Transparency, Trust & Satisfaction as we Work Together

Each day, as the amazing group of folks working to manage, build, and sustain Yoga Yoga work through issue after issue, I keep coming back to the flow of money, the flow of energy, and how connected they all are. We struggle with doing what is right, with trying to figure out - in action in the world - what works for our organization (that means the staff, teachers, students, vendors, our community....all of us!)

I am constantly reminded how complex this all can be...how each of us relates to money, to work, to survival....and I work hard to stay grounded in my compassion as I engage all of this.....

One of the most useful things I can do is read John Bloom's writing. This month's newsletter from RSF is right here.

This month, John writes about Transparency & Trust.....he so eloquently scratches the surface of what has recently been revealed to our organization as at the heart of our relationships. Consider this...

In a way, there are three forms of trust that accompany financial transactions: trust in matter, or the observable; trust in others, their truth or integrity; and trust in spirit, or common intention. While transparency may on some levels feel like a right, as it is primarily treated in our current political debate on economics, it is also a vehicle for reaching trust in the three realms of matter, relationships, and common destiny. Thus the practice of transparency in finance, with full respect for the rights of privacy and safety, is an essential tool for transforming our economic future.

Trust is so vital to our safe, satisfying business transactions. Transparency is vital, and it requires work ...it is a practice!

Growth or Stability?

For some time now, my productive time has been very focused on the contrasting needs of growing or remaining stable. It does seem that growth and stability are intricately related. One way to consider the relationship is that they are mutually exclusive, but I am questioning that belief. Right now I am more inclined to explore the possibility of establishing a stable rate of growth, and 'owning up to' the inelegant transition I am experiencing personally and professionally as I transition in one area away from an unstable rate of growth into a more stable growth rate.

Rich Goldstein (Raghurai)

Blogging and Working - Balance, and a few links

Once again my enthusiasm for my work projects have slowed down my blogging efforts!

For the last month or so I have been 'caught up' in launching a new business endeavor - YogaSolve. YogaSolve is going to provide yoga instructors around the US with a greater capacity to become viable and to bring the benefits of yogic technology to our communities as they struggle to find a new balance for addressing health care on a societal level.

At Yoga Yoga we have started out the new year with a great team, great projects, and lots of folks doing yoga. Our new spa at 360 is finding its place with our students, and it is a great addition to our community here in Austin.

And speaking of Austin, here's a great article on the trends we might expect in the economy nationally as we move into the coming decade, post economic recovery plan. I am a believer that in order to be successful as a conscious entrepreneur it is vital to be skillful. Also it is vital to be informed. This sort of macro view can really help provide deep background for strategic thinking. Check out this map, too. It shows a great big, growing green circle for Austin!

Trends in Business - Transparency

One of the 'hallmarks' of a conscious business is the shift towards greater transparency. When hierarchy is limited, and information flows freely at all levels of the organization, it is much more likely that the organization will be high-performing.

We (like many organizations) struggle with reviews within the company. Being a small organization, we don't have the sort of structure imposed on us that many larger companies do, yet, we are certainly at the size where people need feedback in their work. That feedback is critical for enhancing and continuously improving, both from the company's and the individual's perspective. Without adequate feedback, even if a team member wants to get better at what they do, they have a hard time figuring out what to work on.

Here's an example about how transparency can be enhanced through technology. I haven't tried it out myself, but the approach seems really interesting. Rypple. Watch the movie!

Yoga Yoga Opens At Seton Good Health Commons

Starting January 5th Yoga Yoga is going to be providing yoga classes at Seton Williamson County Good Health Commons. Here's the write up in the Austin Business Journal, GoodHealth Commons partners with Yoga Yoga.

Social Capital.....The Trend Continues

Here's a post about social enterprise from Lucy Bernholz of Blueprint Research.

The trends in the economy are genuinely strong towards social entrepreneurship, conscious capitalism, and the development of social enterprise.

In just a few short paragraphs Lucy provides a fabulous series of links and connections which is going to be useful for those familiar with these terms and newcomers to the social enterprise arena.

Enjoy

Rich

The Talmud, the Yogic Edge and Death

In the workshop I teach called 'The Yogic Edge' I assert that 'business is the most spiritual of pursuits'. This morning, reading this post by teacherken, which references this article about the Madoff scandal I came upon this writing about the Talmud. I think it makes the point....

The Talmud teaches that when we die and account for our lives before our Creator, each of us will be asked four core questions that determine whether we have lived a worthy life.

Were you honest in business? The first question we are asked in heaven is not a ritual question, but an ethical one: How were you in the marketplace? In this age of financial scandal, an ancient voice rings true: Business integrity is of paramount importance.

Did you make time to study sacred texts regularly? Our own instincts for authenticity, integrity, and compassion need to be recharged and renewed by studying, regularly, the words of the greatest ethical minds.

Did you do your part to nurture the next generation? Raising children affords us the grace of loving somebody more than we love ourselves.

Did you do your part to make the world a better place? Home and hearth, our own health and happiness, are crucial. But they are not enough for a worthy life. The broken world beckons. At the end of our days, what can we say we did to fix it?

Even if we can answer each question "yes," the Talmud teaches that there is still one last element to a worthy life: yirat hashem, a sense of God's presence. What does this mean in 2008? That we wake up in the morning and realize: it is not about us. We are not the center of the universe. We are not even the center of our own universe. There is God. However much we wrestle with God, however much we argue with God, however much we doubt God, it is God to whom we turn in the depths, and it is God whose service gives our life meaning.

I've been taking the chance to slow down and reflect these last few days as the year comes to an end. These words remind me that the values I have come to embrace as I've engaged the marketplace, the values that I seek to live into as I engage the marketplace, these are values worth living into. While I am surrounded by the 'din' of 'money is all that matters', I am grateful to be one of many who is engaged with the deeper integrity of the marketplace, the integrity of community as important as oneself, in balance. Teacherken's diary is about death. As he notes, more and more of those we have shared this path with are now finding themselves at the end of this journey. For me, as one of those still in our bodies, I am present to the beauty, the importance and the significance of paying attention to how we live, how we might answer these 4 questions. For me, it is not that I will answer them before God, so much as I must live with the fruits of the answers each day.

Raghurai (Rich)