April Sabral is an executive leadership coach, author of "The Positive Effect" and founder of retailu.ca. | April Sabral Leadership.
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Have you ever gone to the grocery store and imagined a parking spot only to turn the corner and manifest the perfect spot? This could be luck, or for those who believe in the universe's power, we would put it down to something more mysterious than luck. I have had so many conversations with so many leaders about the powers of the universe, and it normally starts like this: "Everything happens for a reason, so did you watch the secret? Are you spiritual?" which quickly evokes this response: "I am spiritual but not religious."
On one level, we all want to believe there is something within us that makes us all feel connected, something bigger and something more important, but on the other hand, when we start to discuss these ideas in the workplace, it brings up a conversation that could become uncomfortable, like politics, but why?
I've had so many conversations with leaders who believe that there is something larger and recognize that their success has been a combination of hard work, focus, discipline and luck—or the universe. These leaders are generally happier, less attached to the outcome, and certainly more positive. They operate on some kind of belief that everything will work out for the highest and best good for all. This does not mean that they are flaky or non-committed to solving huge problems; in fact, they are totally the opposite. So it begs the question, as a student of metaphysics for over 25 years, why aren't we talking about this more?
In the past couple of years, it has become apparent that mental health, mindfulness, mastering our minds and removing or quieting negative thoughts are becoming part of how we operate. When employees are more positive about who they work for, their thoughts and emotions are more positive, and they experience more joy. And generally, when this happens, the business will have improved results. Happier minds producing happier thoughts make for good business.
If you understand every thought going out into the universe is creating reality, wouldn't you consider how then the collective thoughts of every employee in your business are having an impact?
It is a fact and has been proven that joy, peace and a relaxed mind have better problem-solving abilities. Our minds are powerful. More powerful than we have been taught in traditional schooling. Mindfulness may have come into the workplace in the last two years in a major way, but if we want to truly improve results, we should start to think about mindfulness in a more scientific/productive way as opposed to a culture checklist.
We should be providing coaching and development that are more than competency and behavior based; we should be providing leaders the tools to support their employee's reprogram-limiting beliefs and teach them to create development plans that encompass the whole person—not just the skills required to do the job. Because as much as you can teach an employee to sell something and service a client, can you imagine the power that employee would have on your business if they had positive thoughts running in their minds while working? Did you know that we have over 6,000 thoughts a day, and the majority tend to repeat or gear toward the negative? This means that most of your employees are thinking like this.
• "I'm dreading going to work today."
• "I dislike selling, but I know I have to do it."
• "I wish my team were different."
• "I don't like the way I feel today."
• "I'm not good enough."
But with the right training, they could be thinking like this instead.
• "I love selling."
• "I love meeting new clients."
• "I am so happy I get to come to work every day."
• "I am fabulous."
What do you think the results would be like if your entire team woke up every day with a positive attitude? How would it impact your clients? Isn't it time we started the dialogue about how our minds truly create better businesses and train our teams to help people become more positive?
Here are some tips for leaders to support a more positive mental attitude and teach their employees how they can change their thinking, too.
1. Reframe. Write down the situation or thought that was negative and then give it a positive spin. For example: "My boss was so rude to me today" can be reframed as "I am grateful for my boss showing me the wrong way to lead so that I can be better than that." This might sound far-fetched, but imagine if everyone started with this approach; there would be less gossip about negativity and more ownership.
2. Interpret the facts. Every situation that creates a negative belief starts with an interpretation. For example, there could be two employees in one meeting, but they both take away something completely different. The employee that had a negative experience could take extreme ownership and interpret the situation in a different way before they attach emotions to it, which turns into a belief.
3. Write three positive affirmations daily. It could be as simple as, "Today is going to be a great day."
These might sound far-fetched and inspirational in nature. Still, I truly believe if we want to create and engage the younger generation, we will need to rethink how we are currently training and developing and add positive mindset training to our teams, along with holding positive thoughts towards your business so that you can manifest incredible results.
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