The New Business of Doing Business: An Executive Stretch Class
Posted on August 27, 2015 by Pamela Thorp, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Doing business in this new era requires an expansion of thinking and skills. Do this exercise and take yourself someplace new.
The business of business is evolving. Formerly a domain that called for a proficiency in facts, numbers, and MBA-style analysis, the new world order calls for additional skills that to-date have remained relatively devalued in the hard-core halls of commerce. To stay competitive in this new climate calls for an expansion in thinking and a development of new parts of your skill set and your self. (Golden Tip: If you haven’t yet, get ahold of ‘A Whole New Mind’ by Daniel Pink- a must-read for anyone who wants to thrive in the 21st century business world.)
Tuning into yourself on all circuits, emotional as well as practical is the new-must. Well-being becomes an important conduit for fresh, exciting ideas and effective performance. If you want to bring services and products to the market that will both enhance the world and raise your profits, give attention to all your departments. It all starts with your own system, so here are some important questions to begin to ask yourself:1. Am I comfortable with the way things are going in my work life?
2. Do I think there could be improvement? How? What’s not working?
3. Are the actions I’m taking not as effective as they once were? What are some examples of this?
4. Do I feel some emotionally-based issues are getting in the way of my professional trajectory? Even if I can’t quite get in touch with them?
5. Do I feel like I could interact with clients and/or employees in a way that is more productive and satisfying on all fronts?
6. Am I missing out on a lot of the joy and satisfaction that could come along with my hard work?
7. What are some of my other thoughts about doing business in the current world, and what might I have to do to adjust?
8. What do I have to give to the world and can’t because something seems to be blocking it?
9. What do I like about myself and the way I perform?
10. How balanced do I feel in my life? Could I include some new elements that might actually help me function better?
11. How am I reacting to this exercise? Loving it, hating it, resisting it?
12. Add your own question here…..
If this exercise has piqued your interest or bumped up against the edges of your comfort zone, good! Pay attention to the sensations coming up in you. Take a few breaths into the feelings. If this is uncomfortable don’t discard it out-of-hand. It’s true that fear can signal a very valid threat, something that calls for retreat. But sometimes it’s just the system’s knee-jerk reaction to change. Choosing to stay the course at these pivotal junctures can be an opportunity to upgrade your career, create a better relationship, increase your profits, live a more fulfilling life….you get the idea.
If you want to go deeper go back and free-write your answers to the five questions that spoke the loudest to you. Take your time. Take yourself seriously. Take yourself someplace new. And if you run into too much resistance (normal when trying to change entrenched patterns) consider hiring a Personal Coach to give you guidance, structure and new angles on old problems.
Be the person who evolves to their fullest potential. The result can be profound—in so many ways.