The business landscape is shifting fast – employee engagement is low and tech companies are laying off hundreds to thousands of workers to tighten up their bottom line for investors. This along with the high cost of housing, food and necessities is making people nervous about their own futures. I used to feel that way too, until I discovered BG5 and Human Design. I now have a broader perspective on what is happening in the world and a way to connect with my own inner GPS to know I am on the best path for me in these shifting times.
Everything is changing as we move towards the era of the individual, away from the control structures of the past. It is more important now than ever that people find their true authentic, unique selves and learn how to set healthy boundaries to maintain their health. Many have done this with the Great Resignation where people decided they were no longer willing or able to go back to the control of the company. Each person needs to decide for themselves what works for them and what doesn’t. Where in the past, many were and many still are as we transition, slaves to the corporate world. Modern workplaces have been coined ‘paid slavery’ simply because the individual has no freedom to work at their own pace or on their own schedule.
That is changing fast, and leaders need to find ways to engage with people differently than they maybe ever have. Treating people as the individuals they are with their own lives and stresses to manage (and in today’s world there are many) requires our processes to change if we are to engage with a healthy workforce. BG5 and OC16 tools and practical techniques provide a new way of seeing how everyone plays a significant role in an organization. By knowing an individual’s unique BG5 Career Design, we can see exactly where they will fit best in an organization. We can also see what’s missing in small teams that may be affecting productivity and how that adds to the larger organization’s bottom line. Ultimately, when everyone is truly seen for who they are and what they can contribute, the energy dynamics of the organizations can shift significantly.
In a recent conversation with Karen Sherwood, Banu Basaran and Rob Thomas at BG5 Solutions, we pondered some of the things that are happening, and I wondered what would happen in the business world if we approached hiring from an entirely different perspective. Knowing what we know about BG5 and the uniqueness of each individual and how we’ve been hiring people into pre-determined ‘role profiles’ with a set of skills and abilities or core competencies – this now seems outdated and ridiculous. What would happen if we could see a unique individual’s hidden talents, gifts and knew in what way they would be most satisfied contributing to the company? What if we focused on each individual and invited them into the company to create their own role? How much more would they improve the bottom line if they could work at their full potential?
This could be the actual implementation of true diversity as everybody comes in as they are, and they are included into the system not by trying to fit in to a role description or trying to be confined in something that maybe they are not. This is the ultimate system that will bring diversity to the corporate world.
~Banu Basaran, BG5 & OC16 Consultant, BG5 Instructor
In the past, we’ve been homogenized by the institutional systems we’ve set up to make progress – schools prepare students for the work environment and to be contributing members of society. These systems have left little room for individuals to express themselves and their uniqueness. Those who do, get labelled as troublemakers and many go on to disrupt industries and economies. The environment we’ve been in has been all about planning and control and that’s how a large organization functions – with little regard for individual uniqueness. When we are in a large group (>16 people), different characteristics are drawn out of us and contributed to the group outside of our own awareness. We may think we are in control of our careers and our work but the underlying mechanics that exist between us are what is really in charge.
With BG5 and OC16 tools and knowledge, we can see the dynamics at play in any group. We can see what is working and what’s not working and how to make small adjustments for greater success. Currently, employees are hired into existing ‘roles’ based on what management thinks it needs to run the business and while these may be close to what is needed for success, most of the time, predetermined roles limit the person in them. The stats show that many people ‘fudge’ their resumes and act ‘as if’ they know what they’re doing in the interview, just to get the job. Some of the time, they may be capable of much more than what they are hired for and just need the opportunity to get in the door. Other times, they fall short of expectations and their true gifts are ignored.
How many times have you applied for a job knowing you could bring so much to the organization if they could only see what you’re capable of? How often have you had the opportunity to do the work you really love? Or were you saddled with the work in the ‘job description’ that leaders thought needed to be done when you could see what was possible if you could contribute your full potential? What about those of you who don’t even know what you’re capable of? Many people need to have their skills and abilities called out of them. With a clear map of your capabilities, it’s much easier to be coached to develop the skills and gifts that are part of who you are.
Here sits an individual who’s not even seen in most cases. They are looked at through the lens of their resume, or their LinkedIn profile or the lens of the interview process still not being accessed, seen, acknowledge or validated fully so how could they ever be included fully.
~Rob Thomas, BG5 & OC16 Consultant
With BG5 and OC16 tools we can see how an individual can best contribute to six specific departments that exist in any organization – Management, Direction, Competition, Logical Enforcement, Interaction, and Innovation. BG5 OC16 Consultants can see what people are likely to be good at naturally and what things would be better left to someone else. When individuals can see their own potential and be supported to express it, you get a much more dynamic mix of competencies and production. When people understand how their own energy works regeneratively and they can set their own boundaries around the work they will and won’t take on, you’ll get a much more committed (engaged) workforce and better outcomes for health which impact the bottom line. Forcing people to do work they don’t have energy for or interest in is setting everyone up for burnout or failure.
What it all comes down to is the one thing they found in Google’s Quest for the Perfect Team study was that successful teams shared a climate of:
- Interpersonal trust
- Mutual respect
- People comfortable being themselves.
We are all unique individuals. We are all uniquely ourselves. Imagine having a workplace where all of you gets to be expressed. Where you can truly be who you are, you can truly express all of the skills, gifts, talents you have and what’s possible when each of us brings the wholeness of who we are and not this compartmentalized piece of ourselves.
~Karen Sherwood, BG5 Consultant & Instructor
We will only have true diversity and inclusion when each of us can show up and express our full potential.
If you’re a leader struggling to know how to best work with your people, contact us at BG5Solutions.com Watch our full discussion on the Hidden Mechanics of Team Dynamics.
If you would like to see your own uniqueness and how you can express your full potential, a BG5 Consultant can help you understand your Full Career Design Report.
If you’re interested in knowing how you can be trained to help others see their uniqueness and help them find a fulfilling career, check out the BG5 Foundation and Certification courses.
Shelley Finerty is a Certified BG5 & OC16 Professional Consultant and has 30+ years of experience working in the areas of IT, Sales Marketing, Business Analysis, Project Management and Business Development along with an avid interest in what makes us human having studied NLP, Leadership, Mindfulness, Yoga, energy work, plant medicine, natural healing methods, trauma and recovery. She now works with the BG5 Solutions group consulting with individuals, leaders, and organizations.
