The Benefits of Rituals For A Healthy and Inclusive Business Ecosystem
Resilience and Business Management
Rituals have played a relevant role in our daily practices, they are connected to our cultural identity and development, anthropologically. Performing rituals positively contributes to our mental health, resilience and productivity at home and in the workplace. We rely on rituals to add value, feel grounded and stay focused on our goals throughout the week. Rituals enhance our sense of security and improve stress management.
We can integrate rituals in our routine to boost our confidence and self-esteem, develop stability, consistency, self-care, compassion and discipline.
Rituals give us the opportunity to strengthen our sense of belonging with family, friends and colleagues. We empower ourselves when our habits reflect our values by repetition. Rituals are excellent tools for team engagement and team building. Rituals allow us to establish our responsibilities and affirm our accountability to honour our community through shared experiences.
How can we create culturally sensitive rituals to enforce our commitment to equality, equity, diversity and social inclusion?
1. Frame an inclusive vision.
We are assisting to a shift in our leadership culture.
Companies are promoting collaborative leadership models in order to optimise their strategies for Business resilience. Social inclusion has proved to have a huge impact on Economic growth when constantly adopted in a Business framework. Companies that have proactively contributed to socially inclusive growth strengthen their competitiveness. We can include our teams’ perspectives in our organisational values to stimulate innovation, encourage progress, cultivate a more dynamic environment and more efficient teamwork.
An effective practice to prevent conflict and miscommunication is “Treating others how they wish to be treated” not how we wish to be treated.
2. Optimise Human Resources
As leaders our Business vision and priorities need to match the perceptions, aspirations and expectations of our team members which are also connected to their backgrounds and beliefs, in order to promote participation and optimise human resources.
Acknowledging other peoples’ values and cultures is a form of investment because it helps to recognise their strengths and expertise in order to build trustworthy relationships in the workplace and in our social life. Facilitating intercultural communication in the workplace increases team cohesion, expands our awareness and can prevent conflict caused by misunderstanding and misinterpretation which can lead to significant damage within our Business ecosystem.
3. Protect your Business Ecosystem
According to Investopedia’s definition, A business ecosystem is the network of organizations—including suppliers, distributors, customers, competitors, government agencies, and so on—involved in the delivery of a specific product or service through both competition and cooperation. The idea is that each entity in the ecosystem affects and is affected by the others, creating a constantly evolving relationship in which each entity must be flexible and adaptable in order to survive as in a biological ecosystem.
Rituals are linked to our performance, motivation and understanding, reminding us of the importance of conscious listening for sustainable resource management.
We cultivate our business by fostering nourishing relationships with our teams, with the people we work and connect with, planting seeds with our actions, because we are the most impactful gifts that we can share with the world.
“The greatest gift we can give to others is our full presence.”
– Thich Nhat Hahn
For the past year, I have been working with Chiara Tedeschi who provides mindfulness sessions for individual and corporate needs. I would like to thank Chiara for sharing her insights, expertise and wisdom below, for a more mindful Christmas.
Chiara Tedeschi is a Physiotherapist and Mindfulness Teacher. Chiara Tedeschi graduated in Physiotherapy at “La Sapienza University” in Rome and she has been living in Los Angeles where she used to work at Saint John’s Hospital in a multidisciplinary centre, for the treatment of chronic pain for 6 years. Chiara Tedeschi is an international expert in relaxation techniques and biofeedback. Chiara Tedeschi is a trained teacher in MBLC – Mindfulness-Based Living from the Mindfulness Association (UK). Chiara Tedeschi is also trained in MBLC-YA to teach Mindfulness to Young Adults from 11 to 18 years old. Chiara Tedeschi works with individuals and companies, providing corporate training, mindfulness retreats and individual sessions for anxiety management and stress management. Chiara Tedeschi shares empowering tools to cultivate a loving attitude towards ourselves and others.
We are approaching Christmas and maybe we struggle to find the right gift for our employees, colleagues, friends and family members.
We often forget that the most precious gift is our presence which we can communicate through conscious, empathetic listening. Mindful listening is part of the Mindfulness practice that we can carry out in daily life. It doesn’t require special skills other than the intention to be fully present, without distractions. Listening is a skill that can be trained and may involve all our senses. It provides us details about people’s personalities, their history, priorities, needs, emotions, moods, desires and dreams.
