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Buddha in the Board Room
Are you living life sip by sip or gulp by gulp?
The first zentrepreneurs, the founders of the specialty company, The Republic of
Tea, steeped into full flavor the Z concept of making business for positive
social change on the planet, to actualize a life in which “what you do” is one
with “who you are”. They say that “an entrepreneur creates a business, while a
zentrepreneur creates a business and a life”. The fusion of one’s personal
vision with one’s professional mission, grounded in activism and a holistic
philosophy, will hallmark the next 1,000 years. Zentrepreneursim is
surfacing across a wide spectrum of successful and purposeful businesses in
North America.
According to the authors of Icconoculture, a book about upcoming trends; “If you
think zentreprenuring is only for the disenfranchised and old hippies gone to
seed, think again. An aging Generation X will carry proudly the
do-unto-others-as-you-would-have-them-do-unto-you torch into the future.
During their college years, they short-circuit their slacker image by
volunteering enmasse to help those less fortunate. From coast to
ivy-covered coast, college students log as many as ten to twelve hours per week
tutoring, manning rape and suicide hotlines, teaching English, serving up dinner
at homeless shelters, or being buddies to the physically or mentally challenged.
The do-gooding experience coupled with the zentrepreneuristic mood of the
millennium will have far-reaching political, social, and economic implications."
In a January 2004 article in Expert Magazine, entitled “Buddha Talks Business”,
Jim Schaffer talked about what’s gone wrong with business today. Most of
us, he says, “have tried hard to be good corporate citizens. We’ve
dutifully absorbed the lessons we’ve been taught along the way, both in the
course of doing our jobs as wells as from the pages of each year’s hot business
books. The trouble is, not only is much of this wisdom just plain wrong,
it may also be preventing you from being successful and could be ruining your
health.” We have however seen a new awakening and new thinking to the way we do
business. However these cutting edge principles and ideas for the 21st
century actually stem from 2500 years ago, in the time of the Buddha.
If we simply slow down rather than speed up as we have all been programmed to
do, your mind can operate from a place of peacefulness rather than hectic
turmoil. With a quiet mind and a curious, open heart, you’ll able to act
more swiftly than your adrenaline-addicted competitors. Having to be in
control all the time isn’t just a trait as part of your astrological sign, or a
personality dysfunction inherited from one of your parents. It’s
considered one of the rules of the game. The perception is if you’re in
control, you are in the driver’s seat and you can control your destiny. Or
so we think. However to surrender, should not be confused with defeat or
failure.
Being in the flow has now been proven to be far more effective in making
business decisions. Besides, controlling is time consuming and a waste of
energy. Pay attention, observe, and act rather than react in concert with
what is already happening. Stay in the present, because that’s all there
is. The past is gone in a heartbeat, the future is entirely unknown, so
all there is NOW, and there is tremendous personal power in knowing how to use
the present moment to the fullest.
Making Decisions Zenfully
How many times have you gone ahead with a
decision in your business that you regretted? In hindsight you say I should have
trusted my gut. Your gut talking to you is really a feeling, and more
importantly something called intuition. I know researchers say women have
it more than men do, but the truth is we all have it. It’s just that men
try to think analytically rather than emotionally, so we don’t like to use it in
the business world. We have been trained at University business schools,
by books, and experts in the field to use strategy, tactics, and technique
rather than our own intuition and trust in the process.
Contrary to popular belief your business will not be easier to run by taking a
crash course on time management. There is no such thing as time
management; it really boils down to how we choose to process our lives.
You need to be aware of your own bio-rhythm. Some days are diamonds, some
days are gold. It’s perfectly natural to wake up on Monday and feel
totally rested and feeling at your peak. You approach your business that
day with enthusiasm and gusto. Not knowing that on Wednesday morning you
feel the direct opposite. It’s a simple matter of becoming aware of your
own high and low energy cycles, and working with them. Be good to yourself
and the world will take care of itself.
Take time out to literally to “smell the roses”. Make sure you celebrate on
anything you have accomplished, no matter how small. Celebrate in the
moment; don’t wait for a party or gift to arrive. Learn to savor daily
tasks and always come from an attitude of gratitude.
Be aware that your business will always run in cycles, up and down, but you
don’t have to be like an empty raft in a ten foot swell. Stop striving and
try to stay on an even keel and you’ll plateau rather than rise and fall with
every issue or challenge. Besides you are far more effective as a calm,
rational leader who is in the flow, rather than an over reactive, compulsive and
controlling CEO (Chief Emotional Officer).
The business world is moving at the speed of light to catch up with advanced
technology. It should be the reverse, but it’s not, and so there is
tremendous pressure that is forcing companies to buy into this frenzied belief
system that if they don’t stay in the cyber race or even ahead of their
competitors they’ll lose. In the new world of doing business, high touch
will replace high tech as the single most important criteria for change.
It’s already starting to happen. The GenEx generation is starting to
discover that they can’t have intimate relationships through e-mail, cell phone
conversations, text messaging, and chat rooms; they are starting to feel
alienated, disenfranchised, and missing intimacy. So they are returning to
religion, to Buddhism, to anything that will give them a connected feeling.
Clients and customers are no different. They don’t want to be put on hold
anymore and wind up in voice mail hell. They want to talk to a real person
on the line, not a digitally mastered voice. They want to talk to a live
body when their order at Amazon can’t be found. They want to talk to a
real person about their phone bill…press one. press two…press
three…doesn’t cut it anymore. Everybody wants somebody to talk to, that’s
why there will always be demand for open line radio shows.
No matter how efficient we become, human contact and relationships will drive
the business world. Make sure you connect with your clients or customers
on a personal level and “listen”. Avoid corporate jargon and confusing rhetoric
to defend your case.The old adage of the customer always being right has given
way to arrogance and rudeness. When a customer hangs up, you either have a
friend for life or a disgruntled bull loose in a china shop. Which one is
going to hurt you the most?
Make your business and your life clear of judgments. Who made you Judge
Judy anyway? Stay open and keep learning as long as possible. Don’t gossip
or hold on to judgments. Your business relationships come down to a
fundamental issue of trust and integrity. Therefore you need only ask one
question of anyone; what part of this is a lie?
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Allan Holender is the author of
the groundbreaking book, “Zentrepreneurism”- A 21st century Guide to the
New World of Business; you can purchase his book on-line at
www.zentrepreneurism.com and reach him at
allan@zentrepreneurism.com
All rights reserved. This
article may not be re-produced without the express permission of the
writer, Allan Holender at
allan@zentrepreneurism.com |
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