Barefoot Business

Hiro Boga | June 10th, 2009

In India, where I was born and raised, bare feet are part of a cultural tradition: You remove your shoes before you enter anyone’s home, including your own. You enter a temple, mosque, or other place of worship in your bare feet too.

It’s a gesture of reverence, a way of saying: God is in this place. I will approach the Divine humbly, the way I entered this world, naked and stripped of all artifice. And since I can’t actually get naked without causing a riot and breaking laws, my bare feet will be the symbol of my nakedness.

Bare feet are about being real, humble, and offering our hearts in service to the Sacred. They remind us that our lives are gifts of grace. That we serve the One whose gifts we receive with every breath.

So what does this have to do with business?

When you approach your business, as well as your clients and customers, with bare feet, you honor the Divine within them. This doesn’t necessarily mean you attend your client meetings without footwear—although you can, if that’s how your client’s culture operates.

It does mean that in every encounter your clients and customers have with you and your business, they feel the kind of respect, transparency, and heart-centered service that truly honors them. Your website, your newsletter, your services and your products, serve as living reminders to your customers that they are gifts from the Sacred too.

So take a barefoot inventory of your business right now. What does your client experience when she enters the world of your business? From your marketing to your customer service and beyond, does she feel honored, served, treated with respect and honesty?

If so, she’ll go out and tell her family and friends about you. She’ll come back the next time she needs what you have to offer. And in serving the Divine within her, you’ll nourish your own heart as well as the heart of your business.

Barefoot business is about service, love, respect and transparency. What does your barefoot inventory tell you about your business?

Category: Soul of Business  

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9 Responses to “Barefoot Business”

  1. Joely Black says:
    June 10, 2009 at 11:37 am

    This is a beautiful way of looking at business from a humble and open perspective.

    I love going barefoot. I remember walking through the mosques in Cairo with bare feet on marble, and there is nothing like it.

    It is a reminder of our closeness to the earth, a grounding.

    Love,

    Joely xxx

    Joely Black´s last blog post..Sources of inspiration – creating the Ai Ta’Sifradan of Amnar

  2. Jenny Ryan says:
    June 10, 2009 at 11:59 am

    Wow-this took my breath away, Hiro. Thank you.

    Jenny Ryan´s last blog post..Murder, Mayhem, And Hot Gay Pool Boys

  3. Hiro Boga (@) says:
    June 10, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    Joely, thank you for the reminder that bare feet are also about being grounded and connected to the earth.

    I love imagining you walking barefoot through the mosques in Cairo. And then pulling on your killer-heeled boots after! :-)

    Hiro Boga´s last blog post..Barefoot Business

  4. Laurie Foley (@) says:
    June 10, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    I always take a moment before a session with a client to “find” their energy. I just skate out toward them and I can often feel what is going on with them.

    Next time, I’ll definitely imagine skating barefooted.

    Thank you for another gorgeous post, Hiro.

    Laurie Foley´s last blog post..What I Learned While Doing The Laundry

  5. Deb Owen says:
    June 10, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    Barefoot Business!

    I love it!

    Thanks for this Hiro! (again)
    ;-)

    All the best!
    deb

    Deb Owen´s last blog post..perfectionism (killing creativity & possibility)

  6. Char Brooks says:
    June 10, 2009 at 5:33 pm

    I had two networking meetings – both beginning at 7AM – in the last two days. I love the reminder about being in humility and service in every aspect of my business.

    Beautifully done once again. You’re wisdom is heaven sent!

    xoxo

    Char

  7. Christine Martell says:
    June 10, 2009 at 7:39 pm

    Hiro,
    You are such a beautiful example of the integrated divine. So grateful to have such a shining force in my life, embodied so you can show me how its done on a daily basis.

    Christine Martell´s last blog post..Living with a packrat

  8. Heather Plett says:
    June 11, 2009 at 4:48 am

    This is beautiful. Just what I needed to read this morning.

    Heather Plett´s last blog post..Creating and wrecking, all at the same time

  9. Tatty Franey says:
    June 16, 2009 at 4:10 am

    what a wonderful post Hiro. and it caused a wonderful epiphany for me. i am all goosebumps and happy tears now. thank you. thank you. thank you.

    Tatty Franey´s last blog post..Tatty_Franey_2009614194852.flv