19: The joy of working with heart; the inner MBA
During my dance class this week, I choreographed to Sia’s unstoppable. A fitting assignment for when my body is feeling lethargic and quite stoppable.😂 This video of me and one of my students, Nihad, was taken after class (she learned this in 45 mins). It is impossible to dance next to her and not feel her infectious joy. 💚 P.S. If we are not already friends on instagram you will need to request me to watch this video. I had my account on public for a hot minute but that was bringing in all kinds of crazys…so we are trying this for now. 🤗
Good Morning Team Joy ☀️
Happy Sunday!
The question I am thinking about this week…
What does it mean to work with heart?
I began the journey to find something “more” in my work life in January 2020. At the time, I didn’t have the language for what I wanted, all I heard from that little voice within was, “I want to work with heart.” I yearned for my work to require my whole presence, not just my brain.
When I shared this with a few colleagues, most of them gave me a kind, questioning, side eye, and said…so you want to work for a non-profit?🤷🏻♀️
I have loved being an entrepreneur since I had my first successful lemonade stand at the age of 12. I made $31. Business at its best makes me feel creative, connected, and free. I love the process of creation and the feeling that my direct actions are creating value for me and the other person. There are no “rules” and lengthy procedures like there are in government. As long as you are following the law, you can make it up. Because its not a non-profit you have full agency over how you get money and where it is spent. Business in my opinion, is the most dynamic sector,
But the traditional business communities I found myself in as an “adult” did not feel creative and connected. More than anything I became resentful of the professional armor I was encouraged to put on; don’t show vulnerability, project calm while scrambling on the inside, and sacrifice your wellbeing for the project at hand. All of this acting and armor were making meetings and collaboration feel especially dull. After a particularly boring meeting walking through a project management spreadsheet line by line over the course of an hour, I dramatically lay down on the floor (with just one other colleague in the room) and claimed, “My soul is dying.”🙃 At the end of the day there were “20 kids” in that meeting all pretending to be adults. But our humanity and inner kids were no where to be found, stuffed into boring blue and black suits.
I began working with a coach (Phyllis Rosen) for the first time in early 2020. I thought I was looking for a career change, but my work with Phyllis helped me understand that it was bigger than that; I was looking for an ability to honor and trust my own instincts. Phyllis introduced me to the Inner MBA program; a 9-month virtual program that is focused on teaching participants how to lead from within and bring their deepest values to business. The faculty is a mix of mindfulness teachers and social entrepreneurs. It was the first business community I was apart of that shared my vision for working with heart. I wouldn’t have told you I didn’t belong in my former job because that sounds to me like imposter syndrome. But I now realize, after finding it, and helping to create it at Daymaker and Team Joy, that I did not have a sense of belonging.
To graduate from the Inner MBA, we are tasked with laying out our personal vision for conscious leadership. What are the deep values I want to bring to the businesses I run, advise, or partner with?
This is what working with heart means to me…
💚 Telling the truth: If I can tell the truth about who I am, and what I want/need I can stay in alignment. When I shape shift to the rooms I am in e.g. be a different person with managers, customers, peers, and collaborators, even with the best of intentions, I lose integrity. Telling the truth, however hard, always sets me free. This includes admitting when I don’t know, having hard feedback conversations even when I feel scared, asking for support, and admitting when I got it wrong. Lying takes energy, and truth builds connection.
🧘🏻♀️ Trusting my body: My body tells me when I need to eat, move, and rest, when an idea lights me up, when things feel true, and when I feel connected or hurt. I can’t listen to my body’s wisdom when I am always going fast. It requires me to slow down. The more I can bring my body’s intuition to the table to guide me, the more powerful and grounded I will be.
🏄🏻♀️ Riding the Wave: Everything is temporary, and things come in seasons. There are seasons of creative production and seasons of taking the world in. Seasons of love and then grief…of health and then healing. It is my job to keep riding, and stay present with whatever is here, and not plan my life linearly based on a constant stream of production; allowing for seasons of rest and mess and everything else life throws my way.
👩🏻💼 Taking responsibility: It’s easy for me to take responsibility for feelings that aren’t mine. It is easy to absolve myself of responsibility when things don’t turn out the way I wanted. But finding the space where I take responsibility for what’s mine…my actions and emotions and nothing more. Not someone else’s emotions, and not seeing myself as a victim of someone else’s actions. Just owning what’s mine.
🙃 Playing: I find it easy to take things seriously. Can I create space in my life to play? I have found this easier by investing in the colleagues and collaborators who make me laugh. It can’t all be that serious.
As the 12 year old entrepreneur, who wrote in her 5th grade yearbook that she wanted to be a CEO, I believe in the potential of companies to put people first, and ultimately for companies to feel alive and dynamic. To get back to being a collection of people with talents and skills trying to provide true value to customers rather than being hyper focused on efficiency and winning. When people begin to see themselves as responsible to each other and the people they serve (no matter the hierarchy and at times above short term profits) magic begins to happen. When we believe the health of each other and the health of our planet is integral to our ability to serve, we take better care of ourselves and each other. When we lay our professional armor down and allow ourselves to be seen and supported for who we are, we find belonging…and it’s way more fun.
I am setting out to prove to myself that this version of business is not only possible, but it is also profitable and sustainable. I haven’t proven that yet, but when I trust my inner wisdom, that voice says YES this is the way. These are the values I am infusing in Team Joy Coaching and in Daymaker.
Being part of the revolution where business is genuinely a force for good, for customers, employees, and our natural resources, is not easy. But I am thankful I am not going at it alone. To my classmates and learning community in the Inner MBA (Gaby, Kathleen, Thomas, Cris, Ana Maria), thank you for your friendship and for validating me that my vision isn’t crazy.
To the rest of Team Joy who is on this journey with me…Thank you. Thank you for going along this messy experiment with me. No one goes anywhere great alone.
And if it resonates with you I encourage you to reflect on what does working with heart mean to you? Can business really be a force for good?
Have a great sunday ☀️