Keeping people happy in their work creates harmony and builds strong emotional bonds. You, as their employer will harvest a bumper crop of loyalty as a reward for developing this type of environment! People who like one another share their thoughts, ideas and visions. They also inspire each other and co-create a foundation of knowledge that enables their company to achieve great things.
Each person is a combination of physical, mental and emotional elements. All three of these areas come into play in the working arena. However, emotions are key to our success in life. It’s not easy to understand and translate our emotional state “in the moment”. What feelings are present? What triggered them?

What would happen if you could forecast the impact of your state of mind on any given situation? Would it help you make better decisions? Would it be helpful for your long-term success? Absolutely!

If you are happy with yourself your happiness becomes infectious. You are able to recognize growth opportunities easily. You are also better equipped to know when to walk away from possibilities that are not a “good fit” for you.

When our emotions are acknowledged and accepted, we can aptly leverage our intellect and technical competence. An emotionally competent person performs better under pressure and delivers more productive work. People who have reconnected with their emotions and core beliefs have space for social connections with their peers, allies and even their competitors.

Small talk breeds shallow relationships and poisons the collaboration that leads to innovation and inspiration. By getting people to talk “big” they will start acting bigger, too.

Consider your goal, as an employer, to be creating “knowledge power teams”. These teams are responsible for sharing information and for focusing on mutual, long-term goals.

The key to having a successful “knowledge power team” is to have people embrace lifelong learning practices. After learning about themselves, have them work on activities that really excite them. Only then will innovation and knowledge sharing have a substantial value because your people will know which information to grasp and act on. Once they know what to grasp, the knowledge sharing process becomes far more meaningful and valuable.
A lot of attention is given to insignificant projects and things that do not excite people. Anything that drains people’s energy bars them from excellence and blocks them from reaching their full potential. Knowledge by itself is not enough to launch them into action.
The issue is not to teach empowerment and great communication skills, but to teach people how to increase their awareness of their own emotions and abilities. Determine what excites them, what challenges them, and then teach them how to set boundaries and communicate these boundaries without fear to move them into action.
The organization that discovers its sense of success has...
¨ A team of visionary leaders who not only lead but inspire.
¨ Developed its people through supportive coaching that builds on their strengths.
¨ Great communicators who listen for what is said and what is not said.
¨ Catalysts of change, who initiate new ventures by turning opportunities into new positive outcomes and continuously leading people in a new direction.
¨ Cultivated a web of relationships by building trust with each one of their people within the organization.
¨ Mentored its people to do the work they do best; encourages them to undertake risks and make mistakes, supports open dialogue and learning.
¨ Its work based on building strong emotional bonds between people. Employees developed a strong sense of belonging to an organization that nurtures and cares for them.
It is quite easy to build a sense of success throughout your entire organization. Use these principles to create a foundation conducive to easy learning and knowledge sharing. You’ll see your business prosper as a direct result.

Carole Nicolaides is President of Knowledge Innovation Group who offers customized business and personal coaching-consulting services in the areas of Knowledge Management, Leadership Development and Organizational Learning. Subscribe to Carole's FREE EZine at newsletter@kminnovation.com or visit her at http://www.kminnovation.com to book your FREE coaching session.