to celebrate the fruits of your company’s labor.

Ursula Burns

Three cheers for Xerox and its Board of Directors. On July 1, Xerox President Ursula Burns will take over as the company’s CEO replacing Anne Mulcahy, who will become chairman. This action is monumental on a number of levels, and it provides a teaching moment for many corporate boards, executives and managers.

First, Burns becomes the first African American woman to run a large global company, with sales of nearly $18 billion last year. Second, it represents the first time that a woman CEO is being replaced by another woman CEO at a large company. Third, this action is the result of a corporate culture at Xerox that has for decades promoted the notion of giving every employee—regardless of race or gender–an opportunity to succeed. It is this trait in particular that other companies should truly seek to copy.

Ursula Burns was named CEO because she earned it. And most importantly, she was given the chance to earn it over the course of her 29-year career at Xerox. Working her way up the ranks as a mechanical engineer, she was afforded opportunities to succeed–and fail–as she took on greater management responsibilities.

Companies far too often identify a relatively small subset of employees to groom for possible advancement. These employees usually get exclusive and subtle opportunities to advance (e.g., face-time with the boss at sporting events or golf outings), and some not-so-subtle (e.g., accolades and promotions).

In some cases, these employees are identified because they are a more comfortable facsimile of their managers. As this week’s Business Week’s cover story (June 8th) points out, less than 16 percent of corporate officers are women among Fortune 500 companies, despite representing nearly 60% of the workforce. (Comparatively, one third of executives at Xerox are women, and 22 percent are minorities).

Men promoting men are not always to blame. Ironically, women already on the corporate ladder are sometimes hesitant to reach back to help another woman grab the next rung. I have witnessed this phenomenon myself, which has also been borne out in a number of studies in recent years. So outgoing Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy herself –who helped restore profitability to Xerox with a focus on innovation– deserves a lot of credit for giving Burns a chance to grow and advance within the company.

Dick Harrington, retired CEO of Thompson Corporation, and my former boss –serves on the Xerox Board of Directors and always spoke very highly of Mulcahy and Burns.

In the end, women or minorities should not be promoted simply because of their gender or race. They should be allowed to advance because they are given the same opportunities for development and growth, and succeed. Companies increase their own chances for success if they seek to mine and develop talent from every employee. Otherwise, a company and its shareholders will miss out on untapped resources — and will not reap the benefits of an Anne Mulcahy or an Ursula Burns.