Leadership

by Stacy Kamala Waltman
Business and Life Coach

With integration, there are at least 108 flavors that enhance the essence and quality of a fully explored life.  What does an integrated life look like?  At a minimum, an integrated life is one where all aspects of an individual are consciously engaged instead of compartmentalized and unconscious. 

Increased creativity, personal effectiveness and a passion for life are some tell-tale signs of a person operating at full-throttle.  A sense of well-being, confidence and the ability to trust oneself to be authentic are the spicy and sweet flavors of a soaring life.

On the business horizon, according to Daniel Goleman in his book Primal Leadership, integrated business leaders are fun to work with which can result in increased company profits.  These increases in profitability are predicted in a logarithm stating:  “For every 1 percent improvement in the service climate of a company, there’s a 2 percent increase in revenue.”  Furthermore according to this book, research on humor at work reveals that a well-timed joke or playful laughter can stimulate creativity, open lines of communication, enhance a sense of connection, and, of course, make work more fun.

There is also the famous flying fish story at World Famous Pike Place Fish Market at Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA.  The world famous crew created an empire out of fun, silliness, hard work and a collective vision.  Their unique flavor began with an outrageous idea that caught fire.  The firey idea is not to outsell the competition but to be famous for being great with people – for free- just for the fun of it. 

The owners acknowledge that their goal is, of course, to make a profit by providing their customers with the highest-quality fish and in turn, charge an appropriate amount of money for the food. But they have also created in their mission statement a desire to serve others.  They evolved from a company that existed totally to sell fish to one that is interested in giving extraordinary service to their customers and the world.  This vision steams out from the top of the organization, wafts down through middle management and infuses every single employee.

Since changing their business culture, World Famous Pike Place Fish Market went from near bankruptcy to consistently being at the top of fish sales in the market AND they make more money per square foot of retail space than any other retail store in America.  This is one of my favorite stories of a rag to riches “tail”.  

At the cellular level and from the perspective of our bodies’ internal workings, a team of University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers, led by Dr. Michael Miller, has recently shown for the first time that laughter is linked to the healthy function of blood vessels. According to their research, laughter appears to cause the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, to dilate or expand in order to increase blood flow. 

Miller says it may be possible to incorporate laughter into our daily activities, just as we do with other heart-healthy activities, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator. "We could perhaps read something humorous or watch a funny video and try to find ways to take ourselves less seriously," Miller says. "The recommendation for a healthy heart may one day be exercise, eat right and laugh or be silly a few times a day."

And, from a spiritual perspective, Rumi reminds us to enjoy the subtle, whimsical simplicity of life in a poem called Doves,

“People want you to be happy.
Don’t keep serving them your pain!

If you could untie your wings
and free your soul of jealousy,

You and everyone around you
would fly up like doves.”

A life with flavor allows you to be lighthearted and fun and to savor every morsel that is right in front of you.

Your first priority is to be happy.  Of course you can be healthy, rich, fit, beautiful, mannered and successful, too. But if you are not happy, what do you really have?  Have fun, be playful, and laugh raucously.  Be rambunctious.  We are here only for a short time, after all.  Make yourself happy and watch how everyone around you gets happier as a result of you being fun to be around.  Explore the fullness of a life with flavor and add your spice to the lives of those around you!