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March/April 2010 Living Now
Working for Good

by Jeff Klein

Many of us aspire and dedicate ourselves to working for good — making the world a better place through our work. The essence of working for good is a calling, a sense of passion and purpose that stirs us to action from deep inside. It is based on the belief that what we do matters, that we can make a difference — for ourselves, others and the world.

In my pursuit and practice of working for good over the past three decades, I've found that how we work is as, if not more, important than what we do. We can work in a green business, a social service organization or some other endeavor focused on making the world a better place, but if we treat others and ourselves with disregard or disrespect in the process, we end up creating something far short of our intention. The process is the product. Here are 10 tips for fostering a way of working that aligns with what we want to create in the world.

1. Cultivate your mind. Awareness is the most important tool for working for good. As the Buddha said, "Mind is the forerunner of all things." What we think is what we manifest, and how we think affects how we act.
   Awareness practice supports us to observe and choose how we respond to experiences. As we observe the effects of our words and actions, and the effects of others on us, we can respond explicitly and purposefully — even if it means overriding our conditioning, predispositions and tendencies.
   In addition to increasing presence, connectedness and creativity, cultivating your mind reduces stress, increases clarity, and promotes steadiness and a sense of ease.
2. Stand for something. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. Purpose is the big "why" underlying what we do. It is an activating, motivating and animating force. It is what moves us to get up in the morning to dive into life with our full being. Purpose sustains us when times get tough and serves as a guiding star when we stray off course.
   Purposeful people build purposeful companies and make an impact through whatever their work or role may be. Want to work for good? Then stand for something.
3. Know your bottom line. Thomas Jefferson said, "In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock."
   Principles are the values, universal truths and moral standards guiding our behavior. They represent what we are willing to stand up for and ensure that we respect others and the world in our pursuits.
   Want to make the world a better place through your work? Then stand on the bedrock of principles that reflect the kind of world you envision, share these principles with others and support each other to act in accordance with them.
4. Get real. Business is based on relationships. Relationships are based on trust. Trust is based on alignment between words and actions — or authenticity. Authenticity reflects embodied awareness. So, begin with awareness, stand for something, act according to principles and deepen your practice of working for good.
5. Embrace interdependence. Naturalist John Muir observed that, "When you tug at a single thing in nature, you find it attached to the rest of the world." When we just do one thing, we are always doing more than that, since no one thing exists unto itself, separate from all else. By considering interdependence in our work, we can purposefully build an intricate web of relationships, recognizing the meaningful role all parts play, distributing responsibility, authority, and accountability, and addressing the needs, interests, and perspectives of all stakeholders.
6. Listen. Really listen. Apply your awareness to suspend your own thoughts, feelings, opinions, perspectives, interests and objectives. You can always pick them up again. Listen with all of your senses to hear what others really want to express. Perceive the fears, concerns and motivations behind what they are expressing. Be genuinely curious, asking them questions to help them to fully express themselves.
   You'll get your turn, and you'll speak from a place that reflects, relates to and builds on what others have to say, cultivating the ground for real conversation, exploration and collaboration.
7. Collaborate. It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a community to raise a barn. And it takes collaboration between many individuals and organizations to make a real difference in the world. Identify others who share vision and intention. Invite them to explore. Bring your resources and capabilities to the table. And see what you can do together to advance your shared vision, while leveraging everyone's capabilities and serving everyone's needs. The synergy, generative energy, intelligence and creativity that result from collaboration can be astounding, and the process is fun and fulfilling in itself.
8. Facilitate. Facilitate means to make easy. Facilitating is key to collaboration and to getting along with others in general. Facilitation catalyzes the wisdom of the group and fosters decisions that engage the hearts and minds of all involved, to generate unified action. We can embody facilitative behaviors whether we are serving as a facilitator or as a participant in a collaboration.
9. Integrate. Integration is both an internal experience and one of connecting the internal with the external. It involves digesting our experiences and incorporating lessons, ideas, insights and skills into our being. It also challenges us to recognize and address hindrances to our growth — to face aspects of ourselves we may not want to acknowledge. Integration calls for courageous self-reflection and cultivation. It requires effort — to practice what we learn — and delivers immeasurable returns. It is fulfilling and energizing, like plugging in the lights after setting up the holiday decorations: we get to take in the whole experience.
10. Go for it! I encourage you to get out your calendar or agenda and use it to map out your next steps. Reach out to mentors, advisors, and peers for guidance and support. Return to the place within yourself where you connect with the passion, sense of purpose, awareness and energy to sustain you on your journey.

Here's some wisdom shared by Joseph Campbell. "A bit of advice given to a young Native American at the time of his initiation: 'As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm. Jump. It's not as wide as you think.'"

Jeff Klein, author of Working for Good, is CEO of Cause Alliance Marketing where he designs and produces collaborative cause-related marketing programs that address social issues while fulfilling the business objectives of alliance partners. Visit www.workingforgood.com.