Bergman was one of the most accomplished and recognizable actors of the 20th century. Winner of three Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, two Emmys, and a Tony Award, Bergman is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.

She is best known for her role as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca (1942), in which she starred alongside Humphrey Bogart. It was in that iconic movie that Bogart uttered one of the most famous lines in cinema to Bergman, “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

Bergman’s movie career spanned six decades from 1939 to 1982. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Gaslight in 1945, Anastasia in 1957, and A Woman Called Golda in 1982. She was nominated for an Academy Award in For Whom the Bell Tolls in 1944, The Bells of St. Mary’s in 1946, Joan of Arc in 1949, and Autumn Sonata in 1979. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1975 for Murder on the Orient Express.

Ingrid Bergman was born in Stockholm in 1915 to her Swedish father, Justus Berman, and to her German mother, Friedel Berman. Her mother died when Ingrid was three. Her father, who was an artist and photographer, died when she was 13. She went on to live with two different aunts, and later studied at Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theatre School, where actress Greta Garbo had studied years before.

During the 1930s, Bergman starred in more than a dozen films in Sweden and one in Germany. Unable to speak English, she was brought to Los Angeles by Hollywood producer David Selznick in May 1939 to appear in Intermezzo: A Love Story. She fully expected to return to Sweden after the film, but the American public quickly accepted her as one of its most promising stars.

Biographer Donald Spoto described Bergman as “arguably the most international star in the history of entertainment.” She successfully acted in five languages and won top awards for her work on stage, screen, and television. Director George Cukor once said to Bergman, “The camera loves your beauty, your acting, and your individuality. A star must have individuality. It makes you a great star.”

Today, global appeal and individuality also are key to success in business. Identify what makes your product or service unique, and talk about it in a language that a customer can understand.

Like it did for Bergman, it will likely make your company a great star.

When the Eagles released the song Hotel California as a single in February 1977 (from the album by the same name), the band had already released four other albums, and had enjoyed numerous weeks at the top of the charts during the mid-1970’s. Yet, it was Hotel California that helped solidify the Eagles’ place in rock and roll history.

In 1977, Hotel California spent eight weeks as the number one album in America, and landed the Eagles two Grammys. Since its release, over 16 million copies of the album have been sold. Rolling Stone magazine ranks Hotel California at #37 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The song still resonates in my head today as freshly as it did in 1977, and why is that? It is timeless, memorable, and generally appealing to a wide and diverse audience.

Are there corporate equivalents to Hotel California? Maybe so. Kleenex, Gatorade, and Harley Davidson come to mind.

Good marketing, strong product performance, and dogged customer focus keep great products and brands at the top of the charts year after year.

One-hit wonders and flashy products come and go each year, but the truly deserving survive.

If your company gives considerable attention to these important fundamentals, the sweet smell of success will follow. Or is that the smell of colitas?

Nothing says “spring” to me like the fresh blooms of the Forsythia shrub. Its small, yellow starbursts of flowers are among the first signs of color in mid-March in many parts of the United States. And given the recent cold, harsh winter, this year’s Forsythia blooms are a feast for the eyes indeed.

Forsythia is both the genus and the common name for this spring-flowering shrub. There are 11 species of Forsythia, which are also native to Asia and Europe. It is named after the Scottish botanist, William Forsyth.

For the remaining 50 weeks of the year, Forsythia shrubs are frankly unremarkable and tend to blend into the neighborhoods and parks where they commonly are found. Yet, come March, when the temperature and conditions are just right, this genus of shrub magically transforms itself overnight.

Plants like the Forsythia serve an important purpose. They indicate that a change for the better is at hand. They lift the mood and spirit. And they remind us that every plant or person has a valuable role to play if put in the right conditions, nurtured appropriately, and situated for the greatest benefit.

Look for the exceptional in what may otherwise appear unexceptional. Actively cultivate Forsythias and a wide variety of other flora within your organization. By doing so, you can turn a run-of-the-mill roadside nursery into a sustainable and highly productive garden.

As business executives across the globe seek to chart an improved course in the wake of this past year’s economic meltdown, I call your attention to a new book on leadership that may serve as a helpful guidepost — Love Leadership: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass).

Love Leadership is written by John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, America’s first nonprofit social investment banking organization. The book debuted at #8 on the “CEO Reads Top 10 Best Seller List,” and has been featured in Business Week and the Washington Post.

At the age of 26 in 1992, Bryant started Operation HOPE in Los Angeles in response to the LA riots based on the premise that his community needed a “hand-up not a hand-out.” Operation HOPE seeks to “eradicate poverty in our lifetime” through financial literacy education of inner-city and under-served children and adults.

Bryant himself grew up in Compton and South Central Los Angeles, CA and was homeless for six months at the age of 18. It is this humble background that Bryant has drawn upon to make him one of the most charismatic and successful philanthropic-business leaders of our time.

Bryant has advised the last three Presidents on the importance of financial literacy as one of the most effective tools to address poverty. Bryant is a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum, where he spoke at WEF’s closing session in Davos, Switzerland in February 2009. Operation HOPE’s major partners include a Who’s Who of global corporations, such as: Wells Fargo, Toyota, Microsoft, E-Trade, ING, and Citigroup.

David Gergen, former senior White House advisor to four Presidents and now Director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, describes Bryant this way: “I have watched John Hope Bryant dazzle audiences from Harvard to the World Economic Forum. Now he pours his compassion and charisma into the pages of this book, delivering a powerful message about rediscovering our humanity.”

According to Don McGrath, Chairman of Bancwest Corporation: “In this book, he (Bryant) gives us a recipe for personal success driven by a simple notion: treating others with respect and dignity creates true long-term success. This message and his strategies for living it couldn’t be more timely as we address the failures of leadership that created today’s financial crisis.”

In Love Leadership, Bryant lays out his “Five Laws of Love-Based Leadership” — Loss Creates Leaders, Fear Fails, Love Makes Money, Vulnerability is Power, and Giving is Getting. As he puts it, “Leaders give, followers take. Giving inspires loyalty, attracts good people, confers peace of mind, and lies at the core of true wealth.”

Business leaders who understand and deploy these principles are most likely to succeed. Leadership based on fear is a short-term tactic that produces unreliable results, and can serve to damage the organization over time. Conversely, employees who are appreciated and respected will perform at a higher level under all conditions over the near- and long-terms.

Leaders who embrace the principles of caring and respect, will indeed love the results.

John Hope Bryant

Consider the employee or manager who tries hard to emulate the boss as a means to move up the ladder. Dressing in similar clothes, speaking in a similar style, and demonstrating some of the same interests. Sound familiar? Yet sadly enough these are indeed the managers who many times find themselves on the succession planning list.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Maybe so. But it’s also the surest way to dumb down your organization, by creating parrots who seek to echo the boss rather than generate new ideas and approaches.

Shareholders deserve better. It should start with a corporate leadership team that resists the seduction of imitative flattery. They should seek to encourage an environment that embraces diversity — of people, creative thought, and unbridled innovation in every shape and form. And the management team itself should reflect this diversity and set the example for the rest of the organization.

A baseball team made up only of left-handed pitchers will never get to the World Series. Likewise, the road to your company’s success will not be paved with how well your employees compliment the boss, but how well a diverse group of employees can complement one another.

The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) refers to itself as the “The University for Creative Careers,” and rightfully so. SCAD has more degree programs and specializations in art and design than any other university in the U.S. This year marks the 30th anniversary for SCAD, which is located in Savannah, GA, with campuses also in Atlanta, GA and Lacoste, France.

Corporations can learn from the SCAD experience. It knows that to build one of the world’s top art and design schools, you have to put students in a creative and inspiring environment. SCAD’s main campus is spread out over numerous buildings in the heart of Savannah — one of America’s most picturesque cities. Spanish moss drapes hundreds of century-old trees that line the streets and squares of Savannah. SCAD is credited with much of the revitalization of Savannah’s 2 1/2-square-mile historical district — the nation’s largest.

SCAD students also benefit from a diversity of thought, experience and perspectives. Savannah is home to scores of accomplished authors and artists. Students and faculty come from all 50 states and from over 90 countries. SCAD offers its students majors in over 40 programs, spanning the gamut of creativity and innovation, e.g., architecture, graphic design, illustration, interactive design, fashion, photography, performing arts, advertising design, and dramatic writing.

Last month, SCAD hosted a panel discussion on “Art, Design and the Cultural Moment,” which featured nationally recognized leaders in technology and innovation. The discussion focused on how “creativity can act as an economic engine…sparking entrepreneurship, growth and success.”

Learning is a life-long experience. And whether its in Savannah, Atlanta, San Francisco, New York, Denver or Cincinatti — exposing your employees to a creative environment, innovative thinking, and diversity of thought can lead to very positive results for your company’s bottom line.