It’s not ‘just business’

The pressure on our industry to evolve has become vividly apparent. How we have traditionally engaged, behaved and succeeded in business is quickly becoming less effective. Creating a safe work environment has become a priority, along with the required pillars of transparency, trust and integrity.

The promotion of a zero-tolerance culture must come from an authentic desire to focus on inclusivity, not simply for the purpose of external validation. The actions required for change will vary drastically by individual, environment and relationship; however, I believe they can all start from within ourselves.

The first step is to acknowledge the issues. Whether you can identify with someone’s experience or not should be irrelevant in extending them grace as they navigate through their journey. I feel extremely fortunate to not have had to endure the sexual misconduct that has been highlighted in the industry recently, but that doesn’t discount the compassion I feel for those who have. Regardless of whether you can relate to someone’s experience, you can still choose empathy.

I believe our subjective realities are created through not only a series of life events, but also our individual interpretations of those experiences. We subliminally justify our actions to align them with our narrative. To change our actions, we need to challenge and change our narratives. Whether it is actively identifying your unconscious biases or simply setting an intention to be more mindful of the impact your words have on others, it is important to hold ourselves accountable.

I encourage everyone to become curious about how they define ‘business.’ For years, we have isolated unacceptable conduct and justified it as ‘just business’ or some variation of that excuse. What if we can challenge that mindset and hold ourselves to a higher standard in all areas of our lives, including while earning a living?

For us to accurately understand the depth of the issues, it is vital for those who have been impacted to have a safe space to share their experiences. We need to create an environment that’s free of judgment and founded in empathy. Being open and honest with others about our struggles implicitly grants them permission to do the same. By removing conditions and criticism from our support, we can begin to shine a light of love and acceptance into the dark corners of shame and fear.

The willingness to reflect honestly on our shortcomings and weaknesses allows us to more deeply explore the roots embedded in our core belief system. The personal growth we can achieve through raw vulnerability is impactful beyond measure.

We cannot control the actions of others. However, we can control how we react. If a specific behaviour continually achieves the desired result, eventually this behaviour becomes normalized. Those who consistently witness the result being achieved without consequence will rationalize the negative implications by highlighting the effectiveness. They will typically default to self-preservation mode and justify the actions witnessed to align with their personal narrative. For that behaviour to change, the desired result needs to become unattainable or less attainable through that specific behaviour.

The anticipation of change is often more uncomfortable than the actual process itself. Once we acknowledge and appreciate the need for change, we can shift our energy to embracing a viable solution. Change will happen in an environment where people feel safe enough to confidently articulate their boundaries and learn to appreciate and respect the boundaries of others.

As we all know, actions speak louder than words. We can choose to celebrate and encourage kindness and respect in leadership through our actions. Our industry is mostly composed of exceptional humans who are eager to support growth. We have strength in numbers, so as the tolerance for aggressive and inappropriate behaviour lessens, I am hopeful that these incidents will become obsolete.

As we resurface from the current pandemic restrictions and find our footing within society’s new normal, my hope for everyone is this: Be strong enough to choose kindness. Be smart enough to see the effectiveness of empathy in leadership. Be brave enough to set and respect boundaries..

Christine Buemann is a broker at The Collective Mortgage Group and also sits on the Northern British Columbia Real Estate Board and Street Capital’s broker advisory board.