Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Compassion@Work: Collaboration

Compassion is one benchmark of a robust, productive workplace.  To create a culture of compassion, leaders don’t go into the workplace one morning and mandate that it will be a place of compassion.  In order to foster this environment, collaboration becomes the way of business as usual.  When a workplace fosters collaboration, engaging and helpful coworkers build a community of compassion in overt and subtle ways.

Perhaps as a major deadline looms closer and closer, tempers shorten and tension grows.  There is a palatable feeling of discomfort among coworkers.  Those who aren’t directly responsible for meeting the deadline feel the stress.  They may discover their ability to accomplish even simple tasks diminished. 

In that moment they have a choice.  They can ignore the mounting tension and withdraw into their own work assignments or they can choose to help.  Even if they choose to withdraw, their output may be mediocre since the stress level in the office is heightened.  In a collaborative work environment, the other choice is made.

With awareness, coworkers may ask what they can do that will reduce the tension.  What they do may directly indirectly impact the completion of the project.  Maybe they show up with coffee or offer to answer the phone.  Providing support in ways that are not directly related to the project allows others to totally focus on the deadline.  This kind of support is also non-tangible emotion support.

When possible a coworker may be able to actually help with the project.  Another set of eyes to proofread, making copies, or listening for inconsistencies are ways to provide support.   While other staff members are not integral to the project completion, their support can be immeasurable to the mental and emotional well being of the project’ team.

During times of high stress lending a hand sows the seeds of cooperation.  While all staff has specific responsibilities, most position descriptions have a line “tasks as assigned.”  In a compassionate work environment, those “assigned tasks” might be offering to help.  When I worked at a retreat center, several times a year national conferences were held.  Even though I was the marketing coordinating, I would find myself stuffing folders before the event and bussing tables during meals.  Not only was I able to provide needed support, but, after the event, the staff reached a higher level of support and camaraderie.

This willingness to help a coworker or a team of coworkers strengthens the foundation of the work community.  Although team building occurs, often without thought, in those day-to-day moments of helping, more structured teambuilding activities create and strengthen the collective consciousness.  Within the collective consciousness we share beliefs, ideas, and values.  We see others as a part of the group not as a part from the group.

Celebrating special occasions like birthday and promotions shift relationships into a deeper connection.  Holding retreats in which members get to know one another as individuals and as members of a team increases an awareness of the individuals who work together.  Using tools like personality inventories coworkers learn about one another’s work and communication styles.  Understanding and respect for differences is gained.

Respect of differences is a key to compassionate response.  This fuels our ability to work with others regardless of our perceived, and their perceived, quirks.  With each moment of cooperation, team building, and lending a helping hand, a collaborative environment is sustained.  The shift from seeing another as a cog, a replaceable part of a machine, to real person occurs. 

We become part of a flourishing work environment.  No longer can a coworker ignore the stress of another when coworkers because real, living beings.  Each act of collaboration is an act of compassion.


Vanessa F. Hurst is a community builder who works with organizations to identify compassion aspects of their culture and to create a collaborative environment.  She consults with organizations to strengthen relationships with current stakeholders and invites new stakeholders to the community.   


Learn more: www.intentandaction.com §  hurst.vanessa@gmail.com  § www.facebook.com/intentandaction 
 

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

What Hooks Us


As I sat in a meeting, I chuckled.  Not at anyone in the meeting, but laughing at being grabbed by an old pattern.   I was caught in the tangled web of shenpa.   Being away from the trigger was not enough to prevent myself from being hooked.  Unfortunately I had not addressed the underlying reasons for the reaction.  The sticky residue of reaction clung to me link those tangled tendrils of web. 

Shenpa is a Buddhist term for being hooked by thoughts, actions, and words in ways that cause us to shut down.  Often we are hooked in moments of distraction.  In other moments we are aware of shenpa but be unable to resist its powerful hook.  I was very aware of shenpa during the meeting.  I felt my heart rate revving and my angst rising.  Focusing on my breath, my reactions were diminished but not eradicated.  I could not extricate myself from the powerful web of shenpa.

How easy it is for us to get hooked by a word, a person, or a situation.  Instead of slipping into silence, shifting left, turning a couple of degrees, and sliding through a hole in the web, we meet the weave head on.  We may know that we know better, but feel powerless to stop being hooked.  The result is entanglement.  During the meeting, I became entangled in those sticky tendrils even though my objective observer was loudly counseling caution.

So, I chose my only recourse.  No, I did not leave the meeting; I remained.  Instead of beating myself up, I gently and lovingly poured compassion upon myself.  Although I was in turmoil, I managed to lessen the outward impact.  I felt the hook and minimized its havoc wreaking power. 

After the meeting in the quiet of my office, I engaged in full body listening.  Using all of my senses I found the residue left by the web of shenpa.  Intentionally, through a variety of practices, I released the hooks in my body, mind, spirit, and heart.  Some practices to consider

·      Focusing on your breath — inhaling compassion, exhaling shenpa’s residue
·      A brisk walk — allowing the breeze to blow away shenpa
·      Journaling — releasing thoughts and emotions powered by shenpa onto paper

Take time to name what hooks, decompress, and regain peace.  Once peace is regained, create a place of awareness where shenpa is embraced.  In this place, reframe reactions to it into compassionate response. 

Practicing not to be perfect but to be perfectly aware of what hooks,

Vanessa

Vanessa is an Intuitive, Community Builder, and Compassionista, and Author of Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action

More from Vanessa & Community Building: www.intentandaction.com


Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Compassion@Work: Leadership


The leader lives within four core relationships — with the self, the sacred, others, and all of creation.  (Note: although sacred might be represented by a deity, this is not the intent of this article.  The sacred is manifest in those things we hold in deep reverence or what we find extraordinary in our lives.)

Relationship with self — Within this relationship, the leader truly knows who s/he is.  Through reflection and introspection, they seek to understand how judgments and beliefs inform words and actions.  This information forms the foundation of authentic interactions.  All other core relationships flow from the authenticity or illusion created through the relationship with self.

Relationship with sacred —  When a leader knows who they are at their center, naming what is held in great reverence is easier.  In fact, with growing awareness, they are able to name the ongoing evolution of the sacred in their life.  The leader might also question how the sacred is present in the people with whom they collaborate and in the culture of the organization.

Relationship with others —  Knowing the self and identifying the sacred creates the foundations of strong relationships with others.  Awareness of the first two relationships provides the tools to navigate through the uncharted waters of connecting with coworkers.  The leader uses awareness to identify potential reactionary triggers and choose to respond with compassion.  This way of responding provides a subtle model for coworkers.

Relationship with creation —  Encompassing both the natural world and human creation, a leader acts with stewardship when in relationship with creation.  They use resources consciously and appropriately when responding to the sacred inherent in the work environment.  In this relationship, the leader may co-create in ways that lessen an organization’s impact on the earth and co-innovate in ways that repair the world.

All have the potential to be a compassionate, contemplative, servant leader.  Each time we strengthen these core relationships, we are leading.  When operating from these four relationships, we create and sustain safe work environment is created in which all workers are encouraged to act from their authentic selves.  All are invited to be leaders.  The culture of the organization strengthens within a mindful, compassionate framework.

Leading by Example,

Vanessa 


Vanessa F. Hurst is a Community Builder who consults with organizations to strengthen stakeholder relationships and improve organizational culture.   Her program “Listen with Intent, Respond with Compassion” creates a rich, dynamic space where trust increases and understanding occurs.  Through this experiential training, participants discover what prevents them from listening objectively and with an open mind.