Being Inflexible is Sabotaging Your Bottom Line
As I was standing with my family singing a happy hymn while watching the processional of the smoke slinger, the cross bearer, the choir and the priest, I feel someone standing next to me and I hear, to my surprise, “This is my seat: I sit here.”
That’s when I realized it wasn’t the Holy Spirit standing next to me. To my surprise it was an older lady with a hardened look on her face. Definitely not the typical southern Episcopal proper kind I so fondly remember from my childhood. Nope, not a glimmer of sparkle in her stone cold blue eyes. It was more of a crusty look staring back at me. And not the endearing kind of crusty that Shirley MacLaine’s character, Ouiser, had in the movie Steel Magnolias.
“Excuse me?”,I said as the fourth line of the hymn was being sung.
“This is MY seat. I have been sitting here for over 40 years!”
Now to say that a litany of snarky and even somewhat nasty responses did not run through my head like a pig running through a forest fire would be a down-right lie.
Because I was stunned, all I wanted to do was share my colorful thoughts with this lovely lady, yet visions of my Grandmother, Great Aunt Nelly, Great Aunt Geraldine, Aunt Caroline, Mom and all of those women from my younger years at Saint Timothy’s Episcopal Church went running through my head. I refrained from letting anything colorful cross my lips.
Though my tongue was bleeding, I scooted myself and my family down the pew so that ‘Miss-I’ve-Been-Sitting-Here-For-40-Years’ could have her seat. Heaven forbid someone else’s toukus grace that sacred spot. (Honestly, I think she would have sat on my lap.)
As I stood there, now reciting something from the Book of Common Prayer, working on calming my thoughts, because I truly did not want to give any more of my Sunday to ‘Mrs.-That’s-My-Seat’ I began to thinking about flexibility.
How flexible are you?
How well do you handle curve balls? When something doesn’t go as you planned what is your go-to? Are you blinded by anger? Do you retreat? Do you react and ask questions later, which may lead to apologies for your actions?
The more flexible you are, the better your opportunities to receive more of what you want.
The same is true in business. Those who turn obstacles into opportunities are saying yes to growth!
How many times have you bumped your head on the phrase “This is how we’ve always done it.”? That attitude is a sure fire way to ensure the slow, painful death of a business. It is a sign of being closed off to profit, unaccepting of anything new and innovative. It is very telling of a company being run by fear of change
The 8 Gifts of Flexibility
The Gift of Opportunity
The gift of flexibility allows you to see the situation for what opportunities are available. Remember, an obstacle is just an opportunity to ask yourself, “What door is open to me now?” When you can see the opportunities it becomes easier to focus, thus better outcomes for your company.
The Gift of Inspiration
Flexibility also offers you the gift of inspiration. When you are flexible in your mind it opens to inspiration, which can lead to the next big idea giving way to new growth in your company. Remember inspiration is intuition guiding you to your next step.
The Gift of Connections
Being flexible in your spirit allows you the opportunity to better see what others have to offer as well as what you have to offer them. Seeing colleagues in a new light opens the door for stronger partnerships creating a win/win for everyone. Remember opposites attract. Where can you capitalize on that in your business?
The Gift of Meta View
Meta View is being able take in the whole picture. Often, we get tunnel vision on the issue at hand. Remember the saying, ‘Can’t see the forest for the trees’? See the forest. When you are able to step back and see the full picture it allows you to come up with solutions you may not immediately consider.
The Gift of Courage
Flexibility gives you courage to stand by your decisions and support others. When you are flexible mentally and spirituality, it gives way to feeling solid in the direction you have chosen, which affects business decisions on numerous levels.
The Gift of Intuitive Clarity
Flexibility allows connection to intuition so that the best decisions can be made with confidence offering new opportunities. Intuition is always guiding you. Flexibility in mind and spirit help keep the channels of intuition open taking the guess work out the ‘right’ direction.
The Gift of Enrichment
When you take advantage of the gifts of flexibility, open to the opportunities of growth and abundance, actualizing your goals picks up momentum. You have the ability for more enrichment in your life through new exchanges of experiences such as taking trips, allowing more freedom of time, growing in new partnerships, as well as, readily taking advantage of opportunity that comes your way.
The Gift of Leadership
Compassionate Leadership with flexibility means leading while understanding the needs of others. Encouraging the success of many, not just one. When you function from the space of ‘There is always more than enough to go around,’ confidence in your success comes naturally because you know your direction, are willing to help others and assume abundance is yours.
That Sunday morning, by the end at the second hymn I realized that ‘Mrs.-That’s-My-Seat’ wasn’t necessarily being mean, nasty or rude on purpose. She was just operating from a deep need to feel secure for whatever reason. Being in that same spot every Sunday meant far more to her than it did to me. For me, being flexible means more than standing my ground over where I sit in church. It means help my clients reach new levels of success every day. Flexibility in mind and heart keeps me open to receiving new opportunities, being inspired and sharing in new partnerships daily.