Expressing the Qualities of Your Heart through Your Business

Like the 13th century poet Rumi, Silver is a student of Sufiism. In his new book, “Heart Centered Business: Healing from toxic business culture so your small business can thrive,” Silver speaks to those who want an approach to business that can be nourishing as well as successful and powerful.

“Over the last few centuries, business has really done a number on humanity. The effects of global business have bought devastation and injustice to the world. I think that so many of us are familiar with really painful outcomes, business done horribly, where profit is put ahead of taking care of people, taking care of communities, taking care of each other,” he said. “Yet, we yearn for beauty and real vibrancy in the world around us and healthy heart-centered business must be part of the healing.”

Silver takes a heart-centered look at business practices such as marketing, which some consider to be manipulative, with the goal of convincing people to buy things they don’t need. Instead, Silver says the true purpose of marketing is safety. “Safety arises out of being seen.”

He suggests crafting “One Compelling Sentence,” in non-marketing language.

“The One Compelling Sentence is a place where a lot of people get stuck answering the question, ‘So, what do you do?’ Most people don’t want to hear the details. People really want to know: ‘Is this relevant to me? Do I belong? Are you in line with my values?’” he said. “What we try to do with folks is help them shift from seeing things from their perspective to try to really see things from the client’s perspective. It’s one of the biggest shifts [in business] that someone can make.”

He offers an example using a chiropractor, who might respond to the question by saying that he adjusts spines, because that’s what he does. However, Silver would have him rephrase that response to something like, “I help people who have had really devastating back injuries who just want to get back to the active life they had so that they can pick up their kids or go dancing.”

Thus, the One Compelling Sentence is a conversational way to say what we do. “When we say who we help and what we help them with, people recognize themselves in that statement. It’s almost like calling somebody’s name, instead of boring them with some sort of esoteric, or complicated or unknown type of service. This is what is known as ‘niching’ or knowing your target market.”

Another gem in Heart Centered Business is about cultivating awareness of your “Jewel.” He writes, “Your Jewel is the inner sense of uniqueness, beauty and power that your heart carries. It is a spiritual element in your heart.”

He explains that we carry divine qualities like love, wisdom, compassion and gentleness. “If you were to have a gemstone that has different facets to it, there’s one quality that, out of all of them, is particularly strong. It’s the quality we thirst for and it’s also the quality that we give most easily. Sometimes it’s the quality of listening, or peace or love or strength.”

He also writes about the belief that we have to toil day and night to make our business successful, which, he says, ultimately leads to depletion. “Depletion is dangerous,” he says, and something he noticed in the 1990s, mostly in women.

“This culture does not like us to rest. There’s this push. You have to do more. It hits everybody, but it hits some people harder than others. It hits people of color, it hits women. Sexism and racism are real, they’re exhausting, and they put additional burdens on people. The story in the entrepreneurial world that you’ve got to hustle, you’ve got to push, you’ve got to go 24/7 or you’ll never be successful, is just not true. You’re actually going to keep from being creative because when you’re exhausted, you’re not able to be creative. When you’re exhausted, you’re not able to listen carefully to signs and to catch the miracles. When you’re exhausted, it’s hard to really be present with the people who are approaching you, which is how deeper relationships are formed.”

Silver reminds us that just because a mountain range is ahead of us, we don’t need to climb it in one day. In fact, he says a startup can take two to four years to reach momentum. “It just takes time to do it with care, to do it correctly, with kindness toward ourselves.” QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

“Heart Centered Business: Healing from toxic business culture so your small business can thrive” is available on Amazon.

Hear more from Mark Silver at Star Worldwide Networks on Zonie Living: https://starworldwidenetworks.com/episodes/making-every-act-of-business-an-act-of-love-with-spiritual-business-teacher-mark-silver-video.

Courtesy Photo: Mark Silver has worked with heart-centered entrepreneurs for more than 20 years to help them realize that every act of business can be an act of love. One of the pioneers in integrating spirituality with the nitty-gritty of small business, Silver founded Heart of Business. His weekly writings and teachings are followed by thousands of people around the world.