Ep. 162: James Petrossi - Organizational Consciousness (and Individual Wellness)

Contact James Petrossi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamespetrossi/

PTNL Website https://www.ptnl.com/

"Know Your True Self" Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/know-your-true-self/id1575535864

Know Your True Self: The Formula to Raise Human Consciousness Book https://www.amazon.com/Know-Your-True-Self-Consciousness/dp/1734669144/ref=sr_1_2?crid=V853BCIL5IQB&keywords=know+your+true+self&qid=1636492862&sprefix=kbnow+your+true+self%2Caps%2C260&sr=8-2

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Adam: (00:05)
Welcome back to Count Me In, IMA's podcast about all things affecting the accounting and finance world. This is your host Adam Larson, and I'm pleased to bring you episode 162 of our series with featured guest, James Petrossi. James is the founder of PTNL and a researcher on human connection. He joined my co-host Mitch to talk about individual perspective, wellbeing and employees feeling fulfilled. Burnout has been at the forefront of everyone's mind following the demands of global work environment. So James has set out to help leaders develop organizational consciousness and recreate wellness for individual purpose. Keep listening to hear more about these strategies as we head over to the conversation now.
 
Mitch: (00:54)
So James, there's been a lot of talk about the workforce across all industries in recent times. So, you know, from your perspective, I'd like to kick things off today with asking you, why are so many employees feeling unfulfilled and why are they choosing to resign at this time?
 
James: (01:11)
Yeah, we're definitely facing a really challenging time and one extremely unique to evolutionary history and one to really embrace, accept and learn from. And I think there's three main reasons that employees are feeling that unfulfillment right now. The first is really the inability to cope with change. We've been going through so many changes over the past couple years and living in a state of uncertainty, especially as it relates to our job. One when the pandemic first hits, we're in a state of survival, anything to keep our job, then we're adapting to technology, Zoom calls being out of the office, changing landscapes, having kids at home, then all of a sudden there's a bright light and it looks like we're going back to the office and we're preparing ourselves for that. But our children aren't necessarily prepared to go back to school. So we've been navigating change in so many different aspects of our life and our brains rely on habits and it's through habit formations and repetitive actions that neuron chains develop in our brain. And we start to do things unconsciously. If you remember the time when you did commute to work, when you were either going there or going home, you sort of got lost in the commute. You weren't thinking about how to navigate to the office or the routine about stopping to get your coffee. Those all become unconscious behaviors. So as we continue to splinter those neuron chains and try to develop new ones, it really makes us feel lonely, disconnected, searching to find peace. So that's been a really big challenge is just navigating change. Making people feel unfulfilled and just comfortable in how they're navigating life holistically. I think another one is especially with the millennial generation and all generations, but specifically millennials and the emerging centennials in the workplace. We were coming out of the experience economy, really at the pinnacle of the experience economy and inside the experience economy or concerts, activations, all of these Instagram moments that we can share with friends and all of a sudden we became so used to just experiencing so many things on a moment to moment basis. And now we're with ourselves, we're with our thoughts, we have to contend with our emotions and our unconscious mind is not going to like this. And it's gonna tell us, you deserve to have all these things like you deserve to have life the way it was. I think it was Helen Keller said something to the effect of like character can't be developed in peace and quiet. It's through suffering that the soul gets strengthened, that we learn, we grow and we develop. So, you know, we can't get back time. We can only embrace the present moment and helping employees connect with the present moment. And the reality we face on a moment to moment, day to day basis helps us cope with change, and also feel like there's no getting back what we had. We can't quit our job and earn time back. We can only address what's currently happening. And then some of the onus of why employees are feeling unfulfilled at work is really on the employers themselves. Clearly identifying the purpose that you're creating in people's life. Just because we might not feel like we're contributing to a higher purpose on a day to day basis because not all work is infused with meaning, but it's the small actions. The things that we learn from the trying relationships that we have, the way we connect with our teams, the problems that we solve, all of these small moments in the workplace help us connect to a higher purpose. And if an organization can share their purpose through their vision, their values and making sure they're showing their employees how we help serve humanity, cuz every business that's out there is serving humanity. Whether they're providing pleasure, whether they're providing food, whether they're providing connection, we're all in the business of serving humanity and employees need to know that and make sure that an organization is living up to some type of core values. I think definitely where that connection gets lost between employers and employees is core values are sort of on the placard somewhere in the office, but how do we now activate those core values? And those values bring virtue into people's lives and help them feel like they're connected to a purpose bigger than themselves. So that purpose is really about creating a unified shared experience that truly builds a culture around an organization. And one employees can really, you know, glam onto and enjoy.
 
Mitch: (06:05)
So you touched on many things that I can personally relate to over the last year and a half. You know, this is now we're recording this end of calendar year 21. And a lot of the things that you mentioned are certainly relatable having kids around when you're trying to work on teams calls and even the idea of commuting again, I think it's interesting because I know at least I had a bit of a longer commute. It was almost an opportunity at the end of the day to kind of stop your mind from working and transition to home on your way. And you know, nowadays it's a bit of a challenge cuz there isn't really that time to break. You know, it's just one thing to the next you're living in it at all times. I'm sure that's just one of the many. So I'm curious: you mentioned a lot of reasons for unfulfillment, but I think, you know, employees certainly still have an opportunity to feel fulfilled, you know, and organizations have an opportunity to really hone in on those core values. And I think a lot of businesses, you know, if they didn't adapt right away, they certainly have by now. So wh...