Search the site...

  phil mora
  • The Global Nomad
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Contact and Book
  • The Training Log
  • The Global Nomad
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Contact and Book
  • The Training Log


​The Global Nomad
(JAN-APR 22 = currently in the Philadelphia area.)

about

Mindful Culture that wins

2/17/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Cultivating a mindful culture that boosts the wellbeing and productivity of everyone involved in their business, from CEOs to frontline staff, suppliers to customers, and – at the end of the day – even shareholders as well.
-Philippe.

[Thank You HBR | by Matthew and Terces Engelhart 01.20.14]
When we started our first restaurant in 2004, our goal was to create a place where people wanted to not just eat but also to work. Just like Southwest Airlines or Starbucks, we recognized that a happy staff means happy customers and a more productive, profitable business. But what would this employee-centric vision look like in practice?

We decided to start at the beginning – the moment our servers, cooks, baristas and bakers walk through the front door – with a “clearing” exercise inspired by Eastern meditation and yoga practice. People partner up and ask each other two questions. One is designed to pin point any distracting thoughts or emotions (for example, “What’s bothering you today?”), the other to bring people into the positive “present” (for example,“What are you grateful for?”).

The idea is to help everyone be more mindful of themselves and others, a practice that not only yogis and monks but also Harvard psychologists, such as Ellen Langer and Susan David, have long encouraged. Employees learn to listen to and connect with one another, which not only creates an immediate bond and better working relationship between them, but also inspires them to use the skills they’ve just practiced to better serve our customers across the seven establishments we now run.

Whole Foods is another company that cares deeply about employee well-being, so we weren’t entirely surprised when David Lannon, the company’s executive vice president of operations and a loyal patron of our flagship restaurant, Café Gratitude, approached us to ask how we’d managed to cultivate such engaged employees, who were, as he described it, both willing and able to forge “deep connections” with customers.

Soon, he brought us in to conduct workshops for the senior team at the northern California Whole Foods headquarters.  The sessions focus on four principles, all reinforced through simple exercises like clearing:
  1. Profit = love of sharing
  2. Awakening = love of transformation
  3. Sustainability= love of the Earth
  4. Service= love of community


Initially, the Whole Foods team members were a little skeptical. But they now do these exercises a few times of week. Lannon has told us that it’s particularly helpful for him as a leader because “when you’re the boss your reaction is to go into problem-solving mode and not really listen as closely as you should to your employees. It’s easy to just give them a solution. But when you’re really present in the conversation instead, employees feel more connected to you and you can solve problems more effectively together.”

Our hope is that all companies realize the difference that these simple practices can make in cultivating a mindful culture that boosts the wellbeing and productivity of everyone involved in their business, from CEOs to frontline staff, suppliers to customers, and – at the end of the day – even shareholders as well.

[Read More: http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/01/mindful-culture-through-simple-exercises/]
MATTHEW AND TERCES ENGELHART  Matthew and Terces Engelhart are co-founders of the plant-based West Coast restaurant groups Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre.  

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    head of product in colorado. travel 🚀 work 🌵 food 🍔 rocky mountains, tech and dogs 🐾

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Change Agents
    Experiences
    Fitness
    Hacking Work
    Technology

    Archives

    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010

    RSS Feed

Phil Mora
​San Francisco .Rennes .Fort Collins .Philadelphia
Phone: (415) 315-9787 . Twitter
@philippemora .  braintrust | polywork | behance

Copyright © 1999-2022 Marshall Tucker by Bold (MT2B) All Rights Reserved