Welcome to the latest instalment of ‘Nourishing Waters’ our monthly newsletter.

With so much employee disengagement, ill health, and disruptive external influences on the workplace we’ve never felt more committed to and convinced that the long term sustainable solutions to these dilemmas lie in unlocking the power of purpose and belonging in company cultures and everything achieving that entails.

Nourishing Waters is just one of Emei’s offerings where individuals can come and reconnect with their hidden or diminished potential and also be a place where leaders can find provocations and enquiries into what can inspire themselves and deeply connect and unlock the potential in those around them.

We have a guest columnist every month either offering their own deep insights and experiences around personal and organisational change, or a heart-felt individual story of change and purposeful practice leading to latent and hidden potential being released.

And we aim to deliver this content in a range of mediums from video and visuals to the written word in order to cater for different preferences. We hope you enjoy and drink deeply of these waters and we welcome anyone that is willing to share their own experiences and reflections.

If you would welcome a conversation about how you or your organisation could benefit from Emei’s deep knowledge and experience in this field then feel free to get in touch.

—
Andrew & Matthew.

Replenishing

A collection of the developmental insights and provocations that we have found particularly motivating this month.

1. The importance of connected cultures. More useful research from Gallup. Among other benefits they point out that employees who report having a "best friend" at work are twice as likely to recommend their company as a great place to work. Of course we don't have to be best friends with everyone we work with but just think about the abundance, well-being, and overall value that is unlocked in companies where the employees really feel connected to and enjoy working with their colleagues. Do you underestimate the importance of building in time and space in the working schedule to allow you and your colleagues simply the chance to get to know each other better as human beings?

2. Another powerful article and report from The Mindfulness Initiative on what is going to deliver truly sustainable change to solve some of the most challenging dilemmas we face. In this case, it is the climate crisis but the practice applies to other seemingly overwhelming issues such as employee well-being and disengagement, the lack of diversity and inclusion in leadership roles globally, and the growing inequality gap...We could go on. Fix the disconnection within yourself.

3. A skills-based ecosystem....wouldn't that be nice! It is possible, but so few organisations beyond a certain size, (fairly small), can really get their line managers and leaders to agree to share and develop their talent, to even get close to some sort of shared workforce planning. Even in the face of all the benefits, it brings. To put the whole organisation ahead of the individual parts really takes the careful development of a special, connected, and caring culture.

4. Time to reflect? Those employees who say they live their purpose at work are six and half times more likely to report higher resilience. 18 months on this remains a thought-provoking podcast (and transcript) from McKinsey & Company especially as you might have felt like the festive break, (if you had one), couldn’t have come quick enough. If you crawled towards a couple of days leave and felt like you were on the edge of burnout.....maybe it didn’t have to be this way.... And if you're a leader in an organisation, or a leader of leaders, and you also felt this way, then think deeply about how those feelings could be impacting those and the culture around you. Time for a change?

A review of our first year

Emei as an entity was a year old on November 11th, so 2022 was a year of significance for us. We decided that there would be no compromise on our intention to help individuals, teams and organisations find ways of doing business that are more conscious, connected and caring for everyone involved and the wider world. This meant saying “no” to potential clients who didn’t share that intention, despite their promises. There were a lot of people telling us that this approach from the off was madness and we’d struggle to find any clients, but we stay undeterred and perhaps even more steadfast in our beliefs that this is what Emei has to offer the world.

Emei can’t let fear in. Anything created from fear for us is unsustainable, and we have to be the highest expression of this if others will believe in our expertise. There have been moments when fear has reared its malicious head, but we’ve watched each other and supported each other to turn and face our monsters and, in the process, watch the fears evaporate in time.

And there were clients that came. Partners that needed experts to help them deal with their fears, and to understand what it really takes to architect this type of healthy and deeply connected culture.

And so Emei continues into its second year, and although perhaps a little early to say it’s beyond any growing pains, we achieved some wonderful things in 2022 with some wonderful clients and partners, for which we are truly grateful.

There are, as a consequence of our work, more people in the world living and leading with more clarity, that love what they do, and with who they do it. For this we are utterly thankful.

We love what we do. We have to.

And so, 2023 seems full of promise for all the wrong reasons. The leadership dilemma generally across society seems as dysfunctional as ever and employee engagement levels remain woefully uninspiring, all of which is having a worrying impact on our collective well-being. We will remain uncompromising. The world needs mindful, fully integrated and sustainable change, and Emei offers these types of solutions for anyone that is courageous enough to want it for themselves, their teams, and the companies they work in.

Here are a few highlights from 2022:

1. We created verbal and visual content across Spotify (8 episodes) and YouTube (5 videos) - watched and listened across two continents.

2. We gained 539 followers on LinkedIn - with our content receiving 6,321 unique impressions, 650 clicks, 241 reactions, and 66 reposts.

3. We received 5.1k visitors to our Website - 55.0% from United Kingdom and 37.2% from the United States of America.

4. We published 23 Blogs which were read a total of 794 times.

5. We have grown as a team - Josi has joined our coaching team and Nicholas runs our social and support our exciting technical product development (more on that soon).

Soul on Deck

Our blog, Soul on Deck, is a personal reflection of our own dreams and aspirations at Emei. We know our art is our life and our lives are our art and our invitation to you is to connect and explore the unknown unfolding in front of you through this art. We wholeheartedly encourage you to embrace and yield to the unknown seas and landscapes we traverse together to help your soul to shine and to inspire and light up others.

We are on the journey with you.

At The Helm

We all learn in different ways, and at different speeds. Our YouTube Channel, At The Helm delves deeper into our purpose, values, and beliefs to help navigate contemplative thought and develop purposeful practices that support our ability to enlighten ourselves and others in our day-to-day. Providing inspiration to grip the wheel and stay the course and nurture your inner courage.

Beyond The Horizon

A fully lived life requires the constant exploration of the unknown. It is scary and fulfilling at the same time. Beyond The Horizon is our Podcast aimed at helping individuals, teams and organisations unlock their deepest intentions, get in touch with their purpose and bring all their potential and talents into the workplace and into the world in service of other people.

Thank you for reading

Our wish is for individuals and leaders like you to take nourishment in our words, practices, and provocations to help support you in accessing your hidden resourcefulness and helping change the workplace.

Change is rarely a straight line or straightforward journey and we hope we can help unlock that powerful source of trust and belief for you in a different future where your brilliance is realised.