As I sat in an Advisory Team Meeting preparing for our next Conscious Commerce Conference, the team pondered WHY some business owners and leaders are hesitant to embrace the tenets of Conscious Commerce?




As I share with colleagues that Vast Conscious Commerce employs the enlightened business tactics of respect, trust and mutual benefit, many a colleague jump in to quickly refute that, “without profit business would not exist” … and I wholeheartedly agree. Profit is a necessary component, but in and of itself insufficient to create, sustain orgrow a thriving business venture. Ignoring the tenets of Conscious Commerce reveals a lack of imagination and understanding about how human beings and human systems optimally function. 




When trust and a sense of acceptance prevail a different portion of our brain kicks in to solve our most difficult problems. The chronic professional stress of reorgs, substandard management,silo wars, spotty healthcare, breathing in the fumes of traffic 3 hours a day,balancing childcare with work deadlines and the incessant interruption of digital devices, never allow the talent to remember they are OK. Our brains are wired to amplify negativity to avoid mortal threats. Thus, when our work life is devoid of positivity, a sense of trust or safety, the same chronic stress kicks in. This constant state of alert depletes creativity and compromises the health of your workforce. 




So, how you treat the people with whom you do business allows them to function in a different manner as they setabout to solve your companies’ greatest challenges. When talent knows it is appreciated, respected and valued, the amygdala of ancient grudges steps aside allowing the prefrontal cortex to cooperate and review your team and companies’ problemAnd, with that switch, our brain storming of solutions improves as does or divergent thinking and ability to access synergy. 




In 2017, Glassdoors and the Norwich Business School set about to find if there was a link between employee satisfaction and profits; if Conscious Commerce was an oxymoron, contradiction of terms. They discovered after assessing 326,000 employee reviews that a portfolio of companies who delivered high grades on employee satisfaction outperformed the stock market, earning 1.35x returns above the market. The study revealed that, “Employees online reviews are good predictors of a firm’s financial results and, consequently, of value-relevance for investors.” Treating people with respect, developing trust and seeking mutual benefit is precisely how you reap the most from the human beings that surround you daily in your quest to achieve great things. 




Remember, that people treat you the way they see the world. See the beauty and power of the humans around you.As you venture to treat them as precious and appreciated components of your success, they will deliver the best they have, and this is a form of motivation both priceless and paradoxical.