Imagine you’re invited to impart a few words of wisdom about how to have a good life. These would be maybe three simple fundamental truths that you have learned matter most. For sure, they will not always be easy to follow, but when applied, you know they work in powerful ways.
Think about it. What would you advise?
I’ve read many such examples of wisdom summarized; I’m sure you have too. Here’s one I recommend you consider today, from a guru that influenced many American seekers, named Neem Karoli Baba. Very amare, very challenging, very impactful.
- Love everyone.
- Tell the truth.
- Don’t be afraid.
In love-based Amare organizations, establishing and living by ideals like these is an essential leadership practice. Eventually they transform from wisdom and ideals to everyday practices.
Three Essential Amare Leadership Practices NOT for the Faint of Heart
1. Love everyone. Imagine loving your competitors, or even people you despise. Can you? This can be as challenging to do as it is rewarding.
Typically, when we have strong negative feelings toward someone, it’s because it triggers something in ourselves we may not like or want to know – our shadow side. Yet when you see a little of you in them, and them in you, it gets a little easier. You see the common ground in our shared struggles of being fully human.
The reason to love everyone is that it frees you. You no longer lose energy to resentment, jealousy, and anger. You realize and accept your own flaws more fully. The world is more “us” and less you vs. them.
Loving everyone is a lifetime practice. Polish your mirror of self-awareness and you will find compassion for those you can’t stand, and eventually space to love them, and on the way, you will love you.
2. Tell the truth. Explicitly make this one of your organization’s core values. Let people know truth is expected, always. Know this is not an excuse to be mean or harsh. Do it with compassion.
This means telling the truth in your vision for the future, in your annual reports, in your financial projections, in managing employees and projects, in negotiating with suppliers, in dealing with customer concerns, etc.
As a leader, do your best to demonstrate telling the truth in difficult situations – and surviving! And make sure your words and actions match. Then you’re not just telling the truth, you are living it. That’s powerful amare leadership!
3. Don’t be afraid. Again, easy to say, hard to do. Fear is so ingrained in our culture that we often mistake it as unavoidable. However, you can learn to manage your reaction in situations that typically elicit fear, or its close companions anger, greed, and arrogance.
How? Train yourself to recognize the brief instant after you experience something that might scare you – when your adrenaline is flowing but before your fear response has kicked in. In that moment, you can make a choice to not be afraid, for fear is always a choice.
Build this skill in your workplace and magic will happen as fear disappears. Your people will know they are in an Amare culture that empowers, supports, and brings out the best in everyone – especially in difficult situations.
Today’s Amare Wave Wednesday Quote
“The deeper impulse of every human relationship is to evoke the love and oneness that unites us.”
―Ram Dass, in Polishing the Mirror
Acknowledgments: Ram Dass, and Jim Case, author of Fear is a Choice.
_______
I’m here to support you in your growth as an amare business leader. Many of us need help articulating the wisdom we have garnered over the years, and need support to consistently apply that wisdom in business and life. I offer executive coaching infused with the uplifting energy of amare to help you put love to work in your organization and reject the business as war paradigm. Many of my clients have benefitted from having someone who can not only guide them in becoming the amare leader they want to be, but who can help them learn to act with wisdom and live in alignment with their own values and principles. Contact me if this speaks to you.
To learn more about the principles about the Amare Way and see how they can change your business, check out my book, The Amare Wave: Uplift Your Business by Putting Love to Work.
Modified from original publication on MosheEngelberg.com
Note: Do you like this article? Every Wednesday, I encourage people with articles like this, to do ONE thing to put the power of love to work in their organization, through my newsletter Amare Wave Wednesday. These consistent actions are collectively growing the wave and making people happier and businesses better. To receive your Amare Wave Wednesday newsletter every Wednesday, click here to subscribe. Get something you love in your inbox again!
To learn more about the Amare Way movement, the book The Amare Wave, or my Amare executive coaching services, visit www.MosheEngelberg.com.