Working from the Heart

Is it possible to stay rooted in your heart – to be open, vulnerable and loving – at work as well as at home?

More and more people are asking Joyce and me to help them stay in their hearts in the workplace – in business, in their jobs or careers. They come to one of our “Living from the Heart” workshops, where they learn the ingredients of an open-hearted life (see the article “Seven Steps to Living from the Heart ” on our website: ).

They learn to more deeply accept their feelings (including the difficult ones), to appreciate others and be appreciated in return, to discover and express gratitude, to take responsibility rather than blaming others and falling into the role of a victim, to accept themselves just as they are, to uncover and then give their gifts, and to develop their spirituality (to expand beyond their self-imposed limitations).

Then, often the next day, they go to work and forget all these wonderful tools and lessons, which apply just as much in the workplace as they do at home.

But one man, Raff, the owner of a painting company, decided to radically change his company’s relationship environment. His vision included all his employees relating from the heart as well as the head, and he saw this being good for business as well as morale. First, he brought his key employees to one of our weekend workshops, which in itself might have been enough to shift their consciousness at work. But he didn’t stop there. He set up monthly conference calls with me where he sat with his employees around a big table with a speakerphone in the center, and I worked with them to more deeply understand their relationship dynamics and what each one brought to the mix – not just with the mind, but with their feelings as well. Yes, there would be plenty of tears during those calls, and also vulnerable sharing of fears and hopes, pain and joy, grief and gratitude.

A definite shift occurred over the months. The value of loving relationship gradually permeated the whole company. Rather than a crude or hurtful comment being glossed over, employees started to share more honestly, even vulnerably, how they felt. Communication, true, took a little longer, but it paid off in the long run. The team was happier, and the clients felt it and responded. Business grew.

But, you object, Raff’s painting company is small and intimate, where it’s easier to “work from the heart.” What about the corporate world?

Then there’s Virginia, a forty-five year old assistant manager in a very large company. She had come to several of our workshops and became painfully aware of the discrepancy between her personal and work lives. She decided to launch her experiment to “work from the heart.” Her main focus was appreciation. Every day, she looked for and found different ways to appreciate her co-workers, everyone from the janitorial staff to the highest executives. She made it a point to feel each appreciation first before speaking it, to make sure it was heartfelt and not frivolous or even excessive. Each day, going to work became an exciting opportunity and challenge to be in her heart.

The result? Work was fun. She felt better. She developed deeper relationships at work. Her experiment was an overwhelming success. But there was an unexpected bonus – Virginia was promoted to manager and given a significant salary raise only four months after starting her experiment!

Would you like to transform your work experience? Bring more consciousness and joy to your job? Here’s how.

1. Start with heartfelt appreciation, just as Virginia did.
2. Feel your gratitude. What are you grateful for – big and little things? Size does not matter. Gratitude, just like appreciation, opens your heart.
3. Take responsibility for your life. Are there ways you are feeling like a victim? Powerless or helpless? Maybe there are circumstances you can’t change right now, but no one else is in charge of your life.
4. Realize that you have a unique gift to give, in your work and in your life. No one else has what you have, and everyone else has their own unique gift to give. And this gift is deeper than your talents or skills, or anything you do. It’s more about who you are than what you do. Even if nobody else notices or acknowledges these gifts, it is most important for you to know this truth.
5. Finally, awaken spiritually, which is finding your place in the big picture of life, discovering your purpose here on earth, and expanding your view of who you are. Joyce and I have worked with many people who have had difficult bosses or managers, and have not been able to resolve these difficulties through the usual channels of communication. Although, in a few cases, there needed to be a transfer or resignation, every other case was transformed by inner, spiritual work: seeing your boss in pain rather than mean (even as a small child needing love, but lashing out instead), feeling silent gratitude for any good qualities your boss possesses (and everyone has some good qualities), holding your boss in light or sending him or her love with as much feeling as you can.

Experiment with working from the heart. We are convinced it will not only bring you more happiness and peace in your workplace, but will enrich every part of your life as well.