LOVE IS A MONEYMAKER
I have the amazing challenge of creating workshops both for big, and small companies as well as creating social insertion and emotional support workshops for collectives at risk of exclusion. Such different experiences!
As a coach and lecturer I normally create workshops that will appeal the company that hires me, but I realized not long ago that what 9-5 working people need most of all, is that compassion and love grows in their workplace. They appreciate when I talk about it, they ask for it and most of all, they are disheartened within their workplace for this huge lack of solidarity and yes, love. But at the same time they don’t grasp the concept of loving strangers and caring about them, and talking to them with the kindness they show, for example, their own children at home.
See, we spend more time with colleagues than with our families, but our mindset is to never make friends at work, to try and achieve success and better positions, no matter the cost sometimes, to be selfish and never trust others. I see it over and over, regardless of the company, country or society.
We are told not to share and not to trust, and if we do, we are called naive...(and worse)
But what hundreds of workers have told me over the years is that they feel isolated, and lonely.
How can we change all of that?
People don’t need more hard skills every year, 3 times per year. What they need are Soft skills, and to learn (or develop) a culture of kindness, collaboration, compassion and to attend more workshops to learn non-violent communication, respect, skill sharing, and love.
It is a proven fact that switching to an environment of collaboration can speed up the process in areas such as innovation and technology (30% up in productivity in Silicon Valley, for example, 45% up in projects for nonprofit organizations, 500% up in development of live changing/saving devices)
The same happens with happiness. According to several studies, for instance the experiment conducted by the Social Market Foundation and the University of Warwick’s Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy, happiness increased productivity by 12%, which means up to 3% in economic growth…that’s huge! (Do not believe me? just google happiness and productivity)
So, why isn’t this moneymaking machine happening everywhere?
Maybe the answer lies in personal beliefs. We read this and think that it is really obvious but simply choose not to apply it, or we just do not think it is true somehow because our daily experiences do not show us many people actively sharing and being kind in the workplace. Other possibilities can be the lack of flexibility to change, the loss of hope and motivation, our personal life struggles, and, of course, the big black Wolf of mistrust we feed inside of us to keep alive.
Would you like to feel better within your team? Bring a cake!
Would you like to feel more visible? Create a skill sharing session or language Exchange after work.
Do you want to have more self-esteem? Help for free your colleagues and be kind to them.
We have to stop the paranoia of “idea stealing”, “credit for my work taken”, etc. It is obsolete.
Out there, there is a new generation coming (full force) who put money down their own career to do list. They are born into technology, they understand that you don’t need a large sum of money but ideas, dedication, good intention and collaboration to start a project, and they know the value of a single tweet. They prioritize ecology and technology development to help people and clean the planet. They understand sustainability as a personal level.
They believe in collaborative economy and are raising above us simple mortals to do it, share it, post it, make it viral, make it open source, they seek help and get together to make things happen fast. They are right. A good idea is all it takes. A good behavior, a good intention. This communities of Young professionals are happy for each other success and are (most of the time for free) sharing their time and skills to help each other.
We have to keep up with them. We are the change, it starts with us. It starts with me writing this, and it starts with you baking cookies for your workmates. We cannot wait until our boss wakes up, until something external comes along, or until your employees adapt to you out of fear.
It goes deeper than happiness though, it is about treating others the way you want to be treated.
It is a proven fact that happy employees work better and it is more likely to improve aspects as creativity and initiative. It is time to realize that love is what needs to be brought into corporate environments, because love is a very profitable business.
With love and kindness,
Cora
