Please

Please stop, please let these waves of violence die down.

Please, let it get better.

My heart breaks hearing about each attack, death, police misconduct, sexual assault and act that brings pain to us. To every one of us.

I'm tired of this.

For we are all connected and the pain of one, is the pain of us all.

And I know that deep in my heart, these acts are a call for help, are products of pain, injustice, systematic inequity and prejudice. But, it is a lot to absorb.

I know this is calling us to come together, to share our pain, our stories, our truth and to heal. To do the deeper work needed in times like this.

The protests are great, but beyond public anger and grief of what we don't want, there is a place for what we can do to pave a way so our children and our children's children don't have to experience this.

 Marianne Williamson tells a story:
They might come home and say, "Grandpa (or Mom), My friend today told me there used to be this thing called terrorism, and violence that we used to solve problems. I thought she was crazy. Is that true?"

And then we will smile and say, "Yeah, that used to be the case."

And we may not be physically here or in the room when this happens, but when it does, our souls will smile. 

We can be places for reconciliation, healing and love. We can do that with our families, our friends. I feel like I've reinvented my relationships so many times as I grow in awareness and move with what's true in me.

Let us call forth a greater possibility and let us be that now. We don't need to wait for anyone else to live a life based in love and truth and invite others to that. We get to do that....we are that invitation.

I will not look away from the pain in this world, I will feel the emotions that unite me to everything on this planet. Let this be for joy and healing.

Here is a Hebrew blessing I love:

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation.
They shall study war no more.

Transliteration: 
Lo yi-sa goi_ el goi che-rev
Lo yil-m'-du_ od mil_-cha-ma
Lo yil-m'-du_ od mil_cha-ma
Lo yi-sa goi che-rev. 

Real purpose of business

The real purpose of business is to make people's live's better, to do something together we couldn't do alone and to express who we really are.

I think we sometimes forget that. That we are here to be something first, then do something. That our work is a statement of who we are and that "who we want to be" can be the guiding factor for our decision making.

Some people may say business is about making money, the bottom line. Yes, operating sustainably is important, however making money at the expense of enjoying this experience as a human being doesn't really work. It works in the short term for balance sheets, but in terms of how we feel at the end of each day, satisfying our potential as human beings, it falls short.

This correlates really well, because the word business-comes from the middle english word-bisig (when means our state of being). Literally, what are we being at work. How do we show up?
How do we respond?

What are we creating internally? In our body, mind, and with our emotions.

Externally we may get a lot of things done and that's important, but it isn't important if we can't enjoy the process.

I'm talking about working from a state of being, not to get to one.

eg. I'm stressed and I won't feel better until I get 3 more clients.

So the whole time you are working, you feel stressed and put more of that into the world and worry about 'being okay' until you hit your goals. Then when you get your goal, do you stop and celebrate? Rest and recharge?

I know I didn't, and I forgot to stop this week and celebrate.

It is almost as if there is this story that we believe that "I can't be okay unless I'm doing something." And if I'm not doing something, then........(insert reason to be afraid here).

What I've found is that when I work/play/live from the state of being I desire, then the whole process is enjoyable. I may not externally go where my logical thinking told me I would, but I actually feel good being alive and that's way more important to me.

Wondering if that resonates for you......

Best Self at Work

What does it mean to bring your best self to work?

To me, it means bringing the best of who I am to work. All of me.
That means the part of me that is passionate, creative, the part of me that is unsure and the part of me that is disappointed.
This is the whole me, and my best self is the part of me that I am growing to express. It is the vision I hold for who I can be and actively applying my attention to create that at work.

Sometimes there are parts of ourself we leave out of work. What it would be like if we could integrate those parts into our work as well?

I imagine this would help us feel more fulfilled at work and more creative (engaged too). If there is part of me that isn't showing up at work, that is less of me that I can devote to projects, relationships and moving things forward.

What do you think?

What does your best self mean to you?

Retaining and Attracting Talented employees

You want the best and most talented employees, you want to retain them and grow while moving your organization forward. People are everything.  

People are disengaged at work.  70% of American employees are in fact.

When people are disengaged, they leave organizations. They negatively affect company culture, they aren’t effective, it’s a clear indicator something isn’t working.

How do you flip that percentage in your company?

How do you go above and beyond to retain and attract the most talented team?

You want them to stay in your organization and thrive. To increase engagement, you get to give them something other workplaces aren’t. You give them meaning, you give them purpose, you actively tap the immense potential in them to bring their whole self to work. You create a culture based in authenticity, encouraging personal and professional growth. You have authentic and effective employees, who want to come to work, enjoy it and create lasting change in and through your organization.

Let’s talk about ways to do that. 

How to make organizations (work) more like life?

I’m wondering how we can make our work lives more like life naturally. It seems some organizations are structured around having maximum order and efficiency. This makes them more like machines, than human orientated. I feel a desire to see and participate in human-oriented organizations, ones that are organic, natural and mimic our natural way of being.

To do that, they need to operate on trust and a set of basic principles.

What would those be?

In order to do that, it would be healthy to question several of the basic assumptions of work and our economy. The organization and the individuals that make it a living entity would get to demonstrate and hold beliefs that support this way working.

1)  There is enough

2) Things naturally work themselves out

3) Each person has deep wisdom within

4)  There is something each person has to contribute

5)   Love guides decision making

6)  Focusing on what is working naturally leads to better solutions

7)  True power is shared and distributed

8) There are only opportunities 

What other tenets/beliefs would you add to this list?