Do you have relationships with colleagues that truly sustain you? This is much more than knowing that someone delivers on expectations. It's about a deeper sense of sharing one's life journey, a warm belief that together you can face and overcome any uncertainties. We've all known these kinds of relationships. Would having more of them help you in 2012? 

As ANE leaders, the greatest thing we can say of a colleague is that he or she truly helps us grow spiritually--the things we do together expand our inner core, which in turn brings our lives greater meaning and accomplishment. That's why we learn to quietly do our unique spiritual activity at our jobs, and also why we share/listen in the safety of being with other ANE leaders. The pathways that enrich relationships are far more likely to open up when we make our connection and help others learn. 

The real issue is figuring out just how we make these deeper connections to people in the competitive, dog-eat-dog, stressful world of the modern organization. Workplace cultures, as well as our own heads, are full of ideas that some people are good for us, while others are a threat. It's what causes our working relationships to become so patchy.

How many meetings and phone calls will you make this week? Probably more than one hundred. Try to practice Trust First - the outcomes can be truly career boosting. In each situation, see the people you work with not simply as having ideas and resources, not simply having problems and worries, but also having a unique spiritual center, just like you, wanting to find more calm, confident pathways of expression in the world. Picture this part of them wanting to bring the greatest good into the world despite all the issues, and, above all, imagine this inner core in them wanting a far more meaningful connection with you. Surely a person's inner core is one part you can trust, even before the first word is spoken.

Relationships that start with truth and trust grow to sustain us deeply through career ups and downs. First we trust our unique spiritual center, which will help lead us, and then we trust that the same idea is working in others. Practicing this in our relationships imbues our entire life with a wonderful feeling of being well-connected.

Stephen
Calm, Confident, Connected

PS: ANE leaders, please share your workplace experiences anonymously here.

PPS: Our LinkedIn Group is called A New Equilibrium, please join us is if you are linked in.