Years ago, I started my company years based on the belief that art and business don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

In a world focused on finding definition through division, I believe that we find true distinction through integration.

I’ve often heard artists complain of their ill-fated financial future…and more times than I can count, executives, business people and sales professionals have approached me after a keynote or event and confessed in a whisper that they have buried their “art” — in their past, in their garage, and under the confines of corporate culture.

But I don’t think it has to be this way. It doesn’t have to be a “zero/sum, either/or” approach.

Executives, managers, entrepreneurs, health care professionals, government leaders, students, technology specialists, engineers, advisers, teachers, lawyers and sales professionals who tap into innate creative “outside” talents and apply them at work become legendary leaders, presenters, and communicators.

No doubt, it is terrifying to discover in yourself and in your company elements that don’t fit into a pattern of what you see in the outside world.

But this is where your greatest potential lies.

Landmark success doesn’t come from running with the pack and from shaving off parts of who you are to fit into a mold. Success results from taking risks – and risk requires exploration, creativity and the courage to trust that the combination of talents with which you are gifted can produce extraordinary results.

This is the foundation of innovation. This is the foundation of great works of art and great businesses. This is the foundation of The Prism Effect™.