Gaia Mindset Thriving People in Resilient Organizations
We have always built our company, our Gaia, on some fundamental beliefs: Our trust in the inherent power and ability of people, together with our conviction that successful organizations are created by people who make use of more of their potential. From this, our core has developed and expanded, with the certainty that strong results and sustainable development require an integration of the part and the whole, where both people and business can grow.
When we look around the world today, in an increasingly difficult-to-navigate landscape, with rising complexity, rapid and unpredictable changes, and mutual interdependencies, we see that what we believe in and stand for has never been more important. How do we unleash the power in our organizations? Can we create both development and growth while strengthening the focus on sustainable value? How can we lead and steer today’s and tomorrow’s organizations to meet the ever-accelerating pace of change?
We want to tell you more about our core, what we call Gaia Mindset, as a way to address these questions. We truly believe it makes a difference if many, together with us, take on the challenge of creating resilient organizations built by thriving people.
What would be possible in your organization if:
- Everyone takes responsibility for the development of the whole.
- Each individual’s inner purpose is strongly connected to the purpose and direction of the business.
- Challenges in the external environment lead to development and ownership internally.
- There is a focus on sowing rather than just harvesting.
- Problems are solved at the level they arise instead of being delegated upward.
- Internal co-creation occurs naturally across organizational boundaries.
- Each person takes responsibility for their own development, thereby growing as an individual.
- Everyone is focused on making each other successful.
What reflections arise as you read this? Does it feel like utopia? We at Gaia know that it is possible to build organizations that truly harness the inherent power of every individual. These things can indeed be realized, but it requires a new mindset. We also know that an individual can make a difference even if all the conditions aren’t in place. Perhaps it is precisely then that the thriving individual is most needed.
As we summarize our encounters with hundreds of organizations and thousands of leaders, we see that today’s organizations face two major challenges:
- An external one: increasing complexity where rapid changes and interdependencies characterize existence.
- An internal one: a lack of engagement and sense of meaningfulness.
No single part can be successful if the whole does not succeed. The thriving individual needs to understand and identify with the whole, so that it too can be sustainable and vibrant. At the same time, no whole can exist, let alone be resilient, if it does not invest in the development and well-being of its parts. One is a prerequisite for the other in an eternal interplay.
Four cornerstones
For us, four cornerstones emerge, or four individual and organizational capabilities, which become crucial to help us both lead in a transformative time and realize people’s potential and engagement:
- A strong holistic perspective.
- Focus on learning and development.
- Co-creation and caring.
- And finally, the component that acts as a catalyst for the others: a new approach to leadership where everyone is a leader.
Gaia Mindset is built on these four components. They have a decisive impact on how we build our organizations, but above all, this needs to be based on and carried by the people in the organization and by interpersonal relationships. It is in you, in me, and in us together that the journey begins – the truly powerful change is the one that comes from within.
What we propose can be summarized as follows: an approach where you start from and identify with the whole you are part of, focus on your own and others’ learning, co-create with your surroundings to build sustainable value, and see yourself and those around you as leaders.
You can read more about Gaia Mindset here. In a series of blogs over the coming months, we will present different aspects of Gaia Mindset, both from the perspective of the thriving individual and of the resilient organization.
