The Beginner’s Mind and Being Authentic in Business
By tapping into our individual and collective origin stories, we can build authentic business organizations that last beyond ourselves.
My uncle was waiting for me with a thick coat when I stepped out of the international arrival gate at John F. Kennedy Airport. After exchanging the requisite pleasantries, he handed me the coat and asked me to put it on.
As we headed towards the exit, he looked me up and down. He must have noticed that I was wearing a thin short-sleeved shirt and a thin pair of pants because, almost as an afterthought, he also gave me his gloves and asked me to put them on. I did put the gloves on, but in a defiant bravado of a newly minted immigrant, I left the buttons of my coat undone.
I thought all the fuss was unwarranted until I stepped out of the gate. The cold air hit me like daggers of ice. The wind that occasionally blew felt like it was going straight through me.
For the first time in my 20-year-old life, I saw snow on the ground.
The cold air should have bothered me, and it did, a little. But what I really felt was exhilaration and optimism.
The traffic at the curbside was stop-and-go. But when I glanced beyond the line of cars toward the horizons, I thought the open view of the country that I had just arrived in was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I was in America!
Later, when we got on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, I could not believe my eyes: the Empire State Building and the Twin Towers were rising through the winter-mist, exactly like I had seen them in magazines and movies.
Freshness of Transformation
The first few years of my life in the great United States were some of the best years of my life. Even as I struggled to find my first job, even as I juggled multiple jobs at minimum wages, even as I applied to colleges and struggled to transfer my tuition credits from the engineering college in India to the one in the United States, I did not lose the giddy optimism of being in a new country.
A few years later, I would think back to my first days in the United States and wonder why those early days in the country were so happy. When the answer came, it was obvious.
It was like being born.
It is the same reason why we look back at our childhood so fondly. When we get new eyes to look, everything looks fresh. We had not yet gotten bored with the daily commute. We had not yet tired of the same political arguments. We had not yet learned to complain about the taxes.
We had not yet formed our judgments and predispositions, likes and dislikes.
As I went through life in the next few years, I gradually committed to keeping my perspective as fresh as I could. The proverbial “beginner’s mind” in Zen philosophy: a mind that is empty of all its content, that replenishes itself with fresh insights, allows them to stay for a while and then lets them go, holding nothing.
I had already figured out a little secret to learning that, I later found out, many people never learn.
The secret to learning was insights.
The word knowledge comes from an ancient word Gnosis, which, when stripped to its essence, implies a fresh insight into the nature of things. The fabled “Aha!” moment. The best way to learn was not to accumulate knowledge; we had dictionaries and encyclopedias even in those days. It was to see through what we thought we had learned. What we thought we knew. The best way to learn was to get to the fertile ground of not knowing. It was to bring a fresh perspective to everything we see, touch, think and feel.
It was to always be a beginner.
A teaching technique I later developed, called Insight-Based Learning, had its roots in this idea. Later in my career, when I worked with organizations, this approach to learning was the foundation on which we built their cultural transformation.
What does it mean to be authentic?
Being new is often considered something to overcome. New to a place? Get a map. New to a skill? Practice until you master it. New to a new culture? Get to know the cultural norms and assimilate.
There is a practical aspect to this, of course. We need to do what can to adapt to our surroundings, situations and circumstances.
But what dawned on me gradually was that being new is not always a weakness. In fact, when it comes to learning and growth, it's a tremendous strength.
Everyday, I make a conscious effort to keep intact that innocence that I brought with me, not just to this country, but also to this planet. The insatiable curiosity of a child that comes from the state of not-knowing, not having it all figured out. And just like a child, it is my most intimate vulnerability. But it's also my biggest strength.
Not just strength, it's also my (not so) secret weapon. It's my superpower.
Being grounded in that innocence, the place of not-knowing, is my most precious gift.
What does an authentic organization look like?
And How to Get There?
Businesses, organizations and teams are made of people. So, if we want to build an authentic organization, we need to make sure it's made of authentic people.
What does it mean to be an authentic person? It means that, to the best of our abilities, we are living our authentic selves, what we truly are at our depth.
Finding this authentic self, for most of us, is a lifelong journey. It's an acknowledgement that we are all a work in progress, that we have not yet figured it all out.
And that's the part that makes this journey to authentic so exotic. The adventure begins with not-knowing, with not having it all figured out. To keep that adventure alive, we need to come back, again and again, to the state of not-knowing.
How to Invoke Our Authentic Selves
There are several ways to discover our authentic selves. One of them is to tell our story as honestly as we can. First to ourselves. And then, when and if the time is right, to others.
As we tell this story of ourselves to ourselves, we come to terms with our (perceived) strengths and weaknesses. Often, we come to a place where even our perceived weaknesses shine as our strengths.
And then we build our businesses, organizations, teams and careers around the contours of those perceived strengths and weaknesses.
A Case Study and a Guide: Building an Authentic Business
Two Conversations on "The Business Philosopher Within You" podcast
Telling an authentic story is one thing. Living it is another.
In case you thought all of this was just a wannabe philosopher's pipe dream (Believe me, someone actually said that to me once. Worry not, I've heard it all. 🙂) let me share with you a real-world example.
A Case Study
I recently sat down with Matt Remuzzi, the founder and owner of CapForge.
In that conversation, Matt shared how, over the span of 24 years, he navigated his own strengths and (what we can call) weaknesses, even as he built his business to now 85 employees and growing. Through this journey, Matt built an entire management structure around what he discovered about himself as a professional and a leader.
A Guide
On this journey to authenticity, some of us need some help. To get some insights on the process of carving out an authentic journey, I sat down with Carrie Klewin Lawrence, the author of "Origin Story."
Carrie drew from her experience as a stage director and strategic storytelling expert and shared specific formulae for storytelling. Used by novel writers and movie producers alike, these storytelling structures help us bring out the essence of us, as a person, an organization or a brand.
You can watch both of these videos below.
"Leading By Strength" with Matt Remuzzi, Founder of CapForge
Summary: Explore how CapForge built a sustainable company culture, focusing on strength-inspired leadership and the unique challenges of business building.
What is the role of "playing to one's strengths" in being a leader who can build a self-empowered business?
What does it take to build a sustainable company culture that stands the test of time?
In this episode of “The Business Philosopher Within You” podcast, I sat down with Matt Remuzzi, the visionary founder of CapForge, to explore the intricacies of creating a thriving business environment. From the challenges of scaling a business to the importance of maintaining core values, Matt shared his journey and insights. (Thank you, April F. Moore for making the connection and bringing us together for this conversation.)
Bonus Point: Can you tell us what the word "strength" in the title means?
Hint: It's not physical wellbeing, mental acuity, or emotional fortitude, even though they are integral parts of Matt's story.
"Understanding people is the key to any business."
Matt Remuzzi, Founder, CapForge
"Authentic Business" with Carrie Klewin Lawrence, Author, Origin Story
Summary: Explore the impact of origin story on company culture and authentic storytelling with Carrie Klewin Lawrence's insights on personal and corporate growth.
What if the key to transforming your company culture lies in the stories you tell?
In this episode of "The Business Philosopher Within You," I sat down with Carrie Klewin Lawrence, MFA, a renowned stage director and strategic storytelling expert, to explore the profound impact of storytelling on both personal and corporate development.
Bonus point: What is the connection between discovering our "origin story" and creating an authentic business?
Hint: It's not artificial intelligence.
"If you don't tell your story, someone will tell it for you."
Carrie Klewin Lawrence, Author, Origin Story