Since 2003 Yoga has been a strong part of my life, this might seem a contradiction – working in a multinational company and still feel myself a yogini from my soul…
I found a place for a yogini as a general manager in a multinational company, indeed, GM in 2 different companies, in 2 different continents. A Yogini proud of delivering results, increasing market share, and also proud of motivating people to love to give results and celebrating stepping up the ranking of biggest companies in the country…
It was not always like this – I have doubted thousand times if I could live the yoga life style, mainly with 4 Yamas that I admire most; Satya (pure truth), Ahimsa (Love, non violence), Asteya (not crave for wealth, power, fame or whatever that might guide you to steal or do “evil”), Aparigraha (not being “greedy”, not looking for what you do not need for live, not cumulating things you do not need…). Most of the yoguis judge multinationals and criticise the executives working with them, they judge all executives as being all opposite of being yogi, it is even worst to be in this group while working for a pharmaceutical company.
Once when I was living in Budapest, 2005, and I was the head of a Healthcare Company, I was in love with yoga, I was a vegetarian, doing 10 days fasting twice a year and I went to a yoga retreat with only raw food. I was so happy the first day, practicing yoga, meditating, eating super healthy. During the dinner, a discussion started about how much damage the pharmaceutical companies were doing to the world and how the cure of cancer was already discovered but the companies were hiding it for their own profit… Judgment, criticism, which I analyse now as pure Avidya (lack of knowledge), one of the reasons of human suffering. I was not mature, and I judged myself, even being super hyper proud of what I was doing. I gathered my stuff while everybody was sleeping and I left…
This Sunday I had a great conversation with my mother, I told her that I decided to leave my company or to ask for a sabbatical year, go to India, learn deeper the Yoga and try to help people and spread love around the world in India, Africa… My mother asked me if I thought that what I was doing was not doing good for people, and I just answered that, on the contrary, I did believe that the company was saving lives, but the image did not reflect the reality. Also that I did believe that I was touching my team’s heart, but I felt it was too difficult to be “different”, a person who talks about love in a multinational. I remembered hearing (we were by the phone, she in Brazil and I was in Hungary) her laughing and she just answered: “yes my daughter, I agree with you, it is indeed much easier to spread love and kindness in Africa and India where everybody is open to receive it, it is too much of a challenge to change the profile of a multinational and prove that what they are doing fits the values you have, it is too much of a challenge to lead a company with love…”
Well, guess what?? …here I am, 9 years later, a different GM in Venezuela who talks about working with live, and during these years I read more and more about yoga, I discover that being a yogini is not how much further you push your leg into your ear, but deeper, you have to believe that love and peace of mind guide your life. All these doubts made me understand that, if you work for the simple reason that you love what you do and you want to prove that your values are aligned with your companies, and your purpose of life is aligned with its purpose, you will work much harder, you will work to deliver the mission of the company, that mixes with your own mission and when this happens, all comes, you can inspire, you can influence, you are consistent on what you say and what you do, the results are not celebrated for the finances they bring, but for the good deed they represent.
I started to understand the pattern; always when I did not focus on the bonus itself, I did not focus on the financial results or on the image I would enjoy, but, always when I did something with passion, enjoying fully the work itself, all the results used to come so, so constantly…
I understood then the results I was always achieving by reading in Bhagavad Gita about Karma Yoga – yoga by action. “Work alone is your privilege, never the fruits thereof. Never let the fruits of action be your motive; and never cease to work. Work in the name of your purpose, a greater good, abandoning self desires. Be not affected by success or failure. This is called Yoga.”
….Yoga, thousand of years ago, taught us what experts in psychology are telling us now – find a purpose for you and your team which is aligned with your company purpose and the results will come…
…and finally the yoga tells – the one who truly work for the sake of working, for a greater good, and inspires and influence others to do the same, building a better world, shall receive more and more to be able to influence more people to do even a better universe!
I do work for a greater good, I did find a company that has it in its core, and I have a team that does believe in a purpose, we are looking for a balance, whatever it means.
…and I do believe, from the bottom of my heart and my soul that the results we are achieving are to give an example that, believing in this greater good, working with love and trusting everybody deserves respect will bring the results one desires, and then we will celebrate the fingerprint we left in a country, the seed of love planted and the gratitude for being part of something bigger!
Work to make a difference, work to do your best for your people and for the country you live in – do not bother if you might fail sometimes or succeed others, just celebrate each time you have been true to your values, your principles, your purpose!