Practice Good Karma at Work

According to the Buddhist tradition, karma is the total effect of a person's actions during successive phases of existence.  It assumes that your conduct in this lifetime will influence events and relationships in future lifetimes. 

Whether or not you believe in reincarnation, practicing good karma at work can only help you, for most people see the consequences of their behavior play out in this life.  How do you do it?  The main strategy is to consciously manage your work relationships, which are similar to family relationships in that while we don’t necessarily choose them, we have to make them work as best we can.

I’ve recently had the opportunity to work with the brilliant Stephen Covey. In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Covey introduces the concept of the emotional bank account. When the reserve of trust in an account is high because we’ve continually demonstrated goodwill, communication is instant, easy, and effective. On the other hand, if we continually show another person disrespect, the trust account diminishes, and the slightest provocation can turn into a relationship incident.

You can keep your work relationships productive and your work karma positive by making routine deposits to your emotional bank accounts.  For example: 

·         Praise superior work and show gratitude when someone does their job well

·         Take a sincere interest in the other person and what’s meaningful to him

·         Attend to the little things, such as returning a message or acknowledging his birthday

·         Deliver on anything and everything you promise

·         Remember the names and goings-on of the important people in his life

·         Admit and remedy mistakes without placing blame

While not all colleagues will be equally receptive to your overtures (perhaps they have their own karmic issues to work out), 90 percent of the time your efforts will be duly noted and appreciated, and you will be rewarded with greater success.

 

Comments

[adrienne4real]

Great Blog, we are currently reading "They Don't Teach Corporate In College" for one of my classes, there is a lot of great information in there! I graduate in May and I started a website to hopefully show prospective employers. Please check it out and help me promote it!

www.yourmediareporter.com

and follow me on twitter
http://twitter.com/adrienne4real

[DC Jobs]

Thanks for the suggestions, I had not heard of the concept of an "emotional bank account" before. I'm sure that we all have relationships that are important to us for our further growth an success. Putting effort in where it counts will probably go a long way.

[Krista Francis]

Karma at work; what an awesome way to think of the give-and-take of work relationships. Thanks for the image. Nice post.

[Bradley J. Moore]

It's funny how when we're at work we have to be reminded of the fact that we're dealing with PEOPLE. The suggestions you mention are so basic in developing courteous human relationships, yet we somehow believe we can check that attitude at the door when we walk in to the office, and save it up for family and friends.

Thanks for this reminder.

[Heather R. Huhman]

I completely agree, Alexandra! Practicing good karma at work can only help you. You offer some wonderful tips on keeping work relationships productive.

I, too, have found my employees are more engaged when they are given praise for their superior work, and who doesn't love it when their birthday is recognized? We actually acknowledges their birthdays on our LinkedIn group (since we're a virtual team working in different parts of the country).

Thanks, Alexandra. As always, you provide some great insights here!

Heather

[Alexandra Levit]

@Adrienne: I love hearing that, thank you! What school do you go to?

@DC: You should check out Covey's book. I think you'd like it.

@Krista: Thank you, and thanks for reading and commenting!

@Bradley: I know, and then we wonder why we're always having interpersonal conflicts at work!

@Heather: An interstate virtual team? I'm so thrilled for you!

[adrienne4real]

@alexandra I go to Ball State University. A class called comm 401 is required to graduate and "They Don't Teach Corporate In College" is required reading. I have pulled a lot of "nuggets" from the book, especially about networking and corporate persona. Thank you so much!

Adrienne
www.yourmediareporter.com

[Michael G. McDole]

Alexandra:
Picked up the link to "Practice good Karma at work" off the AVMA Newbites (2/16) and I'm glad I did. Congradulations.
MG MCDole

[Alexandra Levit]

@Adrienne: I'd love to come and speak at Ball sometime. It's right around the corner!

@Michael: Glad to have you, and thanks for reading!

[adrienne4real]

I'm sure I could set that up for you, probably on like a large lecture scale but without a doubt for the class that the book is used in. I have a contact form on www.YourMediaReporter.com or you can email me at [email protected]