The Art of Authentic Business
by Keith Beasley
'Authentic' is a strange word. If we talk about an 'authentic recipe', say for Steak & Kidney Pudding, then we mean one that's traditional. A steak & kidney pud like our grandparents and their grandparents would have made . . . before the word vegetarian was even coined.
If however we talk about an 'authentic painting', then our work of art is a 'one and only'. It's unique and true to the very moment it was painted. It's 'original', not in the sense of conforming to a traditional or established pattern, but in the sense of being a 'one-off' and representing the artist's deepest connection to their innermost and most personal self.
A quick look in a dictionary shows either use of 'authentic' to be valid. But which one applies to the business world? If there IS such a thing as an 'Authentic Business', does it mean being true to some particular 'original teaching' . . . or being true to ourselves . . . and working as an artist?
Personally I feel we haveto take the artistic route. So what can we learn from the most respected and successful artists, the Lowry's, Van Gogh's and Dali's of this world?
Know your stuff
However original our ideas, unless we know about the materials and processes our business, or art work, needs, we're unlikely to succeed. Thus Dali knew about his paints . . . I know about Reiki healing and teaching adults. That's 'knowing', not just in the intellectual, taught, sense but an inner knowing . . . a 'being in tune with' those subjects we're making our business.
This said, an understanding of the core ingredients and methods our business requires is not, of itself enough:
Be Original
Even conventional business advisors tell us to have a USP - a Unique Selling Point. This is where we can be truly authentic and creative. Being a partnership between an artist and a teacher of Reiki healing, when Liz and I established Pintados Healing Arts, we just hadto combine our skills. We'd been finding that (Reiki) healing was great at helping unlock artistic blocks. And art, even (maybe especially) simple drawing was extremely therapeutic. Our unique combination of the two gave us something special - a powerful tool for tapping into divine inspiration . . . and higher truth. We knew this through the huge strides we'd both been making in shedding the conditioning of our past. Without our joint tools we'd not even bea partnership!
Be inspired
Having learnt our trade and identified our USP, we're left with the detail of our business and how we run it day to day. This is where we can really make our authenticity pay. For those of us in the training business, it's a great opportunity (and probably a necessity) to practice what we teach and walk our talk. Working authentically is not a matter thinking 'I'll do this because', it's about . . . just doing it! I'll demonstrate with an example:
Dice Divis
We don't know which of us started it, or how we came up with the idea, but to help us make decisions that our minds couldn't answer, we'd use a dice. It's a simple idea: write down six options, throw a die and act on the number that turns up. Recently I was confused as to which of a number of projects to pursue . . . or whether to 'get a proper job' to improve the cash flow. Option's 1 and 2 were look for a full time or part-time job, 3 was apply for some project work with a regional arts network. The 3 came up and I e-mailed in my application straight away. I didn't get the job, but did join the network . . . and have made some extremely useful contacts as a result! This is working authentically . . . allowing the universe to guide us.
No Rules
Whilst still in a conventional job - in Quality Assurance of the Electronics industry - I learnt that standards, whilst sometimes useful, can more often do more harm than good. Rules bind us, stop us thinking for ourselves, discourage us from adapting and developing. Creativity, intuition and imagination, all key ingredients of an authentic approach to life and business do the opposite. They help us BE!
Keith Beasley
Pintados Healing Arts
www.pintados.co.uk
keith@pintados.co.uk
Are you looking for a way of finding authentic answers to your business questions? Visit Pintados Healing Arts (near Brighton, UK) for our Open House during May 2004 and we'll give you a free demo of Reiki Healing and a sample 'Dice Divi' . . . to show you how wewalk our talk.
Keith was brought up a scientist, engineer and rational thinker . . . and has spent since 1987 developing his emotional, intuitive, psychic, spiritual and creative aspects to help him become more balanced and whole . . . i.e. authentic. Since Feb 2002 he's lived near Brighton with his artist partner Liz Allen. Together they offer 'Healing Arts' consultations and workshops to help others tap to their true, inner, whole, self.
Pintados Healing Arts 4 Coombe Rise, Saltdean, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 8QN.
01273 241650 www.pintados.co.uk
Title The Art of Authentic Business Article category Personal Development. Also in Authenticity, Authenticity Coaching, Coaching and Training. Teaser introduction to article Is business a science or an art? Do we hand craft our customer base with love and divine inspiration . . . or treat our purchasers as numbers on a balance sheet? Keith Beasley suggests that an 'Authentic Business' is best considered an art form . . . with us as artists. He and his partner, artist Liz Allen, use a range of 'healing arts' and 'healing art' in their life and work. In this article he shares some examples that get right to the core of Authentic Business. Article content The Art of Authentic Business by Keith Beasley 'Authentic' is a strange word. If we talk about an 'authentic recipe', say for Steak & Kidney Pudding, then we mean one that's traditional. A steak & kidney pud like our grandparents and their grandparents would have made . . . before the word vegetarian was even coined. If however we talk about an 'authentic painting', then our work of art is a 'one and only'. It's unique and true to the very moment it was painted. It's 'original', not in the sense of conforming to a traditional or established pattern, but in the sense of being a 'one-off' and representing the artist's deepest connection to their innermost and most personal self. A quick look in a dictionary shows either use of 'authentic' to be valid. But which one applies to the business world? If there IS such a thing as an 'Authentic Business', does it mean being true to some particular 'original teaching' . . . or being true to ourselves . . . and working as an artist? Personally I feel we have to take the artistic route. So what can we learn from the most respected and successful artists, the Lowry's, Van Gogh's and Dali's of this world? Know your stuff However original our ideas, unless we know about the materials and processes our business, or art work, needs, we're unlikely to succeed. Thus Dali knew about his paints . . . I know about Reiki healing and teaching adults. That's 'knowing', not just in the intellectual, taught, sense but an inner knowing . . . a 'being in tune with' those subjects we're making our business. This said, an understanding of the core ingredients and methods our business requires is not, of itself enough: Be Original Even conventional business advisors tell us to have a USP - a Unique Selling Point. This is where we can be truly authentic and creative. Being a partnership between an artist and a teacher of Reiki healing, when Liz and I established Pintados Healing Arts, we just had to combine our skills. We'd been finding that (Reiki) healing was great at helping unlock artistic blocks. And art, even (maybe especially) simple drawing was extremely therapeutic. Our unique combination of the two gave us something special - a powerful tool for tapping into divine inspiration . . . and higher truth. We knew this through the huge strides we'd both been making in shedding the conditioning of our past. Without our joint tools we'd not even be a partnership! Be inspired Having learnt our trade and identified our USP, we're left with the detail of our business and how we run it day to day. This is where we can really make our authenticity pay. For those of us in the training business, it's a great opportunity (and probably a necessity) to practice what we teach and walk our talk. Working authentically is not a matter thinking 'I'll do this because', it's about . . . just doing it! I'll demonstrate with an example: Dice Divis We don't know which of us started it, or how we came up with the idea, but to help us make decisions that our minds couldn't answer, we'd use a dice. It's a simple idea: write down six options, throw a die and act on the number that turns up. Recently I was confused as to which of a number of project to pursue . . . or whether to 'get a proper job' to improve the cash flow. Option's 1 and 2 were look for a full time or part-time job, 3 was apply for some project work with a regional arts network. The 3 came up and I e-mailed in my application straight away. I didn't get the job, but did join the network . . . and have made some extremely useful contacts as a result! This is working authentically . . . allowing the universe to guide us. No Rules Whilst still in a conventional job - in Quality Assurance of the Electronics industry - I learnt that standards, whilst sometimes useful, can more often do more harm than good. Rules bind us, stop us thinking for ourselves, discourage us from adapting and developing. Creativity, intuition and imagination, all key ingredients of an authentic approach to life and business do the opposite. They help us BE! Keith Beasley Pintados Healing Arts HYPERLINK "http://www.pintados.co.uk" www.pintados.co.uk Compelling offer that will encourage readers to contact us Are you looking for a way of finding authentic answers to your business questions? Visit Pintados Healing Arts (near Brighton, UK) for our Open House during May 2004 and we'll give you a free demo of Reiki Healing and a sample 'Dice Divi' . . . to show you how we walk our talk. Authors description Keith was brought up a scientist, engineer and rational thinker . . . and has spent since 1987 developing his emotional, intuitive, psychic, spiritual and creative aspects to help him become more balanced and whole . . . i.e. authentic. Since Feb 2002 he's lived near Brighton with his artist partner Liz Allen. Together they offer 'Healing Arts' consultations and workshops to help others tap to their true, inner, whole, self.
Authors name Keith Beasley
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