In today’s post, we interview Sonja Boggs. We recently connected with Sonja at an event during the Loudoun County Small Business Week. She is a health and lifestyle coach, yoga instructor and overall wonderful person. She focuses on helping her clients reduce stress, increase energy, lose weight, eat healthier, increase physical activity, manage chronic conditions, restore health and feel better. Sonja has specific programs that include: Lighten-Up Weight Management Program, Ease-Up Stress Management Program, Live-It-Up Happiness Program, and the new Restore Health Now Program. You can check her out here.
Steve Jobs said, “I'm convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”
As a kid, I was on the Patagonia mailing list. This was pre-internet days. Every month, I received a large format, full color catalog with amazing pics of people doing amazing outdoor activities around the world (an image of a guy salmon fishing in Alaska is burned into my memory banks). Patagonia fueled my imagination. They inspired me to become an outdoor enthusiast (even more than I had already been). This manifested in camping, skiing, hiking and rock climbing. It manifested in trips to Colorado, Florida, the Arizona desert, and many other locations. The hiking practice continues to this day, 20+ years later.
A bureaucrat is more concerned with perks than contributing. Rather than becoming a valuable member of the organization they are a liability. Their focus is on status to the exclusion of all else. Their attitude is, “I’m great and you are not.” They drain enthusiasm and energy.
Are the characters that are showing up in the news from old-business-model businesses-- accused of waste, fraud and abuse--simply men who lack honor?
From Leonardo da Vinci, one of the great masters of all time, we learn just how important it is to take action. He observed from nature that, “Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen” and that “inaction saps the vigor of the mind.”
How much joy is in your life? Little? None?
Good soup, good art, good music, good work. All required what Ludwig Van calls a pure heart.
The news continues to be filled with stories of companies who are still operating under the old model of business, who have cultures where it is acceptable to play loose with the truth. Just this week, we find out JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, RBS, Citigroup, and UBS have been manipulating foreign exchange rates for years (they will pay $5 billion in fines). PayPal has been using deceptive practices to lure customers into an online credit service (they will pay $25 million in fines). We could go on.
When we take inspired action, things seem to happen like magic. All things work together for whatever good we are trying to create. Inspiration kick-starts the flow state and helps us get into what athletes call the zone.
Whole Foods Market a.k.a. WFM has taken some heat lately for a decrease in their stock price. This dip is attributed to competitors who have started to offer healthier (not healthy) products at a lower price. This has exacerbated the use of the moniker that many non-Whole Foods folks love to repeat, “Whole Paycheck.” It comes from people who want their cake and to eat it too.
In today’s post, we interview our friend and Tribe Member Carla Perez. Carla is a conscious leader who, more than anyone, got us to understand our WHY and helped us clarify our own business processes we use to help our clients. Carla is a beautiful person who possesses an amazing depth of understanding of the interconnectedness of all people. Carla is the President of OneAll Solutions, LLC and Chief Conspiracy Officer at todosUNO Honduras. She is a management consultant and an executive and life coach.
You can solve a big problem but if there is something more important that needs attention your efforts may be in vain. For instance, you might be working on the organization chart while the actual people represented by the boxes are not passionate about what they are doing.
Yes, revenue projections are important for every business. But what about the culture? What if there were a forecast for how well the people were doing? That might well be a useful metric since, as Jim Collin’s has pointed out, “culture is strategy.”
In a recent interview with Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, Joe Polish mentions the sentiment of most businesses on the planet, “we’re not happy until you’re not happy.” Here’s the interview.
Some purists may argue that it is beyond the scope of government but the USDA Organic program rocks. If you see the USDA Organic label on a product, you know straight up that there are no artificial ingredients, additives, colorings, toxins, stabilizers, or glow in the dark substances. That’s huge. And even better, you know there are no Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in there either.
One way to make a decision is to stay locked inside an office, pick something to do, then send out an e-mail telling everyone the new rule. Generally, this type of solution ends up with the decision maker saying, “well… it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Sincerity is about being real. It is about being open with yourself and with others. Sincerity goes hand-in-hand with authenticity. Professor Michael Jensen advises that the actionable pathway to authenticity is to "be authentic about your in-authenticity." Admitting to ourselves and others when we have been inauthentic!
Most people do not relax. Ever. The likelihood is extremely high that as you are reading this now, there is tension in your forehead. You have permanent lines. Staying in a state of tension uses up a lot of energy. It does not feel good, even if we get used to the feeling.
We served on a panel of judges for the Annual Mid-Atlantic Region’s Business Plan Competition, Innovations in Social and Economic Entrepreneurship in Washington, D.C. This wonderful event included student teams from over 20 universities participating in a shark-tank-like (ok, maybe a dolphin tank) shoot out for the best business idea. It was not too much of a surprise but almost all of the teams had some great ideas and viable business models. Some were apps, some were services, and some were actual physical products.
Last year (2014), we participated in a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. hosted by UDC. During the event, we shared the four principles of Conscious Capitalism. We explained how it is possible for a business to have a Higher Purpose and practice stakeholder integration while at the same time being highly successful.
In some groups, people are closed down. They distrust each other. Their conversation is guarded as they fear being criticized or rejected. Not much happens.
Having an impact is something everyone aspires to (at least to some degree). For some, it is what drives them to create greatness. It is their life’s calling.
We congratulate Chipotle Mexican Grill for their recent announcement that they are dumping genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as they move to source more natural ingredients for their restaurants. Chipotle has already had a major impact on farming practices and the way animals are raised. All of this is a boon for everyone, especially their customers and employees.
Can old-line businesses re-invent themselves into more conscious businesses?
Jim Collins said “culture is strategy.” How true. Company culture is about how things are done. It is about the values that inform decisions and behaviors. It is about how connected everyone is to the purpose of the business. The question is not does a particular business have a culture (every organization has one). The question is, what kind of culture do they have?
Aristotle observed long ago that, “Man is by nature a social animal.” How true. Leaders are those who create our social organizations such as companies, teams, schools, etc. The Conscious Leader goes a step further. Not only do they create and support organizations, they do so with a Higher Purpose in mind. They serve the interests of all the stakeholders. They understand culture and align it with the Higher Purpose of the organization.
In the IT world, you “get” early on that everything in a system is interconnected. A network is made up of many component parts, all of which must be operating, for the system to function optimally. If you neglect any one component for too long, say a server, the system will crash.
