How Connected Cultures Created Space for Vulnerability in Our Workplace

After six months of Anthony coming to the Our Minds Matter (OMM)’s office space on a bi-weekly basis to lead our team in mindfulness and connection exercises, we embarked on a mindfulness training journey of our own – the Evolving Minds Connected Cultures program! I will say that our team was a little hesitant at first. While we really enjoyed Anthony coming in as a subject matter expert and leading the mindfulness exercises, we were a bit intimidated by the idea that staff members would be taking the lead with these sessions. In addition, there was fear over who would really own this project, given we all had a lot on our individual work plates. Anthony listened to all of our fears and anxieties with curiosity, and ultimately addressed each and every one throughout the training process.

When our team started the Connected Cultures program in March, 2022, we had five full-time staff members and as we’re nearing the end of the program, we are up to nine full-time staff members! Onboarding staff members at different points in the Connected Cultures program proved to be an unexpected challenge, but it also allowed for new employees to quickly feel connected to their teammates and get an upfront view of OMM’s internal culture. Many new employees shared with me that the Connected Cultures program felt like diving right in to a place of deep vulnerability with coworkers. And ultimately, that vulnerability led to a greater sense of connection and appreciation for new coworkers as people first – something that likely wouldn’t come until much later, if at all.

For me as OMM’s executive director, the Connected Cultures program really gave me the space and freedom to be vulnerable in front of the team. In fact, it gave each of us the opportunity to discard our “work titles” and instead have a place to all be humans, with the struggles and triumphs that come from our human existence.

As we’re coming upon our last sessions of the Connected Cultures program, I’ve found that the anxieties and fears we had about the program in the beginning have completely gone away. When asked, two staff members eagerly nominated themselves to be our team’s Resilience Ambassadors and take on the responsibility of keeping Connected Cultures alive as we transition away from the training with Anthony. These two individuals have already mapped out a rotating schedule of staff leading different skills learned in the training – from mindful pauses to expressing joy and gratitude – and finally, exploring ways for our team to embody our organizational values.

I can truly say it feels like just the start of something great – something that will serve as a glue for our team as we transition and grow as an organization. I believe Connected Cultures will be critical to OMM staying true to our roots and relating to each other as people first.

— By Lauren Anderson, Executive Director of Our Minds Matter