On Wellbeing

Wellbeing is the untiring journey in search of meaning, an adventure in self-discovery, and a path towards comradeship.

Popular theories of human motivation confuse needs with wants and mistake means for ends;

They hypothesise hierarchies, dangle carrots and wave sticks, as if people in the workplace are circus animals being trained to do tricks.

Modern peddlers of job satisfaction confuse roles with personality and mistake props for reality;

They psychometrize behaviour, rate attitudes and score values, as if people can be measured and are mere variables in formulas to be plugged into the productivity equation.

We are all pilgrims treading the sacred trail of our life’s work.

Salvation lies not in finding the holy grail or ascending the final summit, but in walking with awareness and gratitude;

For the redeeming sacraments surround and enfold us, if we can only drag our gaze away from the false promises of heaven on earth.

The pilgrim recognises that the end, like all goals and aspirations, is simply a reason to begin;

That all the lessons of life and growth and death are part of the journey itself;

That lasting satisfaction is less about personal achievement and more about understanding;

And that meaningful effort comes from seeing its connection to the larger story that is being told.

No pilgrimage is without its trials and tribulations:

The terrain may be difficult or monotonous, the weather inhospitable or extreme, the company irritating or arrogant, but these may be the very thickets that conceal the path to our own development.

The secret of wellbeing in business is to recognise the value of the unseen and the unspoken:

Not the task itself, but how it changes you;

Not the target itself, but how it challenges you;

Not the team itself, but how it binds you in friendship;

Not the position itself, but how it allows you to make a difference.

Think not, therefore, of employees, but of master potters honing their art;

Think not of jobs, but of ceramic studios amply equipped;

Think not of work, but of shapely vessels skilfully made, into which we can pour our personal and collective sense of meaning.

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The Poetry of Business

Everyday Inspiration | The Poetry Of Business