Enthusiasm: The Dance that Attracts Investment

Enthusiasm is an interesting concept that is often overlooked and taken for granted when we think about work, and the necessity of gaining investment at work.

Over years of coaching this concept has come up for me twice in compelling ways. The first is in a workshop I teach called "Finding Your Natural Gifts" where I use a book, LifeKeys, which in one of its sections considers the fact that enthusiasm is derived from the Greek, "en theos", and suggests the ideas that when we are enthusiastic we are in a dance with God. The second was in Paulo Coehlo’s book, The Alchemist, when Santiago, while working for the crystal merchant comes to understand, “There was a language in the world that everyone understood, a language the boy had used throughout the time that he was trying to improve things at the shop. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired.” Ever since reading this book, this quote has become a mantra for me.

Work, among many things, is a process by which we seek investment from others in order to achieve mutually desirable outcomes. Everyday my management, my team, my stakeholders and I seek investments of time, attention, money support, etc. in order to simultaneously achieve many organizational, group and personal outcomes we all have. As there are an infinite number of investment requests being made of a finite pool of investment resources, it is critical that we “show up” with every investment attracting resource we can garner, and enthusiasm is one I think we give short shrift to.

I have witnessed enthusiasm as an investment decision tie breaker many times. Being enthusiastic does not require that we break out the pom-poms and cheerleader routines but it does require that love, purpose, belief and desire, "the language of enthusiasm” is consistently evident in how we “show up”. When it is evident, people will be more interested in investing their time, attention, support, etc. in those outcomes we seek to bring into the world by way of our work.

Everything Comes To Pass ...

I first heard this interesting double entendre during a Buddhist lecture on impermanence. On further research I found it is attributable in its entirety, Everything comes to pass; nothing comes to stay, to Matthew Flickstein in his book, Journey To The Center. 

This saying always struck me funny for its 2 part meaning.  First, everything comes to pass that is meant for us, and second, everything comes to pass (away) and will not stay forever, if even a long time. I ponder this a fair amount lately as it reminds me to enjoy everything I have because one day I will lose it; it will pass away. My position, my possessions, my relationships, my health and eventually my life will all pass away and be lost to me. This is not something to fret over but to use as an impetus for cherishing everything and not taking for granted anything. 

Being human, loss is painful to me, particularly when I have lost what I worked to acquire and especially when others lose it. I am prone to anxiously fret, to take loss personally, to become conservative and overly cautious for fear of loss. Clear seeing and remembrance of this proverb reminds me that the energy of anxious fretting, taking it personally and cautious and extreme conservatism is better converted to mindful appreciation and conscious enjoyment today of everything that comes for tomorrow the same everything will pass away (and my worrying and fretting will not delay this inevitability).

I find that it is better to welcome and cherish the things that newly come to me (change) than to mourn too long over those things that pass away, whether they were pleasurable or painful. It is easier to do this if I truly cherished, savored and enjoyed what I had when I had it. If I spent the time of possession despising the responsibility of having it then I am more regretful when it passes away because I realize I had lost an opportunity. I will also add that we should not procrastinate in enjoying what has come to you because we never know how long we will have it. (See my post: Transformation of Accepting Change, for more on this).

This insight in hand (heart and mind), let’s resolve to give up the delusion that everything (or for that matter, anything) comes to stay, and instead set our energy to enjoying everything while we have it and before it is lost to us.

If I am humble ... Part II

Since writing the original "If I am humble" post on this topic of professional humility on April 20, 2008, I have mulled over this topic more, particularly in light of a few challenging work scenarios I have had in the last year, where I have had to listen non-defensively, put my egoistic view in better perspective, patiently persevere in the face of others' displeasure, and, most importantly, humble myself to be response-able to difficult, though constructive, feedback and direction regarding a new unfamiliar situation I found myself in. I realize, in retrospect, that humility saved me in this situation where extreme pride would have destroyed me. I see, on reflection, that humility offered me several advantages in this situation:

1, the ability to accept my blind-spots that were being pointed out by others,
2. the ability to admit to myself and others where I was mistaken and need of development,
3. the ability to offer compassion and forgiveness to the fallibility in myself and others, and
4. the ability to be grateful, graceful and hopeful in difficult, complex and seemingly unfair circumstances.

These advantages have allowed me to gain clarity in confusing situations, to rebuild damaged relationships, to reshape distorted perceptions and to get derailed endeavors back on track. The more I practice with this character trait of humility, I am convinced that it is a key to many seemingly insurmountable problems and barriers.

This is an invaluable insight as I face more and more seemingly insurmountable problems and barriers, for myself and other, as a function of my growth as a team member, manager, leader and coach.

Remember, if we are humble, we cannot be overcome!

The Stinkiest Manure Can Build The Strongest Plants

A year ago I moved in to a garden district of Philadelphia called Chestnut Hill that is just bustling with every kind of tree, bush, plant and flower. More than at any other time of my life I have been intimately witnessing how vegetation behaves throughout the 4 seasons of the year. This spring, while observing the generous use (and peculiar odor) of manure all around my residence, it occurred to me that this awful decomposition of nature is also one of the building blocks of the strongest and most healthy plant life.

Well, as in nature so in life because the immediate next thought for me was that in my life the strongest and healthiest aspects (plants) of my character have been born of the stinkiest, most difficult and unpleasant situations and people (manure). I did not wish for this manure in my life but it has had a fertilizing effect nonetheless, and in retrospect I am thankful for it. This retrospective has caused me to be more tolerant and even grateful for the present fresh manure in my life, which by the way is laid at my root in all seasons of the year, not just the Spring. I take this attitude because I know that with the right combination of other elements, i.e., patience, persistence, lovingkindness, etc., this manure will further strengthen the plants of my character.

Take a different look at the manure in your life today and see it as "character fertilizer", not only as the s*#t it also is.