A perfect business
Business relationships, like all relationships, are journeys of discovery.
A start of a relationship can be full of hope and excitement. We embark on journeys together and if we're open to it, we can grow in understanding - an understanding of ourselves and each other. We humans are part of one fabric, we effect each other…
They say that many successful businesses have started with three people in a pub…. While having a couple of beers, sparks of inspiration fly, people make plans and when the chemistry is great, magic can happen. A good time for all can be had and hopefully lots of money is made, but only if everybody shows up for work the next day… and the next and the next….
Quite a few ingredients to make a successful recipe. I’m a musician and I have found that music is a bit like that too. You have to show up and practice your instrument otherwise you will sound like a kid with garageband. But when you create music you also need a spark of inspiration, that undefinable whiff of stardust from the sky to give your music sheen and sparkle. You can be open to receive these gifts, but you can't demand life to give them to you.
Inspiration, hard work and luck, if they are happening to your business you make a bucket of money, enjoy it, but don't stop there…
Have a heart
What do you do when your business has become established and is ticking over beautifully like a finely-tuned engine? Do you keep your business the way it is because you ‘should not change a winning team'? And then, when you turn 65, will you join the ‘grey-world-cruise-brigade’? Or is business a bit like music - a path that you start but that never ends, because there are always new horizons to explore and new lessons to learn.
Have the heart to make you business an exceptional business. Revisit your mission statement, set higher goals without losing sight of the fundamentals.
Here's an idea to get you started: Appoint a person who's job it is to do nothing… yes, ‘nothing’….
His or her job description is so open, so non-defined, so unspecific that you feel to apply for it yourself… The only humble request that would be made of that person is for him or her to spread love, awareness, compassion and kindness throughout the company, to have the well-being of her co-workers as her highest priority and to set an example.
Why would you do such a thing? I have never come across a company that has tried this, it is an untested theory, but think of the effects such a person will have on the people of your company. How long will they remain envious of a person who's job it is to do 'nothing', but who showers them with genuine love and kindness, who attempts to raise their awareness and who is able to listen without prejudice? A person who’s job it is to deeply listen…
Obviously, winning the respect of his colleagues will be one of this person's tasks. He will show everybody that it is the way that you do your work, that counts, more than what you do. This person will have a deep understanding of what goes on in your company, because you can not have compassion towards people if you don't know what they are up against.
The right person for this job will create a ripple effect of well-being, effecting every aspect of your business. Helping to make your business the place to be, because working at your company will be nourishing on many more levels than working anywhere else.
As you can gather, the selection process to find such a person will not be an easy one. His job sounds like the easiest job in the world, but it is not – there are very few people who have the skill to create a loving, compassionate atmosphere around themselves and inspire others to do the same.
This person will be very busy, because there will be many aesthetic changes that he would like to make, to the spaces where people work, how people interact on every level. This person would have full access to every business meeting that happens in your company and would always be able to voice his opinion without fear of repercussions. 'Fear of repercussions' would simply not be in this person's vocabulary. He would be the wild card, the fool, the wise and benevolent joker.
Is this a crazy idea? Maybe not if you would see your company as a court of a king in ancient times. The jester was part of the court, he played an important role. In his purest form the jester was a wise person, the wisest around, who would remind people how fleeting life is - to not get entangled in trivia, to see the big picture and to laugh at oneself.
Or you could see your business as an Italian, family owned, winery where the grandparents, the father, the mother, the sons and daughters are all working together. The grandfather might be so old that he can only give blessings, but these blessings are important, they give the younger ones a sense of belonging, of place and history. The grandfather will understand that life is a constant flux, always changing - he will welcome the innovations that his son will initiate, because he knows that his time of wielding the sword of power has gone, that now his role is of emanating wisdom and giving inspiration.
People like that are important to give your business a heart.
Being there
Will the journey end there? No, there's more. There's greater responsibilities to be taken and they will become apparent the more successful and wealthy you become. If you're ready to listen, your wealth will give you a sense of these responsibilities. Without wealth you have limited 'ability to respond', but with wealth you have a bigger sword to wield. Use your power well.
Don't let money and business success lull you to sleep, stay at the job and show up for work. Your business is there to transform you into higher realms of awareness, if it is not doing that, it is not yet a perfect business and there is still more work to be done. Serve your customers and in doing so you will serve yourself. Then the words ‘selfish’ and ‘selfless’ take on the same meaning, then you will make the world around you a little more beautiful, before it is time to leave…
