Can you engage with yourself, the moment, and the work before you?

Ultimately, Zen is about seeing into the nature of reality- the true nature of reality and not just what appears on the surface. It is about seeing ‘who I really am’, not ‘who I think I am or think I should be’. But in order to do this, one must first be in the present moment – with the ‘just this’ and the ‘just now’ of the present moment. This is an extremely difficult thing to do. The reason is that our mind keeps taking us out of the present moment into either the past or the future; we so rarely seem to be in the present. Either we’re re-writing the past, what it could have been and so forth, or we’re worrying about or planning or imagining the future And, if we arein the present moment, most of the time our mind views the ‘just this’ and the ‘just now’ of that moment as unacceptable, criticizing and judging, wanting it to be something else or wishing that it not change. ~ From the Still Mind Zendo of New York City

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Are you engaged in your dreams of employee engagement:

Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind wake in the day to find it all was vanity, but the dreamers of the day, are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes and make it possible.   ~ T. E. Lawrence.

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Happy New Year. 

At Slacker Manager I recently wrote about September 1st. as New Year’s Day.  I offered 5 keys for a New Year. I wish you full engagement in the coming year…

Another fresh new year is here…

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt, and fear,

To love and laugh and give!

William Arthur Ward

Seize engagement now…

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute! Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated. Begin, and then the work will be completed.  ~ John Anster

Be careful of clinging too tightly to fixed concepts of employee engagement.

Work, people, and relationships change.

Here is a short zen story on impermanence:

A student went to his meditation teacher and said, “My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, my legs ache and I’m constantly falling asleep. It’s horrible!”

“It will pass,” the teacher said.

A week later, the student came back to his teacher.

“My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It’s just wonderful!’

“It will pass,” the teacher said.

We become distinct by avoiding creating distinctions:

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both. ~ James A Michener

Pursue your vision of excellence.

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How close are you looking at employee engagement?

Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them ~ Alan Watts

Here are your 4 steps to look at employee engagement:

1. Take a good look at your own engagement.
2. Take a close look at the engagment of others you work with.
3. Take a look for what can help you become more fully engaged.
4. Look at what you can do for others to foster their engagement.

rosita

Benjamin Zander is a master of engagement. His passion for music and to bring out the best is very inspirational. Read the following statement he makes as he coaches a student:

We are about contribution, that’s what our job is … everyone was clear you contributed passion to the people in this room. Did you do it better than the next violinist, or did he do better than a pianist? I don’t care, because in contribution, there is no better!

Now: Watch a 6 minute video clip of Ben at work.

Can you change your view of employee engagement and performance management into passionate contribution? There is no better.

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Employee engagement is about engaging now not some future state we must strive towards

To live for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top. ~ Robert M. Pirsig

Engage now, where you are, with what you are doing.

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Do you see relaxation as the opposite of work and effort? Perhaps you believe relaxation is something you do after work? I believe we perform at our best when we relax into work or performance. Our thinking can prohibit engagement or prolong emlpoyee disengagement.

Here is a short paragraph from J. J. Gibbs, Dancing With Your Books: The Zen Way of Studying:

Relaxed Mind, Alert Mind. Relaxation does not mean that the mind goes to sleep. It means to let go to allow the mind to devote its full power to the task at hand. Emptying the mind or letting go is liberation from disquieting thoughts and feelings so our mind’s light can shine directly and exclusively on the present moment, the task at hand. The remaining mid is relaxed by alert. It is taut and ready; poised to deal with whatever present circumstances demand.

The next time you find yourself struggling to stay engaged with your work, take a deep breath, inspire yourself, and relax into your effort.

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We must make our moments count in employee engagement.

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is

paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. This kind of attention nurtures greater awareness, clarity, and acceptance of present-moment reality. It wakes us up to the fact that our lives unfold only in moments. If we are not fully present for many of those moments, we may not only miss what is most valuable in our lives but also fail to realize the richness and the depth of our possibilities for growth and transformation.

Mindfulness is to engage fully in life and is integral to fully engaging in our work.

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Read David K. Reynolds passage from page 5 of Constructive Living:

You see, the fully functioning human being isn’t someone who is utterly free of pain and happy all the time. Not at all. The mature human being goes about doing what needs to be done regardless of whether that person feels great or terrible. Knowing that you are that kind of person with that kind of self-control brings all the satisfaction and confidence you will ever need. Even on days when the satisfaction and confidence just aren’t there, you can get the job done anyway.

Can you just do it?

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