How do you create a situation where being authentic and being in service are one and the same?
How much effort does it take you to go from who you are at home to who you are at work? Imagine if you used the language of your office at home?
A lazy Sunday morning, spring sunlight slanting through the window. The warm scratch of vinyl and coffee being poured...
"Hey babe, did you hear back from Carissa and Dave about brunch next weekend?"
"Hi Anna, I hope you're having a meaningful start to your week. Thanks for following up."
"So…did you hear back? You said you'd text them."
"I've taken your request back to our team to ensure we're providing you with the most up to date information."
"Our team? Baby what are you… did you even text them like I asked?"
"We've recently implemented a new form to process inquiries like yours so we can best align resources against existing priorities."
"Babe…*deep breath*…can we pause? I'm not feeling like you're hearing me right now."
"Thanks for your feedback — it really helps us continually improve. Let us know if you have any further input or questions."
"Why are you being so weird right now!?"
"FYI, I've also copied my mother to keep her updated on progress in the concept stage of Project Grandparents, so she can provide feedback on our workback schedule if needed."
Or the language of your relationship at the office?!
The optimism of commerce manifesting in the caffeinated banter of Millennials entering their open concept workplace. The rain song of Slack messages sopping over laptop keyboards...
"Good morning, darling. How did you sleep?"
"Um, hi Morgan… I’m fine?"
"You don't sound fine. What's wrong?"
"Uh, yeah, just working away here on this report, thanks."
"Do you want to do it together? I can help."
"I've actually just got to get this done before our meeting with our boss this afternoon, so..."
"Wait - why do we have to bring Carmen into everything?"
"Well, like we discussed at the huddle, she took this off your plate so you could focus on all the data entry from our last intake."
"Right. So what you're doing is so much more important, is that it?
"Morgan, we all agreed this was the best way to hit our target before the quarterly report is due. We're all doing our part."
"You're just not getting it. It doesn't feel like you want to listen."
*Sigh* "Look…do you want to check in with her so we're all extra-clear?"
"No, I want to feel connected to you! Or is that too much to ask?"
*Puts in headphones*
Obviously this isn't how we interact with our partners, personal or professional (unless you're that guy.) However, if we can have a little fun then we can realize opportunities to bring the best of both worlds. The same empathy we (hopefully) employ at home can inspire the human vulnerability we need in order to take meaningful risks at work. Similarly, how might your partner respond if you brought just a little more of that single-minded customer focus that score you such high ratings at work?
Compartmentalizing our lives into one and the other is becoming a thing of the past; our deeper work is being of service no matter where we are. When we transcend this story of binaries and enter a middle ground, we show up with more love, purpose and authenticity in our lives. This strengthens our rapport with our partners, and creates more effective and effortless partnerships.
Book a discovery session to explore how you can show up more effortlessly and authentically in your partnerships.