Thriving with A Conscious Business
by Laleh Alemzadeh-Hancock
What does the term ‘conscious business’ mean to you?
As soon as the word ‘conscious’ is used, some people go straight to the conclusions they have made. If you have any assumptions or definitions about a ‘conscious business’, then that limits your capacity to actually have a thriving and constantly expanding business. Versus, if you remain in the unconscious or unaware space, you will limit the possibilities for your business to thrive, avoid the potential disasters, and not allow yourself to profit from your conscious business.
Whereas, in truth, a conscious business is about mindfulness. It is being aware of everything that is current, anything that needs improvement or changes, and requirements to grow and thrive. It is about including everybody in the company in the creation, decisions and ramifications of the business.
What consciousness is not about is depriving you and your business of profits. This is a really big point, because in today’s society, there can be a segregation in the thoughts of people between making money and being conscious. When you bring money into the equation, everything seems to get mushed together, like “Money is bad, therefore people who make money are bad, therefore they must be doing bad things to make their money, such as polluting the Earth”.
There is nothing wrong with money. It is a tool that we require in this world. In fact, to really make a change on this planet, you probably require a lot of it. For example, if you desire for all children to have equal education, the costs associated with achieving that are enormous.
Below are some tips for a conscious business.
Ask questions.
It may sound daunting to expect to be aware of everyone, including all your staff and everyone who is impacted by your business products and services, as well as how they are generated. But, it actually comes down to a very simple process: ask questions, all the time, about everything. For example,
“If I choose this, what will it create? If I don’t choose this, what will it create?” or “What future am I creating with this choice?”
You do not ask questions to get answers. The purpose of a question is to open the doors to infinite possibilities. As soon as you decide something or think you have the answer, you are limiting yourself and the business. This is very different to remaining in the question, making a choice and seeing what that creates, then making another choice. Always ask more questions and be open to completely changing directions if required.
Another great question is, “What requires my attention today?” When you expand your awareness, you will automatically increase the amount of information you will receive and not all of it requires you to do anything about it – it may just be information for later. You can even ask, “Is anything required of me here?” when faced with the awareness of something that is happening.
Expand your zone of awareness.
Actually, practice expanding. All you need to do is simply ask ‘zone of awareness expand’ and it will have already happened. That’s how fast you are. There is no ‘how.’
With expanding your awareness also comes being aware of more information that may not apply to you, also ask “How much can my body and I expand not to be impacted or affected by others?” These are a couple of easy tools from Joy of Business.
Allow your staff to fail.
If you are looking to grow your business, then you have to let go controlling every aspect of it. If you are a control freak, you need to let go. Empower your staff to be aware, creative and accountable. Give them the green light to make choices without you. Part of all of this is being willing to allow them to fail.
‘Failure’ is nothing more than things turning out very different than you had concluded them to be and therefore is a judgment. If you aren’t willing for your staff to fail, by your judgment of whatever failure is, then you have to control everything and match everything to your judgments.
Unfortunately, this is the opposite of infinite possibilities and awareness. When you are willing to allow your staff to fail, if needed, to get the information and awareness then you empower them to ask questions and find creative ways to do things.
Include staff in the choices your business makes.
Everyone has a different perspective and awareness to share. For example, the receptionist who is the first point of contact for most businesses may have many awarenesses about your clients through interacting with them on a daily basis that you may never know. This does not mean you have to pursue all suggestions you might receive on other people’s awarenesses. It is about giving you additional information so you can make a better choice.
A conscious business is not a segregate business; it does not have a definition of what it looks like, what industry it must be in, how much profit it can or can’t make, etc. Any business whatsoever, that is aware, empowers staff to be aware, ask questions and choose can be. It includes you and your desires, and the desire to make a profit – because, let’s face it, if it’s not profitable, it’s not going to last and it won’t be able to have a positive impact on the world.
About the Author
Laleh Alemzadeh-Hancock is a management consultant, Joy of Business® facilitator and the CEO of Belapemo and Global Wellness for All. With nearly 30 years of experience in operational excellence, change management, and organizational wellness, Laleh has inspired and empowered hundreds of thousands of individuals, including Fortune 500 executives, to seek greater success, happiness and wellness. Join Laleh’s Joy of Business workshops in person or video conferencing throughout the world. For details, visit: https://globalwellnessforall.com/events/
