There is a commitment to a better way

Zachary Aldwin Milkshake in the Boardroom
Well we are one week into The Giving Challenge, giving away something every day between now and Christmas. With such events it is easy to start strong for the first few days and then the reality hits hard and your internal resistance to change starts to raise its ugly head. Persevere through, focus on the positive outcomes, and continue to make a difference in the lives of other people this festive season.

There are three states you can be in; taking energy in, giving energy out, or simply doing nothing.

Being generous takes effort. In many cases, so does being idiotic or selfish. It takes effort and risk to drive like a maniac into the face of oncoming traffic and swinging into the front of the queue at traffic lights. Shouting angrily at the switchboard operator who has no power to solve your problem takes exertion and wastes perfectly good emotional energy better expended elsewhere. Grumbling at everything exercises your vocal chords in a manner that can be avoided.

Being negative takes energy — not just the energy you expend, but it sucks energy out of those around you. You find this in the business that demands extra hours and sweat from staff without ever thanking them. Staff packages are a bare minimum with no leeway for emergencies. The negative view of management by staff results in a vicious cycle of unreasonable demands and ever restrictive conditions of service. Now throw a client into the mix and all that negativity gets vented straight at them.

Should you choose to do nothing then it requires the energy of others to move you or go around you. This is the group of unmotivated workers who do the bare minimum to grab a pay check every month or the department who simply checks the boxes on the list when you ask them.

This is the business that sets up and expects people to walk through the door because they now exist, not realising that the gaining of clients is a relational process that is dynamic and offers a flow of energy. There is no innovation, no initiative. While not actively negative, the energy required to make anything happen in this group is enough to set up avoidance behaviour for anyone else.

The business that gives, that figures out how to improve and be better, not just for a reward but because they want to is the business that will flourish. This is the business that will pull together in collaborative effort-looking past the frictions intrinsic to teamwork to a great result.

This is the business that refuses to settle for ‘‘it meets spec’’ but aims for ‘‘that’s better than spec’’. This is the business that people will speak about, not just because the work they do is good, but because the way they do it is revolutionary. This is the business that people are willing to pay extra for because they realise the value of what you are offering.

With an organisation that gives energy there is a complex dance between employees and employer that sees value in the contributions of staff and understands the limitations of management.

Trust exists with two way communication between the top and bottom of the monogram. Disagreement is normal but is about finding a solution rather than being right. Receiving credit is not important, but it gets given anyway. There is a commitment to a better way. There is going to be effort at some point-keep it positive, keep it generous, and build others around you. If it was easy then everyone would do it. So no, it is not easy, but it is worth it.