John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens while you’re planning something else.” Over the past two years, I’ve tasted some of the truth of his observation.
At a time when I had just experienced several years of fulfilling inner exploration, with the feeling that I had discovered what was essential in life for me, and in an expansive professional period with the publication of my book “Awakening Your Life Through Mindfulness Meditation,” participation in the USI conference in 2018, and a great desire to share my approaches with others… all of a sudden came some events on a personal level that shook me… and a period of great questioning followed.
A period of professional fulfilment
This continued to be a period of professional fulfillment. In particular, with Patrick Hoffstetter, we embarked on a major multi-company project involving business, digital and cultural transformation. For two years, we put everything we’d learned and understood through our careers into a common space for dialogue and innovation, and surrounded ourselves with seasoned, committed experts. In our day-to-day work, with the 50 consultants and coaches who worked with us, there were hundreds of sessions of co-creation, co-construction, co-facilitation, debriefing, readjustment and research. Our customers couldn’t even imagine what went on behind the curtain – how we racked our brains from morning to night to crack all the problems, all the adjustments, all the management of our own strengths to make the most united team possible at their service. We created, created, created, created. The most creative among us had a rare combination of experience and humility. Stimulated by the group, they were able to plunge into ultra-complexity, and find the threads to pull. Throughout, we never stopped questioning ourselves, troubleshooting everything that prevented us from following our roadmaps. Between us, we had a rather exhilarating demand to go where we hadn’t gone before, to perform well together. At the end of this project,
Challenging the status quo
In the relative calm of summer, I took stock of the images of this transformation. The enthusiasm, courage and commitment of our customers, who allowed themselves to be embarked on the adventure of transformation by our teams. The impressive passion and drive of this CEO, who was determined to give his company a future. During this period when I was both personally challenging myself and co-leading this huge professional project, my mindfulness practice followed me like a malnourished dog. Opportunities to practice were plentiful, but often when I turned inward, I found all my unresolved issues and philosophical underpinnings in turmoil. For meditators, we know that this prickly lucidity is part of the practice. I could see the value of mindfulness practice… with every shared idea, every strategic decision, every spoken word, I felt the call or opportunity to refocus, to strive for greater rightness. I was able to share my true inner state with my colleagues during our mindfulness, yoga or talking circle sessions. I received support and the invitation to lean on others when needed. Through the filter of my own difficulties, and with great sensitivity, I was also able to observe the extent to which our professional lives are affected by suffering. At work, we carry the weight of our Contrary to some thought leaders in the “business and personal development are absurd” movement – I find business to be an ideal place to learn about yourself. In a 2018 study by HBR, 90% of professionals are looking for more meaning and connection in their working lives, a real key to retaining talent. We spend so much of our precious time and energy here, and our words and actions impact so many people – our colleagues and our customers – not to mention the effect we can have through the company on society and our planet. If there’s one place that deserves more exploration of our complexities and repair of our relationship with ourselves and others, it’s the company. From our experience at Connection Leadership, the co-creation of a deeper experience full of discovery is truly sought after by employees. Our client, during a transformation program irrigated by work on emotional intelligence, noted a drop in absenteeism. The vast majority of employees are themselves in search of more connection to themselves, and have expressed great satisfaction with the people who have enabled them to explore leadership at all levels of the company. That’s why, in this period of economic questioning, I’d like to encourage decision-makers to try a deeper, more holistic approach to cultivating their leadership. I also encourage them to open up the company even more to practices, support and methods that enable professionals to explore the meaning of the human experience. Betsy Parayil-Pezard
