If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The Coffee House & CEO’s
After our son’s song and dance performance this afternoon we decided to stop by a local coffee house for a treat. While we waited for our order, my husband sat down near the fireplace, picked up a magazine and started to read an article about The Boeing Company’s new CEO. The article mentioned in great detail the new Boeing front man’s salary and benefits package and as we talked about the article I wondered at the wisdom of a mentality that values a small group of individuals over the contribution of the workers as a whole. To me, this is as ridiculous a thing as saying only my right arm accomplishes anything (because it is most practiced at leading)…when in fact, it could do nothing at all without the rest of my body.
Collective Beliefs
The Boeing Company is afflicted with what I call Fortune 500 Collective Consciousness. They believe that the only way to get someone to do the job is to offer an absurd amount of money for the position. Why? Well, because that is how you get a Fortune 500 CEO…but it never occurs to them to ask the deeper question of why they would want another Fortune 500 CEO who will go about the self-destructive task of trying to create out of them an Über 500 to reign supreme in the aircraft industry? True creativity can not flourish in this mindset…drained of vital energy, the all consuming goals of profit and size can produce nothing but mediocrity. What about the overall health of the organization…what if we were more concerned about quality than profits…how might our businesses look from that place?
Change or Exchange?
If you buy into the collective idea of this is what you have to do to keep up with the competition you will never ask the important questions…it will never occur to you that there might be an alternative to keeping up…like reaching altogether higher. Same attracts same…isn’t the point of business to grow and to change? How do you then define growth…through numbers or through happiness, quality of life and contribution?
From what I understand same for The Boeing Company hasn’t been all that great and is a big part of why they made the change…but have they really made a change or is it an exchange? Unless they create a new consciousness within their organization it is merely an exchange.
Looking at the Whole
I can see this way of doing business going by the wayside as companies learn to value each individual in a way that supports the whole structure…not just those at the top of it. An organization is a lot like an organism…if only one of the systems within it are thriving…if only one system is getting what it needs to be productive and well balanced then that part of the structure will remain healthy while the other parts begin a decline that will threaten the existence of the entire organization. The truth is it takes a lot more than just one healthy system to have a healthy organism and it is the same with business. When a company fails to meet the needs of the individuals that make up the functionality of the whole…the optimum state of this business’ health and well being will never be recognized, achieved or realized…too many important resources will be going to feed just one small area while the rest limps along in a state of imbalance.
Dare to be Different
There are some companies who are trying a different method. They recognize that paying attention to the health and well being of all the individual contributors really pays off. They create an atmosphere in which their employees have everything they need to be ready to work by providing easy to access, high quality outlets for their physical, mental and spiritual well being…by recognizing the needs of the humans behind the work they infuse their businesses with healthy, creative energy…transforming the overall impact of the company to something that is beneficial to those whose lives it touches. While most companies would not even consider offering these services, these newly aware companies are seeing that the benefits far outweigh the costs. They are attracting the cream of the crop in droves and in the process, are leaving any competition they may have had in the dust. From the top of their organizations to the very bottom they have enthusiastic, healthy employees who are happy to be there and are ready to contribute their formidable skills each and every day.
Visionary Developments
The new consciousness in business is the one that places people ahead of profits. For an example of how this consciousness is shaping the workplace, take a look at the newly unveiled plans that Steve Pavlina has for his growing company Pavlina. As people awaken they are taking their businesses with them…given the choice…where would you rather work?
