A Misconception Of Flourishing - Plus 2 Things To Understand That Will Prevent Flourishing

I am 1/16th Native American.

You're probably wondering what this has to do with "Flourishing", and I'll get there shortly.

My Native American roots come from my father's side of the family tree, and he has never been a part of my life.

So, I have never had direct ties to this part of my heritage, unfortunately.

I have had to do a lot of exploration of these roots on my own, never having had anyone to guide me through them.

In my efforts to learn about my heritage, I found a book and quote that revealed something about Flourishing.

The book is Braiding Sweetgrass, written by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

She says the following:

"All Flourishing Is Mutual"

So often, we think that to Flourish means that "I" Flourish.

In our "Independent" world, we often focus solely on ourselves.

This isn't true though.

We actually live in an "Interdependent" world.

To Flourish, we must be part of a working ecosystem, a culture, and a group.

We cannot Flourish by ourselves.

Flourishing requires that the ecosystem we are in also Flourish.

Flourishing requires that the culture we are in also Flourish.

Flourishing requires that the groups we are in also Flourish.

If we happen to succeed alone, it will be short-lived if nothing around us Flourishes in the process.

If we only take, eventually there will be nothing left to take.

At some point, we will lose everything.

If we hope to Flourish, we must contribute back to the things we are a part of.

If we fail to contribute back, it becomes our destiny to Perish.

Now, let's look at this concept from a Leadership perspective.

What is the largest problem we are seeing in today's world?

Burnout.

There's no question about this.

80% of the workforce finds itself in Burnout, and a large part of the other 20% are in high levels of Dis-Stress.

People are not Flourishing.

If Flourishing is Mutual, Leaders need their entire organization to Flourish, not just individuals.

If they fail to do this, at some point the organization will implode.

I recently wrote about how we are seeing this at a national level in China.

Indeed, we are also seeing various forms of imploding happening within many organizations and industries.

Look no further than the failings of large organizations to convince employees back to the office!

Look at the strikes occurring in multiple industries!

Look at how Disengaged people are at work!

Worldwide, nearly 80% of people are Disengaged!

Striking how 80% of people are Disengaged, and 80% are also experiencing Burnout.

When people are pushed to their breaking points, it never ends pretty.

If we want our organizations to Flourish, it must be mutual.

Just as we want to Flourish ourselves, we need our teams to Flourish as well.

How do we accomplish this?

Understanding Dis-Stress.

What is the one thing I always say about Stress?

All Stress Adds Together

If we are going to help our organization Flourish, we need to know all of the Stress our teams undergo.

With this knowledge, we can then go about reducing as much Stress as we are able.

Some of these Stresses we will have direct control over.

Others, we may not.

So, this means that we need to gather as many resources as we can so we can aid our teams.

We must also realize that all Stress leaves damage via Oxidative Stress.

This means we also need to provide resources to heal and recover from that Stress damage - and it is needed even more for those already in Burnout.

If we do not fix the Stress damage, our baseline levels of handling Stress will be diminished.

Fix the Damage and reduce the Stress.

Failure to do this will lead to a Failure to Flourish.

However, there is another aspect of Stress we must understand.

Stress Is Not A Solo Game

If you think that Stress only belongs to the individual experiencing Stress, you are wrong.

Biologically, we actually quite literally share each other's emotions and Stresses.

This is a function of our Neurocardiology.

So, not only can we experience Stress in our own lives, but other people's Stress' can literally get placed upon us.

People don't even need to talk about it for this to happen.

Employees could be experiencing tremendous Dis-Stress in their lives, and they could be experiencing it in complete silence.

On the outside everything may appear fine, but on the inside their world could be collapsing.

Simply walking past them as they sit quietly at their cubicle, or being in the same room as them during a meeting could pass their Dis-Stress on to you.

This is also true in the reverse - any Dis-Stress you are feeling in your life could be directly passed onto everyone around you.

If we Flourish Mutually, we also Perish Mutually.

If we fail to eliminate Dis-Stress in our teams and in our organizations, we will Perish Mutually.

As Stress Adds Together, it will spread from one person to the next, until everyone simply can't continue anymore.

So many organizations are on the tip of a breaking point right now, and if they are not careful then they will Perish.

There Is Hope

I am not one for Doom and Gloom, it is not who I am.

This is what we need to take away from everything.

If we understand that All Flourishing is Mutual, just as All Perishing is Mutual, then we know what we need to do.

We need our organizations to Mutually benefit and thrive.

If the largest issue at hand is Dis-Stress, and it's extreme called Burnout, then we need to fix this.

As Leaders, we can do this.

First, we must be Exemplars - we must fix our own Stress Damage (Oxidative Stress), and decrease our own Stress.

Here, we can also learn how to control our Neurocardiology so we stop Spreading Stress and instead spread things like Calm and Ease via Entrainment.

With this, we can then focus on our teams.

Where are they experiencing Dis-Stress?

Can we directly fix their Dis-Stress?

How do we accomplish it quickly and effectively?

If we can't directly fix Dis-Stress, what resources can we gather to give them the help they need?

What actions will lead to further Dis-Stress?

What alternatives do we have to avoid this?

If you help your team and organization Flourish, so too will you Flourish.

The choice is yours as a Leader - will you choose to Lead your team to Flourishing or Perishing?