Thank God It's Monday
The New Agreements for a Transformed Workplace

Have you ever found yourself becoming subtly anxious on a Sunday afternoon when you remember that the next day is the dreaded Monday. For many, including leaders and managers, the workplace has become a place that causes us to dread Monday mornings and thank the Gods when Friday finally heralds a weekend of respite. Many of our places of work have become toxic to the creative human spirit that lives in each of us, resulting in a kind of subtle malaise that seems to grow over time. We may feel we have no other choices. We may be enticed to “hang on” until we have enough money, or another job comes along, or until we're promoted, vested in a stock option program, or retired with some sort of pension. “Then,” we say, “life will be better.”

Sadly, the majority of leaders, businesses, and organizations do not realize that what is toxic for people is toxic for businesses, too. For decades, businesses have struggled to solve “soft” issues such as low morale, a lack of teamwork or creativity, absenteeism, high turnover, or poor customer service attitudes. These supposed soft costs are anything but soft on the bottom line. Why do leaders create these types of environments? Quite simply, most leaders don't know any better.

The majority of leaders have been domesticated to believe a set of leadership/management agreements that are passed from one generation of leaders to the next. These agreements revolve around numbers, rules, policy and control. Most are fear-based. People begin to be seen as “things.” What's a leader to do? Welcome to the New Agreements in the Workplace.

Based upon a combination of spiritual principles, systems thinking, best business practices, and good science, the New Agreements are simple, yet powerful, effective and measurable. The New Agreements in the Workplace are:

Find Your Path – Every human being is here for a purpose. What's your life purpose? What work are you to do? These are powerful questions. Answer these questions: What is it that makes your heart sing? What is it that you are here to do in this lifetime? When you are clear in your vision, your mind will begin to “pull” your vision to you. Your path makes itself visible.

Love, Grow, and Serve Your People – The workplace is a living being. The life force that makes an organization a living being comes from the life energy of its people. In essence, people are the organization; they are the business.

When we love our people, we love our work. When we grow our people, we grow the organization. When we serve our people, we serve the organization. In serving others, we serve ourselves, too. This focus on loving, growing and serving our people puts our people in the best position to love,  and serve our customers. Powerfully, love, growth, and service to others creates an environment where the creative power of the human spirit may be released fully in the workplace. People, including customers, will be drawn to organizations operating in this way.

Mind Your Mind in the Moment – It's a spiritual principle that the mind creates an individual's reality. If we want to change our reality, we must change our minds (thoughts, beliefs, and memories). Without awareness of what the mind is doing in the moment, change is not possible. We get what we get and we call this action/reaction process, life. Most importantly, we must become aware in the moments when we are not living the Agreements. This awareness begins to change the mind and the old reality.

Shift Your Systems – It's very important to be aware of the critical role systems thinking plays in the workplace. 90% of the results produced in the workplace are a result of the formal and informal systems in which people operate, not the efforts of the people. If we want to produce better results, we must have better systems. We must become systems thinkers.

Practice a Little Every Day – Like any new skill set, we have to practice on a regular basis in order to master the new and make it into something we do naturally in life and in the workplace. Without regular practice, the individual mind and the mind of the workplace will tend to fall back into its comfort zone before it can be transformed to a new way of being. Practice is Art. We become what we practice. Organizations and leaders become what they practice.

Conclusion: The New Agreements in the Workplace are a roadmap for transformation of the workplace, starting with the creation of enlightened leaders. Anyone can learn and apply these simple principles. All that is needed to insure success is the will and intention to grow into an extraordinary possibility that lives in the heart of every leader and every organization.

David Dibble, a former CEO, is author of The New Agreements in the Workplace – Releasing the Human Spirit. He was, for eight years, a student of don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements. He is founder of the New Agreements Center for Enlightened Leadership and the co-founder of the New Agreements Coach Training Institute. Tel: 858-481-7893 – email: david@thenewagreements.com