Tip for managers trying to succeed: be nice

Later this month Tanis Helliwell will deliver a keynote address at the 2001 Women in Business Conference. She apologizes if her opening comments sound a bit depressing.

She’ll discuss chaos in the world, the feeling that there is a low-grade depression enveloping the workplace, and the notion of a ‘floating anxiety’ where people don’t understand the roles they are playing anymore.

Based on interviews and research studies, she’ll note how many people feel isolated, disconnected from their work and community.

“It doesn’t sound very optimistic, does it,” laughs Helliwell, energy crackling from her voice in a telephone interview. “But there is good news too. A lot of hope.”

Helliwell’s been in the business of helping people for 25 years as an organizational consultant, author, faculty member at the Banff Centre and as a speaker at conferences and workshops across North America.

Based in Vancouver, she’ll talk at the University of Calgary’s two-day business conference Sept. 25–26.

Sponsored by the Faculty of Continuing Education, its focus is on developing women’s potential with a program entitled Discovering the Leader Within.

“When I give keynotes and ask people what they feel they are missing, most say they feel like a cog in the wheel, or a number on a form,” she says. “Most will say they feel that people don’t care for them as an individual.”

It can be depressing stuff. But Helliwell believes a spiritual change is coming, one that is allowing more people to live and work with meaning and purpose.

People are asking questions about their roles in the world, she says. They are asking themselves if they are here to serve their employer, or to work for the betterment of their community and the world.

“A lot of people have their homes, have their cars, and are saying: ‘Is that all there is?’ ”

It’s why she wrote the book, Taking Your Soul to Work, she says. It explains that there are predictable steps to becoming more conscious of what we are supposed to do in the world, and how to make it happen.

A longtime student of Christianity, Buddhism and native traditions – “I’m interested in common patterns” – she believes change comes on a human level, on a one-to-one basis.

The Cherokee, she says, believe there are three ways people can have relationships.

One is called an adhesive relationship. It is co-dependent, where the relationship endures if one person acquiesces to the needs of the other. The second is the cohesive relationship. In this pairing, both people motivate and develop each other.

The third and least productive is the repulsive relationship. It’s hate at first sight, says Helliwell. There is no energy, nothing can be accomplished, and it’s better to be out of it altogether.

“We need to develop the cohesive relationships,” she says.

And while she says it isn’t rocket science, people are having a hard time getting into those relationships.

“Some of the best managers I’ve ever met are those that just treat people well,” says Helliwell. “They are good-living human beings. Because of these people their staff has higher morale and higher self-esteem, which actually gives people the confidence to develop themselves.”

She encourages people to take control of their own lives and work environment by treating others the way they themselves would like to be treated.

Everyone can do it, she says. A hairdresser, for example, can create an environment where people feel warm, cozy and supportive.

“People who feel cared for will reciprocate,” says Helliwell, thus creating a domino effect.

“Depending on our personalities, we can form cohesive relationships in a number of ways.

“We can grow people by challenging them, by using a great sense of humour, by supporting them in their goals, giving them ideas, or introducing them to others who can support them. There are tons of ways to do this.”

Later this month Tanis Helliwell will deliver a keynote address at the 2001 Women in Business Conference. She apologizes if her opening comments sound a bit depressing.

She’ll discuss chaos in the world, the feeling that there is a low-grade depression enveloping the workplace, and the notion of a ‘floating anxiety’ where people don’t understand the roles they are playing anymore.

Based on interviews and research studies, she’ll note how many people feel isolated, disconnected from their work and community.

“It doesn’t sound very optimistic, does it,” laughs Helliwell, energy crackling from her voice in a telephone interview. “But there is good news too. A lot of hope.”

Helliwell’s been in the business of helping people for 25 years as an organizational consultant, author, faculty member at the Banff Centre and as a speaker at conferences and workshops across North America.

Based in Vancouver, she’ll talk at the University of Calgary’s two-day business conference Sept. 25–26.

Sponsored by the Faculty of Continuing Education, its focus is on developing women’s potential with a program entitled Discovering the Leader Within. “When I give keynotes and ask people what they feel they are missing, most say they feel like a cog in the wheel, or a number on a form,” she says. “Most will say they feel that people don’t care for them as an individual.”

It can be depressing stuff. But Helliwell believes a spiritual change is coming, one that is allowing more people to live and work with meaning and purpose.

People are asking questions about their roles in the world, she says. They are asking themselves if they are here to serve their employer, or to work for the betterment of their community and the world.

“A lot of people have their homes, have their cars, and are saying: ‘Is that all there is?’ ”

It’s why she wrote the book, Taking Your Soul to Work, she says. It explains that there are predictable steps to becoming more conscious of what we are supposed to do in the world, and how to make it happen.

A longtime student of Christianity, Buddhism and native traditions – “I’m interested in common patterns” – she believes change comes on a human level, on a one-to-one basis.

The Cherokee, she says, believe there are three ways people can have relationships.

One is called an adhesive relationship. It is co-dependent, where the relationship endures if one person acquiesces to the needs of the other. The second is the cohesive relationship. In this pairing, both people motivate and develop each other.

The third and least productive is the repulsive relationship. It’s hate at first sight, says Helliwell. There is no energy, nothing can be accomplished, and it’s better to be out of it altogether.

“We need to develop the cohesive relationships,” she says.

And while she says it isn’t rocket science, people are having a hard time getting into those relationships.

“Some of the best managers I’ve ever met are those that just treat people well,” says Helliwell. “They are good-living human beings. Because of these people their staff has higher morale and higher self-esteem, which actually gives people the confidence to develop themselves.”

She encourages people to take control of their own lives and work environment by treating others the way they themselves would like to be treated.

Everyone can do it, she says. A hairdresser, for example, can create an environment where people feel warm, cozy and supportive.

“People who feel cared for will reciprocate,” says Helliwell, thus creating a domino effect.

“Depending on our personalities, we can form cohesive relationships in a number of ways.

“We can grow people by challenging them, by using a great sense of humour, by supporting them in their goals, giving them ideas, or introducing them to others who can support them. There are tons of ways to do this.”