Mind and Feelings in Business: A Glimpse of Gazele 2013

This Wednesday afternoon there was the opportunity to attend the Gazele 2013 event organised by Dienas Bizness. Before the fastest-growing companies - the gazelles - were named, celebrated, and awarded, three guest speakers, experts in their fields, took the stage and shared their observations about today's business processes.

The first speaker, Zintis Ekmanis - Vice President of the Latvian Bobsled and Skeleton Federation and entrepreneur - against a video backdrop of Martins Dukurs's multiple successful runs, attempted to outline the values that underlie the high results achieved by Latvian skeleton racers. I picked out three of them: purposeful work, the ability to "extract" funding, and joy in what you do.

The third speaker, the very energetic and candid Rudīte Spakovska - business news correspondent for Latvijas Radio 1 and a media professional - in the format of a self-illustrated fairy tale called "The Media's Enchanted Forest", introduced the audience to journalists' observations and situations where you feel like stabbing the particular press release sender with a teaspoon. My thanks to her for the valuable tips, especially useful for anyone who regularly writes press releases and sends them to various media outlets. It was a chance to confirm what you are doing right and what you still need to think about so as not to drop the ball - otherwise you risk provoking a journalist's or editor's reaction of "Get lost!" or even the middle-finger gesture, which Rudīte also demonstrated illustratively to the audience.

Image - enohenze.de

The second speaker, Inese Apse-Apsīte - director of brand nest MATKA and brand communications consultant - spoke, and spoke, and made an impression. Not because everything she said is to be accepted as established truth or business wisdom, but because of the different angle she took on things - and, most importantly, the opportunity to start thinking. Who doesn't appreciate speakers who stir something in you?!

Inese spoke at length about the obstacles to business that today's entrepreneur should stop and consider. These are: thinking in stereotypes, the absence of historical memory, and the inability to see context. The question that must be answered when building a company: why are you doing this? Latvian entrepreneurs lack a sense of breadth and personal engagement (my personal values).

Something to learn: taking a meditative five minutes. Waiting for an idea or product to ripen. In the Spīķeri Concert Hall, where the gazelles, their fans, and other interested parties had gathered, we tried to observe this moment of quiet. It must be said - it is not so easy, as many different thoughts crowd the mind and switching off in the middle of the working day is harder than it seems.

Inese spoke of the collision of 20th and 21st century values, of a paradigm shift from mind to feeling. Listening, one could not help but think of something heard before - what numerologist Dita Blūma had said: that the 21st century generation will be people of feeling. Today's entrepreneur should focus on individual relationships. There is no need to cling to a deal, or to refuse to let go of a client whose values, thinking, and relationship chemistry simply do not align with yours. That will be a gain, not a loss.

A small remark on that last point: a beautiful but difficult-to-apply principle for a salesperson who has contact quotas, a sales plan, and bonus percentages tied to client contracts (new, extended, long-term) and service types. Walking away from an "unpleasant" client and not closing the deal will only be a plus for a salesperson when the entire corporate culture - from the very top - is built on such principles.

"Let us stop pretending that we have no feelings or emotions! I am talking about the root, about understanding - what we ourselves think and feel. Then we will be able to find those who think and feel similarly. That is tomorrow." - so said Inese, speaking about the future belonging to "emotional" products.

Yes - without understanding yourself, you will not understand others. I fully agree. The energy you radiate matters. It is the kind of people it will attract. Only, in my view, we must not fall into extremes again. Harmony between mind and feeling has always been the best solution - from the beginning of the world to the present day, and presumably into the future as well. If, for example, you have financial problems, do go to yoga classes or for a consultation with a numerologist - but don't forget to also talk to your financial advisor.

Image - www.theartfuldesperado.com/a-life-lesson-by-marina-abramovic-and-ulay/