The Virtuous Cycle: Love At Work

This is part of the "Mindful Minutes" series – a collection of short talks by Scott Shute, head of Mindfulness & Compassion at LinkedIn, aimed at helping you develop a more mindful approach to your daily life.

In order to serve others, we must be able to serve ourselves – be our best versions. Scott talks about the concept of "Me to We", the Virtuous Cycle of generosity for the self and for others, and how to foster compassion at work and for our colleagues.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Scott Schuett.

I lead our mindfulness and compassion programs here at LinkedIn.

And today,

It's time to talk about love at work.

No,

Not that kind of love.

That kind of love,

Romantic love,

At work,

Can be distracting and cause all kinds of other problems.

I'm talking about something else,

Compassion.

Or the ability to consider others and help them if they need it.

Which,

When you think about it,

Is another way of talking about love in action.

There's a model we've been developing and using called Me to We.

It starts with the development of self.

For example,

During an airplane safety review,

The flight attendant says,

In the event of emergency,

The oxygen mask will come down.

And please put on your own mask before helping others.

Because if you're unconscious,

You can't help those around you.

At work,

If we're not conscious,

If we're not at our best,

It's hard to help those around us.

When we develop the ability to be present and self-aware,

We're an upgraded version of ourselves.

We can be our very best selves.

And then we can take that upgraded version with us into a relationship with a customer or a coworker.

If we can develop the skill to be fully present in our interactions with another person and truly,

Truly understand their situation,

We then have a much better chance of serving.

And when we're able to help,

To serve,

It makes us feel good.

And when we feel good,

It's easier for us to be our best self.

And when we're our best self,

It's easier for us to be of service to others.

It's a virtuous cycle.

Can you remember a time when you gave of yourself and it felt great?

It felt really energizing?

Well,

Here's one simple thing we can all do.

Try doing one thing each day out of pure generosity,

Without any thought of return.

Over time,

You just might find you've received far more than you've given.

And that's love or compassion at work.

Reviews

So grateful to have found you and thank you for sharing your precious reading

Already in love with this practice at work 💛👌🏾💛. 🙏🏽

Grateful humble thankful amen

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you Scott for sharing this with us I hope you have an awesome day my new friend and Namaste 🙏

Interesting, tks 🙏

Nice little thought to bring to work with me!

In just two brief minutes Scott articulates precisely what I’ve been working on with my daughter recently...awareness of self to help create compassionate connections with others 💜

Thank you Scott🙏Short yet effective, sending gratitude and blessings 🙏🙏 May peace be with you ☮️

Me to We
Illness to WEllness 💚
Thanks Scott . With gratitude 🙏

I really believe your words to be very practically relevant - thank you 😊.

Great reminder! Thanks Scott. Love and blessings 💙 x

I love these simple yet powerful tips! Thank you!!! 🙏🏼❤️