Wednesday 24 March 2010

Business as a spiritual journey

Like so many before me, I thought spiritual journeys happened outside the 'real world of work'. It took many people and even more years for me to finally realise one fundamental truth: life is a spiritual journey. There is not one single element of that journey that is 'outside' that journey.

Over the past few years, we've noticed a significant change in the undercurrent in different workplaces. Many people are no longer looking to exchange labour for money, to 'work'.They are searching for businesses that see themselves as communities who are working creatively together, who have a shared goal, who are interested in the process of creation, and not just the results and the outcomes.

We spend most of our waking adult lives at work. It is one area of life where we are actively asked to use and apply our skills, out talents, and our gifts. At work we are given the opportunity to give of our best, to be of service to others, and to develop communities that care for and support eachother. But too often, we feel limited by the 'mask' we have to wear at work, the need for professionalism sometimes wipes out the softer side of humanity.

We are noticing the beginning of a transition, a shift towards greater balance... where the head is balanced with the heart, where rationality is balanced with compassion, where analysis is balanced with creativity, and where professionalism is balanced with humanity.

New and exciting spaces open up, sometimes briefly, allowing us to step into our best selves, to show more of who we are... to embrace our talents and use them, to share our creative insights, to go beyond arms-length relationships and really get to know our colleagues.

For those who have set up their own businesses, these are even more exciting times. The older business models are creaking at the seams, as new ideas are bursting through. The potential to create businesses that satisfy and nurture employees as a community, to organise tasks around peoples' innate talents, to experiment with new ideas and ways of working has never been greater. Nor have the rewards for those who dare to dream... and then to do.

If you can dream it, you can do it.  Walt Disney

No comments:

Post a Comment