And Kyosei can help with that?
We can. The practice of Kyosei and our lifework integrity model allows you to find misalignments that help you get to the heart of what your unique ‘good thing is.’ That’s our foundation. Once you understand what your unique ‘good thing’ is, ie. what your passions are, how you want to design your life and work, you’re in a much stronger place.
When you’re strong and aligned as an individual and know what you stand for, you’re far more likely to stand up and speak out and not be afraid. This then extends to integrity with natural systems and the natural order of which we are all a part. Collectively many of us sort’ve have blinders on – ignoring the research and facts right in front of us if it challenges our own basic needs. We rely upon our governments and companies to lead us but they too are challenged ethically by their own needs. Ultimately then, all leadership starts at the individual level, we must first realign ourselves before we can have the prospective and means to effect others. From that real leadership and change is born.
I’ve heard you talk about creating a new vision of work, what is that?
Let’s first start with what the ‘existing’ vision of work or for lack of a better word, ‘old’ vision of work is. Basically the current vision of work held by most people is the statement ‘work is a necessary evil’ – and that is not what we want.
Of course this vantage is not sustainable. You could say work (or our vision of it) is not working anymore. And so the new vision of work is first and foremost contingent on each person’s understanding of their individual passions and finding or creating work (as an entrepreneur) that allows them to use their strength and give their gifts to the world through their work on a day-to-day basis.
There’s tons of research out there that shows that people who are using their strengths and doing what they love on a day-to-day basis are more productive, more creative, healthier, more energetic and higher performing. So that’s the new vision of work we espouse. And the benefits aren’t just specific to the individual but to their organizations as well. When individuals are aware of their passions (and by passions I mean values, strengths, purpose and their own vision for where they will go in their life) and when their work is aligned with this, then they have the energy and creativity to really contribute to their organization in an empowered way.
The new vision of work is about understanding that it’s not just the production line anymore. We moved from the industrial age to the information age to the age of transformation. An age where the main work being done is not just about producing more and more goods, the main work is increasingly shifting towards transforming our society for the better.
There is a shift to conscious capitalism; transforming the way work is done, the way goods are produced, the way services are provided. But to facilitate this, we need people who are capable of societal transformation and we need organizations that are capable of transformation that are not driven by the top down but instead harness the passions of their employees from the bottom up.
When the organization as a whole is aware of that and when all of the systems of the organization are driven by their employee’s passions, values, strengths, their purpose or vision (versus being driven by their shareholders sometimes contradictory needs) true greatness can be achieved.
So a new vision of work is about producing genuine fundamental intrinsic value. And that value should be consistent with the actual organic growth required by the company – and no more. It should not be dictated by some ego-driven, caffeine-fueled Angel Investor, pushing for a glorious exit strategy and ultimately hurting many more people then they help. It’s full-cycle accounting. We need to take into account all of the costs, long-term and short, environmental and societal as well as profit motive and the societal impact. Basically it’s about doing a little more homework to create lasting business legacies that make the world better not worse.
Management