By Joyce Z. Wazirali
There is a lot to consider when (re)starting a company. The palace is a metaphor I usually use to make it easier to understand and remember the complexities of building a business, as well as to research and amplify your business.
Imagine your company as a palace of prosperity.
– What do you see happening?
– What are you doing? And what do your employees, customers and suppliers do?
– How do you all behave?
– What makes your company a palace of prosperity?
– How is the mood? And what do you think and feel?
The palace consists of the following parts:
1. Fundament,
2. Pillars,
3. (load-bearing) Walls,
4. Doors and windows,
5. Floors,
6. Cement between the stones, and
7. Maintenance of the palace.
Let’s start building up your palace.
1. The fundament
A company usually starts with an idea of someone who wants to contribute something to society that is (badly) needed at that moment.
Laying the foundation starts with defining the vision and mission of the company and the goal to realize a product or service in the interest of the customer and society.
Specify the resulting goals and strategies related to your mission and start building a business plan.
Involve your (current) employees in this entire process in order to optimally realize the company objectives and to ensure that everything runs smoothly. A positive side effect of this is that: there is clear communication, the same ‘language’ is spoken, which creates more capacity and better: decisiveness, involvement and responsibility.
2. The pillars
These are the people who have helped build the company from the start. The founder(s) represents them, the very first: employees, customers and suppliers who have contributed to the realization of the company’s mission and objectives.
It is important to appreciate their contributions, to continue to communicate with them and to listen to them. Because they turn out to be your greatest ambassadors.
3. The (load-bearing) walls
Represents everyone who has contributed to building the company. Including staff, customers and suppliers.
The load-bearing walls are made by people who have contributed ideas and plans for the growth or benefit of the company. They are also ambassadors.
4. The doors and windows
The doors form the connection between the departments, such as: finance, back office, and front office. When the connecting doors are open, the departments will work together and communicate smoothly, reducing the chance of errors.
The windows connect the company with its surroundings. To become successful, it is important to anticipate changes or other needs among (potential) customers and suppliers.
5. The floors
Are the building blocks of the various departments of the company.
A well-organized and well-functioning financial department and back office are essential.
The sturdier the bottom floor, the better the floor above can be supported.
6. The cement between the stones
This stands for the relationship and behaviour between the people within the company, leadership development, culture, and talents.
It is the most crucial part of the business. On the one hand it is complex, difficult to grasp and yet tangible. On the other hand, if things get out of hand, it is not only difficult to change, but also a danger to the continuity of the company.
I share some points of interest from the Unity Conscious Leadership® perspective that can help you recognize patterns in behaviour and paradoxes in culture.
A. Patterns
Experience shows that people are unconsciously triggered by other people or situations and therefore start to behave in a certain way. Often these triggers and reactions seem to occur repeatedly as a pattern of associated feelings in their lives.
Examples of these patterns are:
– Feeling abandoned or neglected, having trouble recognizing your own place,
– Feeling unheard or unseen,
– Feeling less than others or better than others,
– A great sense of responsibility, not daring to ask for help,
– Sadness, withdrawing from society, feeling emptiness inside or not being loved,
– Fear in many forms, always in the head and thinking a lot,
– Loss of connection with own feelings or lack of empathy,
– Medically unexplained physical complaints.
B. Paradoxes
Paradoxes are patterns with contradictory dynamics, also known as culture dynamics or undercurrents. This dynamic continues. They occur between individuals and within organizations.
Examples of paradoxes are:
– Inclusion and exclusion,
– Trust and distrust,
– Division and togetherness,
– Talking about ‘we’ and ‘them’,
– Attraction and repulsion, victim and perpetrator.
The origin of these dynamics lies in traumatic events in the past (from previous generations). These are hidden powers that you cannot comprehend or resolve by talking about them, but that you do experience and feel.
One of the interventions I offer is System Dynamic Constellations. With this you create from your inner image: a psychological landscape of the aspects that play a role in the pattern you encounter. The hidden forces that create the dynamics are revealed and broken, allowing the person, organization or system to heal and transform. For more information, please contact me at: [email protected].
C. Leadership Development
The current situation we are in now has been created for centuries by our ancestors and society. People and organizations are struggling with repetitive patterns of obstacles and counter-currents, believing that they are separate and independent from their environment, looking for causes and solutions outside themselves, and trying to break through patterns with a temporary fix by trial and error.
They look at themselves and their world through the lens of Dualism. Communicating in a language of opposites such as: good and bad, black and white, us and them, inclusion and exclusion, powerful and powerlessness.
Here lies the root cause of patterns and paradoxes, the source of conflicts and crisis.
Relationships and situations are getting more toxic, with people becoming more unhealthy and unhappy with their lives, trapped in constant conflict with each other.
Unity Conscious Leadership® (UCL) is the new paradigm of leadership to sustainably break these old habits and patterns and transcend mutual differences.
From the perspective of UCL, everyone is a leader, equally important and unique, with unique talents, qualities and life missions.
In reality, we are living in a world of unity or oneness. That’s why it’s important to take your leadership from the perspective of unity consciousness:
– Knowing that we are all interconnected, interdependent and influencing each other
constantly,
– With the awareness that our outer world is a reflection of our inner, start with self-
reflection, and
– Be the hero you want to see in the world, and find the answers and solutions within
yourself.
The lens of UCL was one of the success factors of building up my business with eighty staff members within 13 years. In my book ‘Unity Conscious Leadership™’ you can read more about the secrets of the complex dynamic of relationships and cultural issues. And how you can use crises and obstructive situations to break through perpetuating patterns in order to grow and thrive again.
D. Talents
Our talents are our innate potential, give colour to who we essentially are and represent the building blocks of our mission.
The more people know and use their talents and mission, the easier it becomes to do the things that come easy, make them happy and successful.
The more people know their own talents and those of their colleagues, the better cooperation will be and effective use can be made of each other’s talents.
The result: connection, better cooperation, harmony, a pleasant (working) atmosphere and a better functioning organization.
7. Maintenance of the Palace
Just as you occasionally go to the garage for car maintenance, it is important to regularly check the condition of your business.
Make plans to control the different parts of your company or palace and take action to fortify your palace.
For example:
It is important to pay daily attention to the relationship and behavior between the people, the leadership and the culture within the company!
The collective crisis caused by the pandemic is a traumatic experience for many people and businesses worldwide.
Keep working on personal development, trauma healing and uncovering the hidden potential in your company.
For guidance or more information, email me at [email protected].
About the author:
Joyce Z. Wazirali is a multi-award winner and expert in the field of leadership development and cultural change. With her 30+ years of experience guiding successful entrepreneurs, Joyce Z. Wazirali: founder, CEO, and author of Unity Conscious Leadership®, shares the seven steps to turning your business into a palace of prosperity.
