Emotional mindsets in business
This weekend, in my pursue for personal development I decided to register to a webinar run by Zoltan Veres from Refleqt about emotional mindsets in business. He talked about emotional intelligence, about balance and how to reach a fulfilling career life by using your own strengths and discovering the potential hidden behind many years of unhelpful habits and routines. I've been listening to his podcasts also and if you know Romanian I would definitely recommend them. (sorry my English speaking friends)During the webinar I've been taking notes mostly for myself but want to share some here, by enumerating the 3 main typologies with their strengths, weaknesses and tips to help improve each.
The Employee
The Employee mindset has at its base the need for security and as humans this is an understandable requirement but brings with it inertia and a fear of change. This type of person is great at getting things done, at having deadlines and seeing them through, at keeping a steady pace. Any task will need this mindset to succeed. The issues may arise when any small change might impact the job because the Employee profile is so averse to shifts in the environment.This is definitely something that is familiar to me, change is scary and being comfortable can be easy and safe. Nowadays there is a certain tendency to believe that you made it in your career if you're a Freelancer and work for yourself or have your own big business but if you don't have the mentality of an Employee you can't carry out the tasks to their end and achieve the results. This typology has real advantages, it is needed in most jobs and if you want to grow in your career it is important to understand how to channel these benefits and even cultivate them if they are not part of your mindset.Zoltan recommends a couple of things that should become part of a routine:
Set deadlines, don't put off the little things, wash those dishes, answer that email tonight, finish that blog post by Monday ;)
Finish what you started
Build healthy habits by including them in your life little by little, give 5 minutes after a meeting to read over the notes and you will be better prepared and more aware for the next day.
Push the limits of comfort and remember just by doing something for a weekend won't make a big difference so try and remain constant in your pursue. (your current routines have been trained for year and years so you need time to improve or remove the ones you are not happy with).
The Self-employed
The second mindset is the one of the Self-employed (or Freelancer/Expert), it seems like these are the go getters, the people who embrace risk, are motivated by their work and like to be the best. They also strive for personal development and feel the need to evolve by continuously learning. Some of their weaknesses are the need to demonstrate their expertise by competing with others and by giving advice because they consider themselves to be better than anyone else. Another negative side of the Self-employed typology is the constant need to observe and emphasise that others aren't doing their tasks as well as they could.Don't forget, the way we are at our jobs we bring home. There is no separation and the strengths of the Self-employed can become very stressful for others in their personal life. Constant competitivity with your partner, your child is not healthy, just like it's not healthy to bring a superiority complex into your home. The need to develop and grow can become a nuisance when you are interested in anything and everything and expecting everyone else to be the same.This emotional typology has some great strengths, especially when trying to build a business, as this is when risk is inevitable. If this side of you is not yet developed there are some things you could do:
Assume some risks and get out of your comfort zone - try placing yourself in contexts that you are uncomfortable in, things that might not make sense to you will open your eyes to different views and experiences and prepare you for the unexpected. It's great that you can jump out of a plane and say you faced your fears but if you can't take a critique without getting defensive or aggressive it means there are still things you can work at. Remember "A comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing really grows there"
Decide what you want to develop and do it constantly - choose an area you love and improve your knowledge and understanding of it.
Learn from the best in your area of interest - don't stick to only one person as no one has the absolute truth about everything, do your research by checking different views on the subject of choice.
The Entrepreneur
As an emotional profile the Entrepreneur is the person who notices systems and can build future proof frameworks. They are valuable at the top of the business as they can see what things need to happen to get the results. Besides that they are the real leaders, that can understand humans and their variety of personalities and needs, and can organise them accordingly to get the best performance. Aristotle said "Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy."It is about working with people, removing your own ambitions, managing your emotional baggage and guiding them to succeed. Leaders bring growth in everyones life because that's their strength to see how anything can develop into something better and inspire. Because they have this capacity they can also end up seeing people as systems and trying to micromanage them both at work and outside. This leads to another weakness: over correcting as they can always find something to change and transform so they can tend to push people's buttons.If your lacking some of the qualities of an Entrepreneur or feel like you want to be better don't forget it's all about being emphatic and understanding people and systems:
Nothing is black and white. Notice the details, analyse your decisions and be sure to understand what each really mean and how the tasks really work from what resources are needed, to the procedures and results we can expect. Do not choose to assume the first and most simplest conclusion is the correct one.
Develop the people around you, encourage and raise them up. Who doesn't like to be praised or thanked for their help?!
Appreciate the performance and the effort, accept that you need to communicate your gratitude with them even if it might seem uncomfortable or if the job hasn't yet been completed. Acknowledge that a percentage of it has been done, that effort has been put into it and that recognition is deserved by all involved.
The Conclusion
These emotional typologies are important when choosing our jobs and they are not related to the position we hold at this moment. You might be lead at work by a person with an Employee profile that is struggling to get the results because their Entrepreneur mindset hasn't been yet developed. Learning these new ways of dealing with your emotions, your environment and relationships will help you understand your emotional capacity. This might be the way to succeeding in eliminating the unhelpful behaviours and leading a more fulfilled life and career.I'm excited to be on this path :)