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42 WORKPLACE
BEYOND THE RED AND BLACK: THE EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT
"THE KEY TO BUSINESS
SUCCESS IS QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS."
BY ATUL K SHAH
Te all have a financial bank account to which we make regular deposits
and withdrawals. We receive regular statements of this account and are
able to monitor and control it. As a business community, this is what we are generally very good at. However, the roots of all lasting success and happiness lie in quality relationships. This is a fact proven by modern-day research into business success. It is people who make things happen and who are at the core.
Good, lasting relationships are built not with a financial bank account but with an emotional bank account. The deposits in an emotional bank account relate to our respect for others, our concern for their well-being and trust in their abilities. Withdrawals arise when we exploit or take advantage or do not care for others. Irrespective of what happens to our financial bank account, withdrawals from the emotional bank account are hurtful and will create stress and anxiety. In the long term, an overdrawn account will lead to emotional bankruptcy.
The first requirement to build quality relationships at home or in business is to understand others. We need to put effort into understanding their needs and aspirations and support them, not the other way round. Instead of looking for fault in others, we seek out their positive qualities and we encourage and motivate them. In business, we listen to our customers or suppliers, trying to understand their needs. At home, we support our partners and children to fulfil their personal aspirations. In short, we enable. Quality relationships create a positive circle of influence which widens as more deposits are put into the emotional bank account.
Unfortunately, unlike a financial bank account, we do not receive regular statements of our emotional bank account. This is why sometimes we can neglect or forget the importance of this account. To view our emotional bank account, we need to go into silence and meditation, and listen to our conscience. Here, a detailed account is always on-line if we choose to tap it. There is wireless access, 24/7. We know when we have done withdrawals and hurt others. We know when we have not nurtured or invested but instead we exploited. We know when we have not kept our promises and lived by our word.
If we can spend some time each day in quiet reflection and meditation, we will really learn how to build our emotional bank account. The Acharanga Sutra says: "At the end of every day, an awakened person should reflect thus: What noble deeds have I done and what have I not done? And what deeds remain to be done which could have but did not accomplish?" Fortunately, we can take our emotional deposits into our next life. We cannot however say the same about the financial bank account, which gets left behind. Our positive business and family relationships can be widened to the community, expanding our circle of influence and raising the quality of all life.
Atul K. Shah is Executive Editor of Jain Spirit
Jain Education Intemational 2010_03
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