Living the lifestyle of an Expat is not for everyone. If I had to choose just 1 thing that I learned thus far on the journey it would be the importance of finding your Tribe.

Of course, this holds true in life, wherever we are, however, it became a beacon after uprooting ourselves from everyone and everything we knew from Canada. I remember a time about 10 years ago when a group of us were sitting around a friend’s dining room table in Vancouver getting to know one another and one of us mused aloud how nice this was. Our conversation quickly became about friendships and what brought us all together. Curiously, although perhaps not so much, we were all looking to make some like-minded friends in the boating community. A Tribe was born and over the years, some new folks joined us, some of us moved away and some just moved on.

Abraham Maslow’s pyramid, pictured below, recognizes love/belonging at the center of one’s hierarchy of human needs. Finding our Tribes, both in the workplace and in our personal lives brings a sense of connection with one’s life.

The Gallup engagement survey poses the statement “I have a best friend at work”. It’s a short survey, only 12 statements. A testament to the meaning of feeling connected, cared about, and in turn caring about someone in the workplace. It’s about being vulnerable and trusting that there is someone watching out for you, someone you can lean on and vice versa. When we have these connections in our work environments, we will tend to be more confident, take more risks and be more engaged. Imagine a whole team functioning at this level? Tribes in the workplace will provide the foundation for creativity and innovation and best of all will collaborate at a higher frequency forging new futures together.

• Do you have a close friend at work that you trust?
• Is your team a tribe or a group of co-workers?
• Are you nurturing the relationships in your personal tribes?

Enjoying a cup of tea with a friend in the afternoon or meeting up with friends for some lively conversation and laughter. It’s not a matter of will we gather, but when and where. Our tribes will take on many variations over our lifetimes and one thing is for sure – we are better people when we have connection and belonging in our lives, both in our work and at home.

Carolyn Myss states it quite simply,
“We evolve at the rate of the tribe we’re plugged into”. 

Let’s connect for a more in depth conversation and discuss designing a lifestyle and leadership development plan that is unique for you and/or your team.

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Live inspired!

Gisele
919-809-6902
Email me

Engage – Empower – Energize