As a former math teacher, I understand the value of data and statistics. And, I also know, that data and statistics are strongly influenced by who is processing them and what the intended use is, that means they are skewed. On the other hand, you being you are in touch with more than just your logical mind. There is your creativity, your physical being in the form of your body, and there are your feelings. All of them also give you information, though not in the form of numerical data. How can tapping into your feelings give you information that is incredibly valuable for your business?
There are many decisions you have to make in your business. What if you could use how your body feels in order to find out which ones will create more? Whatever will create more will feel light or more expansive in your body, whatever doesn’t will feel heavy or contractive. I invite you to play with it, first by using what you know to be true or to create more. It will familiarize you with that light, expansive feeling. Then do the opposite, what is not true or doesn’t create more? From there, you can go on to more difficult situations. In each case, ask: light or heavy?
This leads to another tool: Ask a question. When asking questions, we are entrained to look for the answer. The questions I am talking about have no direct answers, they are open-ended and bring up a sensation in your body. Here are a few sample questions to get you going:
- What else is possible here?
- What is right about this I am not getting (we go quickly into what is wrong with a situation)?
- What can I be or do different to have ease with this?
- What choice can I make today to change this situation?
- What question can I ask to start changing this?
When asking questions like these, pay attention to the sensations that come up in your body. And be patient, the awareness may not present itself right away. Sometimes I have to wait for a day or even a week if it is a big question. Yet there is suddenly a thought and the awareness that this is the ‘answer’ I was looking for, accompanied by this light or expansive feeling in my body.
Tapping into feelings allows you to connect to your awareness. This gives you the ability to be strategic in your business. Your awareness allows you to know things that are not based on data, that are based on your ability to perceive possibilities. Data lead to conclusions which will give you a possibility and stop your creativity. Being the leader that you are, you know that there are always multiple possibilities. Steven and Chutisa Bowman have a weekly podcast called Treasure Trove Tuesday which I highly recommend if you desire to play more with these ideas.
A bold vision that inspires the people working for you does not come from data. It comes from the ability to perceive possibilities which, at the same time, prepares the business for the future. If a leader or CEO is unable to perceive possibilities, the business is at the effect of external changes and it leads to a doom-and-gloom atmosphere among the people working in the business. Combining your feelings with knowledge of what you are currently creating, what is going on in your industry and how that affects your business allows you to perceive different possibilities. It fosters an innovative, forward-thinking environment that’s exciting to work in.
Great businesses have a collaborative culture. A connection with the people in the business is quickly established if there is no judgment. In the absence of judgment, people feel safe. If you are truly being you, there is no judgment of others in your world, there is only awareness of others and who they are. Awareness and judgment are completely different. This blog post has more information on the difference.
When you are truly being you, you are not only a leader, you can be a benevolent leader. What does that mean? As a benevolent leader, you are creating no matter what. There is nothing that will stop you from creating. This kind of leadership is not about fixing problems, it is about creating a different possibility. That creation, though, is strongly influenced by the effect it has on other people and the earth as well as everything that lives on her. Being a contribution is a big component of a benevolent leader. All of that results from being willing to tap into your feelings. Lisa Murray describes additional characteristics of a benevolent leader in her article in the Huffington Post.
Being you requires you to be in touch with your feelings. In light of the points made, are you willing to explore your full potential as a CEO? What would you like to create as a CEO, or in other words, what legacy would you like to leave with the company? What is the contribution that you can be? Again, ask questions, and, again, no specific answers right away. Be willing to tap into the feelings that arise. Be with these feelings and allow them to reveal the words to describe them.
All these points are interconnected and based on you being in touch with your feelings. Some of this may seem to be difficult. Would you be willing to have a playful attitude? When one is serious, it is so much harder to tap into one’s feelings. Doing it from the joy or fun of it, it becomes easy, you tap into who you truly are, become more of you and create a more dynamic busines
Corinna Stoeffl was born and raised in Germany and working as a Middle School mathematics and physics teacher, before moving to the US in 1980 with her family. Since then, Corinna has explored different careers, accumulating decades of invaluable experience, including; earning a master’s degree in Counseling, working as a life coach for many years, pursuing photography and writing two books. As a Being You facilitator and mother of two, Corinna’s career path has equipped her with a unique skill set, incredible sense of self-awareness and wisdom, which she in turn shares with her clients. Corinna’s own journey to self-acceptance led her to help others to find themselves, appreciate their unique qualities, and to use them to their advantage in their life and career. Corinna recently contributed a chapter to the collaborative book Voices of the 21st Century, released this October and is a #1 bestseller. Follow Corinna.