What do you want to succeed with? What is deeply meaningful to you? To what do you want to contribute?
When we are in touch with our dreams and our inner motivation, and from this, encounter different contexts with curiosity and a willingness to contribute, unexpected results and value can arise. One group that stands strong in this is entrepreneurs. Behind the entrepreneur’s creativity lies the connection between seizing opportunities, solving challenges, and creating value for others while the business itself develops.
We can all adopt the entrepreneur’s mindset, which is effective regardless of context or role. A metaphor that can help illustrate this is to see oneself as a personal company. If I, figuratively speaking, resign today and come back to my organization tomorrow as an entrepreneur, what do I do then, and what questions become important? Who is my customer, and what does she want to achieve? What opportunities and challenges do my customer have? Is there something I can offer her? What do I want to achieve and contribute to? This shift in perspective also creates a shift in energy. What was previously problems and obstacles become business opportunities for the personal company. The one who was previously my boss is now my customer. We know that this shift creates a new interplay between the part and the whole, where both parties grow.
Gaia Mindset Holistic Perspective
To see that I, together with others, am part of a whole is to connect with something greater than myself – a driving force that we all have.
When I identify with a larger whole in this way and choose to take responsibility, I adopt a different approach. I see the bigger picture, see individuals, situations, and events in a broader context. I see how different parts of the system interact with each other and bring that perspective with me when I tackle a specific situation or issue. This increases my ability to create value and sustainable results. I also see that my colleagues are parts of the same whole, and then it becomes relevant for us to cooperate rather than compete. It’s good for me if things go well for others because we are all parts of the same whole.
Embracing Complexity
To truly adopt a holistic perspective, I also need to cultivate the ability to embrace complexity. Seeing how different things, which at first glance may seem contradictory, are connected helps us integrate them into a “both-and” instead of separating them into an “either-or.” I see that in a complex situation or issue, there are seldom simple answers. It’s all about being able to shift perspectives, create meaning and clarity, and based on this make decisions, act, and move forward.
The part and the whole
With a holistic perspective present, I create an ability to lead myself in a direction where the interaction between myself and the whole provides sustainability, coherence, and results. A present holistic perspective provides meaning without losing track of my own boundaries and values. Instead, I can connect my own personal purpose with the overarching purpose of the organization. From this reasoning, the task is to choose a whole that I truly want to succeed. When I find the whole where the connection between my why and the whole’s why is undeniable, I can, like the entrepreneur, create both internal and external growth and integrate the whole’s success with my own.
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.