Creating a Sacred Space in Your Business – Establishing a Culture in Your Business that Fosters Growth
By: Jon Dwoskin
Thinking like a CEO isn’t always easy because business can be a tricky thing. It can become especially tricky when you are stagnating on the latest quarter’s earnings report and wondering, What do I do now? Through the hustle and bustle of the daily grind what can be lost in a business is your purpose, the “why” of your mission statement, your reason for existing — in essence, your sacred space gets crowded—or, even, lost.
The sacred space in your business is the soul of your business, but even more, it is the soul of who you are as a business owner. It is that space inside yourself where you feel most at home in your own skin, where you’re the most content with yourself. CEO-minded people will begin by reflecting on this question: What is the sacred space in my business? By using your business as an extension of who you are, not just what you do, your ability to execute within the parameters of your sacred space will govern your practices on a daily basis.
On the island of Martha’s Vineyard there is a small micro-bakery, The Orange Peel Bakery, that has done just this. Owner Juli Vanderhoop has found her sacred space within the small bakery that she operates on the honor system. She tells it like this, “I have created an honor system which is, you come in, and I might not be there, and you leave money in the bowl which is unattended, and you take your change out and walk away with whatever baked goods you see after adding it all up.” The result? “…It has worked fantastically,” she said. The reason why? “It is, what I think, and I like to think, is giving people back the chance to be honorable, which you don’t get in this day and age,” she recalled, baring a bit of her soul in the process.
The Orange Peel Bakery has become an extension of who Juli is as a person. She defines her business, it doesn’t define her—a major key to thinking like a CEO. Juli has used her tiny bakery to bring positivity and community to Aquinnah, an area of Martha’s Vineyard, where she hosts pizza nights and general communal gatherings nine months out of the year. Housed on the lands that belong to the Wampanoag Tribe of Native Americans, her bakery is built over Black Brook — which she says allows her the ability to tap into her heritage and truly create a sacred place for herself, her help, and her business. She recalls, “There are six springs that run underneath the property, and between the smoke from the oven and the water that comes through the ground, it’s actually a very sacred place for us, and it’s a place where the ancestors are very close to us.”
Juli believes that the sacredness of the spring and the belief in her ancestors’ spiritual help has a direct effect on her business and the community created around it. “I share with my help that 99% of the people that come to visit us each day are coming through the door and very positive, and that if you can work in a place where 99% of the people are immediately telling you something positive, that you should carry that through and recognize it, and it’ll elevate you, as it has my business.” She firmly believes this, and it marks who she is as a businesswoman.
When you create a sacred space and a culture within a company, or anything that you’re doing, and it’s in alignment with your soul, then people do remember you, and they do tell people about you, and that becomes the hallmark of your business’ growth. If your soul is satisfied and focused on the culture and community you yearn for, the possibilities are endless when it comes to your balance sheet. And, you’ll have conquered that trickiness that business can bring by getting into the right mindset and Thinking Like a CEO.
In summary, Juli inspires many to Think like a CEO in the following ways:
- Juli teaches us that the sacred space in your business is the soul of your business, but even more, it is the soul of who you are as a business owner.
- Juli teaches us that YOU define your business, you can’t let it define you.
- Juli empowers us to remember that YOUR business should be an extension of who you are.
In order to Think Like a CEO, make sure you have created a sacred space in your business, one that refreshes your soul and leads you to immeasurable growth—professionally and personally.
Think BIG!
Jon
Jon Dwoskin
The Jon Dwoskin Experience
Grow your Business Big. Very BIG!
Business Coach/Author/Speaker
248.535.7796
www.jondwoskin.com
jon@jondwoskin.com
