A colleague lost her job recently. She was told that she didn’t play well with others at work and that her attitude was a bit curt. I was her first phone call. After a long deep discussion, she admitted that she wore her dissatisfaction with her job on her sleeve. In fact, the perception of her superiors was that she was unhappy and didn’t appreciate her job or fellow workers.
Are You a People Person?
This scenario had been coming for a while due to frustration. Not just the job switch, but the attitude check. She’s not really a “people person” per se. And in today’s job climate, that’s a problem, because more and more companies are seeking that type of sensitivity in their so-called “human capital.” The “human component;” engaging and embracing creative employees, might just be driving innovation. For more on this, head to today’s Wall Street Journal for JC Spender and Bruce Strongs article: Who has Innovative Ideas? Employees.
And that desire for a more humane culture at work and in business might be driving an escalation in entrepreneurship. When you run your own business – you have control over the way you work, when you work and how you work. That is a desirable path if you’re striving for better work life balance or for better business relationships.
You can read more about that if you check out Pamela Slim’s site, the author of Escape from Cubicle Nation. People are leaving corporate settings in droves for entrepreneurship in the quest for better work life balance; which means putting our own “humanity” back into the business formula. Not always an easy task, but one that has personally driven me to write about it for well over a decade.
The Challenges of being in the Human Zone in Crisis
Immediately following the events of 9/11 I realized that my passion was exalting the human experience in the workplace and in business. I wanted to “humanize” my work life as a national radio journalist in New York City. This epiphany came after having a tough time adjusting to the death of my cameraman P.O. Glenn Pettit, and working long hours after the terror attacks.
A new sensitivity emerged for me about the way we treat people at work. But it wasn’t just what I was going through, it was the reflection of the pain of my colleagues as well. At the time I was working for Marketplace Morning Report on NPR and sharing office space with members of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation near the United Nations in New York City. We were all in a state of shock, but had to keep working.
The Painful Daily Grind
Coming to work in grief impacted the way my day went, and in fact MY perception of MY daily working experience. It was a hard time. But that changed in a very dramatic way with another tragic occurrence; the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal’s South Asia Bureau Chief Daniel Pearl. I worked with a close relative of his wife. I will never, this lifetime, forget the day she came into my office to tell me about the incident and his subsequent murder by terrorists.
My friend had been on edge for weeks before I even knew of her connection to Daniel Pearl. Our grief in the time following the attacks mirrored each other. I assumed there was nothing more to her behavior which had manifested on occasion in curt responses. Upon learning about Daniel, I thought, surely my grief could not match hers. Still there was a mutual compassion between us, a mutual respect. We saw in each other a desire for peace and healing, and that feeling resonated between us and among others in the office space.
Can we have a Sacred Perception of our co-workers?
Buddhist Psychologist Jack Kornfield would describe our resulting interaction as “Sacred Perception.” In his book The Wise Heart, Kornfield shares a unique lesson. One that is helpful to remember when dealing with a fellow employee who is challenging to work with. We never know what is going on in their lives, but if we can rise to the occasion of bringing a positive perception to the experience of that person, it might help to soften the blow. Here’s a passage from Kornfield’s book:
“Each time we meet another human being and honor their dignity, we help those around us. Their hearts resonate with ours in exactly the same way the strings of an unplucked violin vibrate with the sound of a violin played nearby. …When we see the goodness of those before us, the dignity in them resonates with our admiration and respect.”
As you head to work or pick up the phone to do business, what is your perception of those you interact with? How does it impact the way you approach business?
