Gentleness as the New Key Performance Indicator in Business
Monday morning… you feel heavy, exhausted, foggy, unsettled not knowing where your creativity, energy, motivation will come from. The weight of your to do list is debilitating. The grief, the panic, criticism sets in; If I don’t push through this then I will fall behind, I will miss something important, I won’t be successful or valued, I won’t be good enough.
Low motivation and creativity as an entrepreneur can be one of the most challenging aspects of being a business owner. We’ve all been there. This was exactly me this morning, upon waking I could feel the resistance to accept how I was feeling and surrender to rest. The idea of honouring the need for rest led to judgement and the desire to ignore the way I was feeling. I have responsibilities and people that are depending on me today and I need to show up for them. The weight, crushing. The fog, thick.
How did this programmed response become so debilitating and critical? What is this energy that pulls us forward without our consent? The eons of messaging from eurocentric ways of doing, capitalistic media pulling us into narratives of fear - if we don’t push we won’t make it to the success we want.
Our culture and education systems never trained us to be in the here and now. Yet, inside of all of us we know that it is time. We have heard from our mentors, other heart centered entrepreneurs, elders, spiritual guides, and lessons from nature. We know that Divine Love is the way forward. For when we are present in the moment, when we are kind to ourselves, we see the fog lift.
I too struggle to stay in the now. As I reflect in love (not fear) the evidence of my life proves that when I am connected to what is in the now happiness flourishes. I simply feel better and able to cope with what happens, or does not happen, if I remove expectations or rules from a source that is not mine. I have the freedom to just be as I’m meant to be in the here and now.
Cages or wings? Which do you prefer? Ask the birds. Fear or love, don’t say the answer. Actions speak louder than words. ~ Jonathan Larson
Gentleness as A New Key Performance Indicator
In traditional ways of doing business we have our classic key performance indicators.
Sales: number of new contacts, dollar value of new contracts, number of engaged leads in sales funnel
Financial: growth in revenue, current accounts receivable, net/ gross profit margin
Customer/ Clients: number of customers retained, client testimonials
Operations: turnover in customer relationship software, response time with questions/ concerns, team satisfaction
Marketing: website traffic, social media ratings and follows, amount of blogs published per month
In a traditional way of doing business there is value in having measurable components of evaluating the success of your business. I find that if I solely focus on this binary value assessment it doesn’t always equate to happiness. I am almost immediately pulled into ruminating on the past or worrying about the future.
This morning, in my state of discomfort I listened to Ticht Nhat Hanh teachings on conditions of happiness. He speaks of when we are so focused on the past or future we miss all that is beautiful in the here and now. I reflect on the full embodiment of gentleness as a new business key performance indicator. For when we have a gentle response, no matter what is arising as so called “positive” or “negative” in our business we are immediately connected to the present. A wave of peace moved over me in reflection of the capacity to live our lives and operate our business from a place that feels deeply good in love and kindness. There is no reason in this lifetime to create conditions of suffering for ourselves, when it is simply not productive and we feel awful in the process. There is no reason for these eurocentric ways of business to forever take hold of our heart centered impulses to rest, nourish, and trust in the divine unfolding of abundance. There is no reason to give permission to fear any longer and let it have power over us and our businesses. We know this is the way forward. Join me in the embodiment of gentleness in business.
