EmployeeNext: Creating success and joy at work

Spencer Johnson wrote a great little book that sales managers handed out by the millions called “Who Moved my Cheese?” I was managing a team of salespeople at the time it was first published and gave a copy to all my folks and read it myself. Quick read, took about an hour. Then I conducted a sales meeting to discuss the book.

Guess how many people had read it? About 30%. Guess how many people were performing at an acceptable level? About 30%. See a correlation here? Think my top two guys read it and also had some pretty insightful things to say about it — you bet!

And the 70% who didn’t read it also tended to be the ones who never worked a little extra, often complained they weren’t making enough, and didn’t want to venture out much to actually see their customers. Avoided finding new accounts or making a few cold calls, reading trade journals, or making other investments in their skills.

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In the 24 hours since the birth of this blog, my mind has been whirling with thoughts — where to begin? There are so many topics to cover, so many mountains to climb! Perhaps then, just choose a jumping off place and jump!

I have been working in corporate structures for nearly thirty years. Despite a few opportunities for detours (lessons all), I have stayed the course and through intention, luck, and a good deal of hard work, have been blessed with a successful and rewarding career.

The ideas for EmployeeNext have come from my own experience in observing myself and others in organizations of all sizes over the years. Why are so many of us unfulfilled or frustrated by our work? Why is who we are at work often so different from who we feel we really are? How can I, as a single individual, help people in a constructive way to feel whole and at peace at work, even when they are not always satisfied with their circumstances?

If we can make the shift to being authentically ourselves at work, imagine the ripples! We’ll find ourselves improving our relationships everywhere, all the time. And not by changing others or their attitudes, but by changing the lens that is our perception.

I believe once we begin this process, the empowerment and authenticity we feel will energize us to new possibilities. We will feel in control without being controlling. Judgment will ease. Conflict can be transformed into problem solving. Anger and resentments soften, communications become more effective, and even if we ultimately fail or move on, we can feel we have succeeded.

These principles work whether we are self-employed or senior executives in large corporations. And anywhere in between! A matter a perception and attitude. A little balm of grace.

Of the many blessings in my life, one of the greatest is my friends, who often speak the Truth to me and show me my path in loving and caring ways. One of these friends, who is an inspiration to me, has helped me see that small steps can build the pathway to big audacious dreams! So I have cast my fears and doubts aside and begun this journey.

And so it is for us all — we begin to climb the mountain one step at a time, focusing on the present moment, which is where we experience our true joy.

Have you ever tried to freeze a moment in time? Stopping, breathing, and focusing, just for the instant you are in, on a cloud or another miracle of nature? Letting your eye rest there, quieting your mind, and realizing that in the instant, the moment — exactly where you are — you are totally safe, whole, complete, and free? In that instant, there is nothing wrong in your world, you are in the perfect now and perfectly who you are and who you were created to be.

Then little by little you can string these perfect pearls together — creating waves of gratitude and positive energy. Which enables the way to become clear and the flow to carry you gently, without needing you to manipulate outside circumstances in the hope of changing your inner world. Only your thoughts can change your reality, from the inside out. My work in changing my thoughts has completely changed my inner and outer worlds, absolutely for the better.

My vision for this blog is to begin a discussion of how we can improve our lives in the workplace, and by extension our workplaces themselves, by being authentically who we are at work. We can bring a spiritual awareness based on honesty, integrity, and open-mindedness to our work lives. Even if we don’t like what we do, where we do it, or who we do it with, we can be happy and fulfilled on a daily basis. We can be in the solution and walk with grace. We can honor our co-workers, even those we fear, by simply allowing them to be who they are. We can improve our communications and get our needs met.

I believe that all workplaces can be places of learning and joy, even if what we learn ultimately reveals choices which must be made that we’d rather avoid. We can be happy even when we are not happy. We can stop fighting.

As one of my favorite teachers, Dr. Wayne Dyer, to whom I owe an enormous debt of gratitude, says: “When you change the way you look at the world, the world you look at changes.”