A global leader in personal and professional transformation through its innovative courses and seminars.
Landmark Worldwide, originally known as Landmark Education before 2013, is an American for-profit company that offers personal-development programs, with its most well-known being the Landmark Forum. The company, which claims to focus on individuals achieving success, fulfillment, and greatness, operates on a unique model that does not involve traditional advertising. Instead, it relies heavily on its participants to recruit new clients through their networks, often during courses. This approach has led to criticisms and controversies surrounding its methods, with some accusing the organization of exerting undue pressure on its participants to recruit others.
Landmark started a business consulting subsidiary in 1993, named Landmark Education Business Development (LEBD), later renamed the Vanto Group in 2008. This subsidiary uses Landmark’s methodologies to provide consulting services to businesses and other organizations, leveraging the same principles taught in its personal development programs.
The organization has faced accusations of being a cult. However, several commentators argue that it does not meet many traditional characteristics of a cult, mainly because it is a secular organization without a single central leader and because its programs aim to unite participants with their families and friends rather than isolating them. Despite this, Landmark has been known to aggressively protect its reputation through legal action against critics who label it as such.
Landmark’s courses, particularly the Landmark Forum, are attended by individuals from various sectors, including large companies and government agencies that pay for their employees to participate. The Landmark Forum is structured as a three-day course plus an evening session, designed to prompt personal insights and breakthroughs through dialogue and exercises that encourage participants to examine their lives and behaviors. The organization claims these courses lead to profound, positive changes in participants’ lives, a claim supported by testimonials and some independent research. However, the methods and high-pressure environment of the courses have also been criticized.
Landmark’s global presence is significant, with programs offered in over 125 cities worldwide through its numerous offices. It is a for-profit entity wholly owned by its employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), emphasizing that its success and methodologies have made it a leader and innovator in the field of personal and professional development.
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