Editing Werner Erhard (section)

== Impact ==
Erhard's programs have been said to have influenced millions of people's lives.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Block |first=Peter |title=Community: The Structure of Belonging |date=2018 |publisher=Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-5230-9556-8 |edition=2nd |location=Oakland |quote=For over 30 years, Werner Erhard has created thinking and learning experiences that have affected millions of people's lives.}}</ref> He has been noted for his impact on broader cultural ideas<ref>{{Cite news |last=Haldeman |first=Peter |date=2015-11-28 |title=The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/fashion/the-return-of-werner-erhard-father-of-self-help.html |access-date=2025-03-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=In fact, Mr. Erhard casts a fairly long shadow in the culture at large.}}</ref> and for introducing the modern concept of "transformation".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Orlitzky |first=Marc |title=Integrity in Business and Management |last2=Monga |first2=Manjit |date=December 6, 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0367870782 |pages=xiii |quote=Werner H. Erhard is a critical thinker who has influenced the academic community worldwide with his revolutionary ideas first expressed in The est Training.  He introduced the 20th-Century notion of transformation and has had an enormous impact as a thought leader and humanitarian.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thornburgh |first=Nathan |date=March 7, 2011 |title=“Change We Can (Almost) Believe In” |url=https://time.com/archive/6595354/change-we-can-almost-believe-in/ |journal=Time Magazine |quote=The American obsession with Transformation isn’t new. It’s about as old as the nation. In the 19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson preached about tapping into the “infinitude of man.” Norman Vincent Peale was an early bestselling self-help author with The Power of Positive Thinking in 1952. But it was Werner Erhard who created the first modern transformation when he founded est seminars in 1971.}}</ref> Erhard is credited with coining or popularizing terms such as "taking a stand" and "making a difference".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kotler |first=Steven |title=Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work |last2=Wheal |first2=Jamie |date=2017 |publisher=Dey Street Books |others= |isbn=978-0-06-242966-7 |edition=1st |location= |quote=If you’ve ever hired a personal or executive coach (professions that didn’t exist before the 1970’s), heard some say they “just needed space,” been encouraged to “take a stand,” or “make a difference,” or engaged in a journey of “transformation” around your “personal story” – you’ve come across terms coined or popularized by Erhard and his trainings.}}</ref>

Erhard's teaching methods have been characterized as engaging participants in strong and compassionate ways.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Block |first=Peter |title=Community: the structure of belonging |date=2018 |publisher=Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc. a BK Business book |isbn=978-1-5230-9556-8 |edition=Second Edition Revised and Updated |location=Oakland |quote=Werner has developed programs that have touched millions of lives... I have learned from Werner what it looks like to be totally focused on reducing suffering and making a difference in people's lives.  His personal generosity and willingness to engage people in strong and compassionate ways is another form that his teaching takes.  His thinking has impacted every aspect of my practice and way of being.}}</ref> Participants in his est training, a two-weekend seminar, reported experiencing significant personal changes that they perceived as valuable to their lives.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sobel |first=Eliezer |date=October 25, 2011 |title=40th Anniversary of the "est" Training |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-99th-monkey/201110/40th-anniversary-the-est-training |journal=Psychology Today |quote=But there are also far more people in the world, by a long shot, who are among the million or so participants that attended Erhard's training who were thrilled by the results they received.}}</ref> Sixteen independent studies documented high rates of satisfaction among attendees of his seminars.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wakefield |first=Dan |title=Spiritually Incorrect: Finding God in All the Wrong Places |date=October 1, 2003 |publisher=SkyLight Paths |isbn=978-1893361881 |quote=Yet over the past 22 years more than a million people around the globe – including business executives, NASA officials, juvenile delinquents, government bureaucrats, federal prisoners, and mainstream religious leaders – have done Erhard’s seminars, and 16 independent studies have reported a high rate of satisfaction.}}</ref>

Organizations such as [[Microsoft]] and [[NASA]] used some of Erhard's later teachings in personal development programs designed to "optimize human capital".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kotler |first=Steven |title=Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work |last2=Wheal |first2=Jamie |date=May 8, 2018 |publisher=Dey Street Books |others= |isbn=978-0-06-242966-7 |edition=1st |location= |quote=While est itself made an impact, with almost one million people going through those original seminars, Landmark, the latest incarnation of Erhard teachings, boasts corporate clients including Microsoft, NASA, Reebok, and Lululemon.  Personal development, which only a few decades ago had been mocked and marginalized, has become a credible way to “optimize human capital” at some of the country’s most successful organizations.}}</ref> Management training programs and self-help books have also referenced his work.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-04-27 |title=Lunch with the FT: Werner Erhard |url=https://www.ft.com/content/feb214a8-8f88-11e1-98b1-00144feab49a |access-date=2025-03-08 |work=Financial Times |quote=Erhard’s influence extends far beyond the couple of million people who have done his courses: there is hardly a self-help book or a management training programme that does not borrow some of his principles.}}</ref>

Erhard has been described as an influential figure in the field of coaching.<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Connor |first=Joseph |title=How Coaching Works: The Essential Guide to the History and Practice of Effective Coaching |date=2009 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |others=Andrea Lages |isbn=978-0-7136-8261-8 |location=London |quote=Werner Erhard has been described as the second most important influencer of coaching of all time.}}</ref> Many pioneers in coaching during the 1970s are reported to have participated in his programs or to have known him personally.<ref>{{Cite book |last=English |first=Susan |title=Professional Coaching: Principles and Practice |date=2018 |publisher=Springer Publishing Company |others=Janice Manzi Sabatine, Philip Brownell |isbn=978-0-8261-8008-7 |edition=1st |location=New York |quote=Many key pioneers in coaching participated in Erhard's programs and/or were his friends.  For example, Tim Gallwey (The Inner Game of Coaching) coached Werner Erhard in tennis.  Ken Blanchard (The One Minute Manager) and Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline) were personal friends, and Warren Bennis (leadership guru and author of On Becoming a Leader) took est in 1979 in London and advised Erhard in the 1980s.  Sir John Whitmore (Coaching for Performance, 1992) brought Erhard to the United Kingdom in May 1974.}}</ref>