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Columns: The Corporate Sufi

Azim Jamal is an inspirational speaker, management consultant, executive coach, and international best-selling author. His work has been recognized by leading thinkers in the field of human potential including Dr Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy and Dr Ken Blanchard. The Corporate Sufi applies timeless Sufi principles to the modern corporate world, examining the uncommon connection between an age-old philosophy for living and working in the 21st century.Visit www.azimjamal.com.

Are you trying to go too fast?

Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up. One day, I came home to a busy work schedule. My son, Tawfiq, wanted some attention from me and I ignored him, focusing instead on my computer. He stood right beside me not letting me work. I spent two hours trying to shrug him off. I did not get much of my work done and Tawfiq was disappointed at his father's lack of interest. The next time this happened, I went on my knees and gave Tawfiq my heart, attention and love. Within three minutes, he was so satisfied that he went on to play and I had a good hour and fifty-seven minutes to work on the computer. Sometimes in life, slow is fast. If you have an irate customer complaining about something, give that person your heart, body, mind, spirit and unconditional attention, and in a short time you will diffuse the difficult situation.

How about you?

Are you speeding up to actually become inefficient?

Are you doing too much for too little return?

I was sharing the concept of doing less to achieve more with a pharmaceutical company. One of the participants could not get his head around this concept. He questioned how one could achieve more by doing less. He was always taught to achieve more by doing more - working harder, faster, and smarter. I explained the key is to be laser-focused on important things and eliminate insignificant things. If something is not significant, it should be eliminated. If for some reason you cannot eliminate it, you should delegate it. If you cannot eliminate or delegate it, then put off doing it until you absolutely have to.

The key is to execute around a tight set of priorities. In doing this, you do less but achieve more by removing items that do not add value to your life. If you have too many priorities, you have no priorities! As Warren Buffet states, "I can't be involved in fifty or seventy-five things. That's Noah's Ark's way of investing. I like to put a large amount of money in a few things." You avoid being consumed in "the thick of thin things."

How about you?

Are you doing too much for too little return?

Do you let the subject disappear in the object?

Self-transformation happens through the annihilation of the ego, from which the magnificent new form emerges. When you are consumed by ego, you become defensive and self-centered. You cease to be a team player. You are closed-minded and no longer objective or interdependent. You either suffer from an inferiority complex or a superiority complex. You are edging (E) God (G) out (O). A flower is never defensive for it is inherently beautiful. The flower's role, among other things, is to give beautiful fragrance to every passerby. It focuses on its objective and does not worry about others' opinions. When you have substance from within, you let the subjective (others' opinions) disappear in your objective (giving fragrance, in the flower's case). I realize that the flower does not have human emotions; however, the flower provides many meaningful examples to us when we reflect upon it, as do other parts of nature.

How about you?

Do you let the subject disappear in the object?

Are you displaying excellence as a way of life?

People who strive for excellence stand out from the crowd. Their demeanor is unmistakable. You can tell they mean business and will always deliver – no matter the circumstance. We tend to rely on these people and expect outstanding work from them.

Were these people born with excellence? Absolutely not! Excellence is an acquired skill that comes from nurturing and mentoring. Our parents, teachers, peers, and mentors, as well as the environment all play important parts in achieving this. The good news is that it is never too late to achieve excellence - as long as you are committed and prepared to exercise the discipline and action required.

It is much easier to be excellent than not to be excellent. This may be difficult to believe, but consider how good you feel about your work when you are striving for excellence and leading your team as well as your customers to feeling good. In fact, striving for excellence can give you many rewards and can create a positive energy chain. The reverse is true when you do half-hearted work.

How about you?

Are you displaying excellence as a way of life?

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The Corporate Sufi
by Azim Jamal