Take your soul to work

High and Low Roads in Professions
There is a high road and a low road in most professions. Taking the high road means using your work as a vehicle to create something better in the world, and taking the low road means supporting the status quo. But taking the low road does not necessarily mean you are incompetent; in fact, you could be well respected in your profession for your work. The criterion for knowing whether you are on the high road or not is whether your work adds value to the world. Let’s look at some examples of this.

Law
Many years ago, I knew a man who was a criminal lawyer. He explained to me that it was his job to get his clients off, even when he knew they were guilty. I was horrified. His work was not to seek justice, but to win his case. He toughened his personality in order to continue his profession and ended up with drug addiction. He was a sensitive person who tried to deaden the pain of his soulless work.

The high road in law is not one of competition but of mediation, and this road is opening up in our world at present. Taking the high road of mediation means that a couple who are divorcing sit down to work out a fair settlement which is acceptable to both sides. Under the traditional adversarial system, both parties would try to get as much as they could for themselves.

Healing
There is also a high and low road in healing. In some parts of China, people pay their doctors to keep them well and when they get sick the doctor looks after them free of charge. This system emphasizes health (the high road), rather than illness (the low road).

In North America , billions of dollars are spent each year on heart surgery and cancer operations which deal only with the symptoms and not the cause of the disease. Yet we continue to sell the cigarettes, pollute the air and lead the high-stress lives that cause these diseases. The good news is that the low road of conventional medicine is giving way to holistic health which emphasizes prevention rather than repair. It also emphasizes less invasive healing processes such as healing with herbs, oils and touch.

Accounting and Finance
An accountant friend found his high road when he was able to switch his emphasis from cost-based to resource-based accounting. Using cost-based accounting, a company is seen to be doing well if its sales outweigh its costs. Cost-based accounting is not concerned with how many non-renewable resources the company used up in order to make its profits. In order to measure success using the high road of accounting, we need to calculate how much pollution is produced and energy used to make our products, and how much energy will be required to recycle those products. Only if we do this are we taking the high-soulful route in measuring the success of our company.

High Road Thinking for Industriesbr> I have been working recently for pulp and paper companies and have observed the changes occurring in that area. Ten years ago there was more clear-cutting and much less tree replanting.

The mills were also dumping more toxic chemicals into streams. There is still a long way to go, but these are moves in the right direction.

Obviously, what is needed is another way to make paper and building products. When speaking at a conference for Alberta Agriculture last year, I noticed something that might help. It was a display of press board made of corn, wheat and oat straw. What immediately came to mind were the words, “sixty years to grow a tree; one year to grow straw.” Pulp and paper companies which move into this or similar areas would be walking the high road of their profession.

Examine Your Work
You can find these two roads in almost any profession. What are the high and low roads in yours?

Tanis Helliwell has worked internationally since 1976 helping individuals and organizations to develop their potential. Her clients include IBM, World Business Academy, University of Calgary, World Future Society. She may be contacted for speaking engagements at 736-7731. You can visit her web page at http://mindlink.bc.ca/Tanis-Helliwell