I’ve been giving a good deal of thought about corporate development of late and it occurred to me that one of the most important opportunities if not obligations of any company is in relation to the growth and development of its people. My belief is that at the end of the day those who work for you should be better people as a result of their association with you, the sole exception being when they refuse to accept and act on the opportunities given to them.
A socially-conscious company cares deeply about its people. Managers in such organizations might occasionally spend more time developing their people than they do overseeing tasks and process flows. Moreover, people are not seen as commodities that are bought and sold for a price, but a portal to the infinite.
Every person on earth contains in himself a prism which refracts the spirit of life into a unique pattern of visible expression. Most come to you with their prisms coated by layer upon layer of paint – false identities which occlude rather than magnify the inner light. Your job is to help those you serve to slowly apply paint thinner to remove these layers, one by one, so that they are relieved of the exhausting and frustrating attempt to be something they are not and so that they can relax into being who they really are. It is then and only then that the full potential of creativity and productivity can begin to be actualized.
Your radiant influence and consistent example will slowly but surely influence those around you. There may be those who refuse to grow and develop and they will typically blame you or some unfortunate element of circumstance for their failure, but at the end of the day it is up to each one to decide for himself whether his inner light is liberated or kept in prison. You need not judge in either case.
Once refracted, that glorious, infinite light manifests as creative expression which proceeds from glory unto glory. There’s no mistaking it for the vapid life expression so common on earth.
The wonderful news is that everyone – even poor old you! – has this prism within. You may need to release a lot before the lot shines through, but if you stick with it, you’ll be in awe when it finally does.
Gregory Hake 
The businesses that really care for and nurture their employees are the ones that are ultimately the most successful while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction. You can’t force someone to do their best, but you can inspire someone to give their best. You can’t watch an employee all of the time, but if you create relationships with employees that are based on mutual respect you won’t have to.
You can have a successful business while treating people right, and you can feel right about assisting people to achieve more in their lives and their careers.
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As we are portals to the infinite we shine a light that lightens the way for others. It just takes an example of one person interested in seeing the specific light within another for an ignition to take place. I appreciate considering your words with you and others for we are all portals to the infinite. This can be said as our covenant.
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The beautiful thing about working with people as you suggest Gregg is that you then begin to realize the best of them in return. To me that is the smart way to build a business; work from a foundation of people’s (developed) strengths.
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I love your analogy of the prism. I think the responsibilty to assist each other to unvarnish it could be seen as the same command to love one another. We do this not with sympathy or license but with empathy and a high expectation. Every setting where people coexist is another opportunity to fullfill this responsibility.
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What an incredible shift that is occurring in today’s workforce, where there is a movement towards seeing people not as cogs in a machine, but as human beings of deep value and worth – go figure! I don’t think these enlightened companies upholding these new standards have gone as far as stating their employees are “portals to the infinite”, but I am sure that all would agree without question.
This is the era we live in, and with all the debate going on with our economy and the need to make our country “attractive” again to entice companies to start up here and hire domestic labor, I feel this has to be a central theme where it’s not going to be just about our tax policies. It’s funny, it’s as almost if being able to think about people this way has become a luxury, where it is actually the most fundamental and basic instinct of our humanity. This is the real starting point.
I applaud your continued efforts and vision, and I feel quite honored working in your company to help move this vision forward. There’s a good bit of reflection required to apply what you are saying here on a daily basis, as there is ample opportunity that needs to be recognized to nurture folks and help develop their talents, but above all, their glorious humanity. Everything we do, our attitudes and conduct, needs to serve this vision because there are so many booby traps ready to spring and discredit the idea that true living is possible, that deep respect is not just a facade, that you can genuinely care for someone without any other ulterior motive.
That’s my goal for sure and I believe in the future of this land of opportunity, this beautiful country, as we move together into this new era. What made this country strong is original thinking and original doing, and I trust we can come together in the same spirit and catch fire!
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What a wonderful way to look at the opportunities available in a corporate environment. Most are strife with competition, limitations and/or mediocrity. As a manager, we must often balance “productivity” with development, never sacrificing one for the other as they are intimately tied. My parents always sought to bring out the best in me, but at the same time, would expect much as well and I find that there are similarities in principle in the workplace.
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