How to avoid zero-sum culture. An alternative and innovative pathway to prosper.

Challenging times demand new frontiers to find innovative ways to bolster your career-enhancing performance. The actions we choose are too often based on received ideas and not driven by creativity and innovative thinking. The reasons for this reflex are diverse and not unique to one group of people or business practice.?

One keen culprit is when you have been educated or trained in a zero-sum culture and value outcomes where they are only clear winners (and losers). Football is a textbook example. Because of this toxic mindset, individuals compete with ruthless vindictiveness and no longer care for rules; they only value the result.

The problem with this approach is that it lacks compassion, understanding, and empathy. Life should not be a blood sport; it is a journey and not a destination. There are tests and trials which must be met whether we seek them out or not. Fret not, there are people who have trail-blazed a path on how we should act to get the outcomes we desire with grace and dignity. Let’s call these people the “masters”.

The masters come from all walks of life and culture. From time immemorial their teachings have stood the test of time, offering us guiding principles to achieve success and satisfaction based on humility and empathy. In this game, there is no endpoint. Ultimately, nothing is created or destroyed; it is just transmuted. The concept of transmutation is a mindset that can be applied to business, life, career, and relationships. In this context, you let go of your fears, and phobias by embracing the power of the present moment.

A?transmutation?mindset builds stronger, more innovative, and inspiring teams, organisations, careers, and lives.?

Anyone can walk in the master’s footsteps because this path is inclusive. There are several key practices to changing your current mindset and they will allow you to do amazing things such as

·???????1)?Support a cause or project you believe in

·???????2)?Build?teams where the players trust each other

·???????3) Study?your competitors with respect

·???????4) Prepare?to meet any challenge

·???????5) Demonstrate the?courage to?lead

·???????6)?Explore new ways of thinking, behaving, and acting so that you have a solid foundation to make?your life more meaningful, inspiring, and impactful?

One of my favourite teachers is Basho.

Let us imagine that we are all seated together in a circle on a tatami mat. Basho is chairing our session on "transcending expectations". He begins the session with:

"Plants and animals are marvellous teachers

they hold no expectations

they are as you perceive them.

Being is what they do best because they live in the present moment".

He stops and there is a brief moment of silence. He sheepishly looks at us with his non-judgemental eyes. Sips a green?tea?placed at his side and continues:

"At the ancient pond

a frog plunges into

the sound of water."

His house cat walks onto the stage, sees his master, and comes over to him. Basho picks up his cat and gently strokes its head. Smiling, Basho says to us: "It is part of their cellular memory so they aren't even conscious of their actions. They are just who they are."

How to cultivate success

Clearly, the physical world Basho found himself in appears a lot less complicated than our own. Social media did not exist nor did AI or technology. And yet?war, disease, inequality, and?freneticism were rampant. Despite this tense environment, Basho never lost his cool. He understood by direct experience that the only way to transcend our expectations is to let go.

Basho also points out that crystalline moments, emotion, and awareness?are?all we need to discover our own presence, hence the "sound of water". The "frog" is our ego. By plunging into the elements it releases its dross so it can embrace a wider world of compassion and silence. Such immediacy lies at the core of?transmutation and?mindfulness.

In my experience, great business leaders sway with the wind during challenging situations similar to the way bamboo bends in a tempest. They know that our first life lesson should be one of humility. This is why the Buddha systematically touched the ground with the tips of his right hand. He wanted the earth to bear witness to his state of presence. From a state of humility, we are positioned to embody integrity. Integrity provides us with a tangible and solid ground from which to manage our careers?or business decisions. When we look at commonplace scenarios we often fail to grasp the subtle teaching they offer. Here is a case in point:

"How reluctantly

the bee emerges from deep

within the peony."

Once again, Basho strikes to the core. His appreciation of "bee-ness" raises questions of tension and underpins the way our minds handle duality. Mindfulness on the other hand resolves this dilemma in silence. It is in the silence we find delight. Otherwise, we are left feeling saddened by captivity and death.

Cats highlight integrity almost better than any other being in the animal kingdom.?Think of the way they curl up in a ball. They live in a state of total awareness and authenticity. Above all, animals and plants have the power to teach us how to live and die with dignity because they respect their surroundings. They do not contribute to climate change nor commit acts of social injustice against other living things. What they do not teach us is how to make living and dying into an angst-ridden dance. In Western culture, death is primarily denied and feared. I'm not suggesting that you go out of your way and embrace death by running in front of a car. What I am advocating is to more fully understand the mechanics of what nature teaches.

Bringing it back home?

Rather than let negative emotions or illnesses overwhelm you, use the experience to transcend your surroundings, relationships, and work environment. This process will allow you to take advantage of one of the key tenants of positive psychology: Let negativity go particularly when it is tied to a scenario you cannot control.

Our emotional intelligence tells us that it is unnecessary to feed our cellular memory with pain and suffering. Accept what is. I didn't say you must like the situation, but if you fight it, you will drown. Embracing the rain in life will make you judicious and non-judgemental, teaching you the need to laugh in the face of absurdity.

About The Author

Andrew Scharf is an Award-Winning MBA Admissions Consultant and a valued ?? Executive & Career Coaching recognised for helping top performers, and aspiring professionals be all they can be. His?mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world at?Whitefield Consulting. Have a professional project you would like to discuss, send him a DM.