And it made me curious. What if emotions and fluff were encouraged at the work place? What if it was allowed for people to show up as they truly are?
Not too long ago I hang up my corporate boots and dived head first into the life coaching pool.
Most of my working life to date had been spent in the corporate world, yet as a life coach, I was told, I should stir clear of fluff and emotions... stuff corporates don't do.
Is that true? I remember working in teams so toxic you really had to wonder how the company was managing. I remember working in teams so loving, you really had to wonder what magic they'd discovered.
I also worked in teams where people just came in to do their job and didn't really mind either way. These people wear probably the dead-est of them all.
And it made me curious. What if emotions and fluff were encouraged at the work place? What if it was allowed for people to show up as they truly are? Without masks or worries of what this could lead to? What if it was ok for people to follow their own emotional well being, wouldn't that lead to happier people all around? Because when you're allowed to be yourself you give so much more, and when you are not allowed you find your own way to get what you need?
In this world where we hear so much about mental health and how people are struggling in their lives, what would it be like if the work place did actually embraced people's own needs and encouraged conversations and differences?
What if people could say what they really feel without worrying about their up and coming appraisals? And if someone is feeling trapped or unsupported, that they could actually talk to someone about it and not be made to feel that it's all pointless and that they have to take the stress of work home?
When I pitch my services to corporates, I am expected to talk about the end results: team performance, deliverables, what is the ROI the organisation can expect from having their teams coached. But what I want to say is that at the bottom line there are only emotions, and belief systems, and limiting beliefs that lead to feelings and then fears. Feeling of frustration, of limitations and feeling of stuck or not good enough. And when we deal with these, then the team and the organisations are the ones to reap the results.
So when I talk to you about coaching, please allow me to talk about emotions and fluff. Please let me reassure you that I will 100% look into the wellbeing of your teams and make sure they feel heard. That they are able to reconnect with their natural strengths and talents and feel empowered to act in their true authentic way.
And when you have a happy individual, you have a happy team. And when the team is happy, performance hits the roof. And people are no longer 'off sick'. They stay and they give their 110% because you allowed them to be themselves and showed them you value their mental and emotional health. When people feel heard or seen, they play along and no longer kick.
Shall we try that?