Business Collaboration in New Earth

Recently I enjoyed the experience of working with a colleague, Elaine,  to exchange web links.  She is a lovely person, who is working to bring support to grandparents raising grandchildren.  She writes a blog about topics I consider to be important to our conscious evolution.  And I like and respect her and her work.  She is a person who exemplifies in her manner, a "new-earth" way of supporting each other in business ventures.

Over the course of two days in e- mail exchanges, I could feel the creative process occurring between she and I.   Neither of us were competitive, but rather supportively engaged with each other.  Our exchanges flowed, and we arrived at an outcome that was good because of the way we had interacted.  I overlaid our experience on my business style of  20 years ago when I was a corporate executive.

Recently I was reminded about my old style when  I was at a backyard barbecue, speaking with a consultant to the health care system.  He was telling the story about how he spent his week traveling to another city to purposely take down a competitor.  His languaging made it sound like he just got back from Iraq.  It made me shudder.

I considered telling him I thought he was in idiot, but came to my senses and instead put forward a prayer towards awakening business practices.  The old business paradigm of competition and survival of the cutthroat will, in my opinion, not be supported as humanity continues on its spiritual evolution.

I could, however, relate to him from my past experience as a  corporate executive in the financial services industry.  I was a bankster. I had an incredible business career, filled with many interesting experiences, travel, challenges, and upwardly mobile opportunities.  Rather quickly, I rose into upper management, promoted to a vice president.  Unheard of for a young woman sprout.  I learned how to fit in and espouse the company line. I glided into a corporate career of which I was proud.  My second family were my co-workers, and we enjoyed the mutual goals of making "the bank" bigger, better, and more profitable.  These goals were rewarded with promotions, salaries (sort of) and perks.

I can honestly say my goal was not one of collaboration, but rather, one of competition.  I excelled at the challenge.   My years of experience formed a solid backbone in the workings of corporate culture.  I  had become known as "Atila the Hun" in management and, by God, I had worked hard.

Eventually I came to my senses, and I left banking in the early '90's, just before mergers and acquisitions caught fire, and before I burned out.  Fortunately, the call of the soul doesn't pass by the most asleep, and also fortunately, I heard the siren of awakening.  A crash into awakening and many years later down the road, I appreciate the breakdown that is occuring in the financial services industry.  It needed to happen. The old paradigm in which I excelled is crumbling.  Something new is emerging.

I believe those who will be successful in business over the years to come will be those who hear the call of their soul and awaken into building business based in caring, sharing, cooperation, collaboration, and compromise.  Creating a new world economy based upon these principles is our new earth challenge.  That's the big picture.  At the microcosm level, it begins by two women having a pleasant exchange, anchoring ourselves in spirit and supporting each other's ideas, principles and business goals.

 I hope we all will do our part.

See the link to Elaine's site under "Light Links" on the right side of my blog.