This is the time of year when traditionally we think of new resolutions. Most of those slip through the net of spacetime but one or two go on to change lives.
In your workplace, you probably find some people easier to get along with than others. You might even think the difficult people are undermining the company in some way. Have you ever wondered what they might be thinking (and considered that the answer could be a long way off what you thought it was?)
We have a tendency to judge, for when we were young that's the way we were taught to be. Our parents had no idea what E&D stood for, or that it could be a mistake to live with a tar brush in your figurative hand. They brought us up to make judgements on class, money, what people did, what they had, who they were with, and so on. The list is endless... is it time to consign it to Room 101?
In your workplace, nothing is more important than communication... and it has to be a conduit of positive energy if it's going to benefit the company. You want engaged, motivated people - fear won't cut any mustard in terms of progressive development. Some say fear is a great motivator, but they confuse running from tigers with working to best ability every day. There's no synergy between the fear centre in the brain and long-term survival requirements. The cerebral cortex houses lots of other options, and when you're looking for sustainability you want a healthy set of hormone-induced responses to support your strategic efforts.
When someone says something to you, it runs deep, causing all kinds of motor neurone cascades that produce emotion. We can train ourselves to de-sensitise against what others say (and sometimes have to do just that) but training ourselves to fight a natural response is hard work of the kind you don't want to have to burden your staff with - they've got enough to do. Better by far to allow them to flourish with a constructive kind of energetic flow.
Your communication system may need a review, and will benefit from positive input. Talk about it, challenge your team to a communication journal - write down for a week whether conversations were negative, positive, or ambivalent and compare notes at the end. Bring a working party together to do the same from all sections of the company strata. Help positive communication to gain a foothold, and people will not go back to back-biting and resentful attitudes. Consciousness will form a concrete foundation for best-practice provided the owner of the mind can find a tangible benefit in adopting those practices. Back to nature - the survival of the fittest is just another term for who-adapts-wins. Creatures don't change their habitual spots unless there's something to gain from so doing.
Enjoy your New Year, help everyone else to enjoy theirs, and get your gears off to a flying start. May the thoughts be with you...
