Are you threatened at work? Do you feel like someone is going to take your job away? Or have you look foolish or incompetent in any way? Are you so busy climbing the corporate ladder you feel like others should have to work just as hard as you? Do you worry about what the competition is doing?

Or are you happy to collaborate with others? Do you willingly share your knowledge, talents, or network? Do you feel that you can always learn from others? Do you see opportunities by connecting to others and co-creating together?

I recently approached a person in a new role at a client company I’ve worked with off and on for many years. I was looking forward to meeting up with her and getting to know each other. However, she refused to even meet with me saying they had all the competence they need internally. She didn’t even know what I had to offer! I found it so interesting to see this response and my gut reaction was that she felt threatened and wanted to protect her “territory.”

It’s not often that I come across the scarcity mindset and it always surprises me when I do. It can feel like hitting a brick wall. No matter what you are trying to do, you will not get any further. And in fact, someone may even try to sabotage the good work you are trying to do.

It seems as if we’ve lost some humanness in the business world by focusing on competition and the short-sightedness of quarterly goals and reporting.

People with a scarcity mindset are coming from a place of fear. They are probably not even conscious of it. They are holding tight to their beliefs or their way of doing things and don’t want to embrace change. That’s one of the last things they want. Or they want to look like they embrace change – but only on their terms.

Whereas people with an abundance mindset know that there is enough for everyone. They are open minded and willing to share. They are happy to collaborate because they know by working together, they can leverage and reach even greater heights. They know that they offer a unique experience that will connect them and create loyalty and trust easily, whether it is with customers or employees.

One of my real life “experiments” is running a professional women’s network. In this group, we share the values of using business as a force for good and believe in helping women and using our circle of influence to do good things. This group of women is truly amazing and I believe it’s because we have this deeper connection through our values. We are creating an environment of collaboration, co-creation, deeper connections, caring and celebration.

And I believe these qualities are rooted in the essence of who we are as human beings.

I would challenge you to think about just how open are you? How willing are you to help others along on their path? What actions do you take on a daily basis to elevate those around you? Because THIS is what the world needs right now.

That competitive mindset is the old way of doing business. The new way is collaboration. And when all business leaders embrace this, the ripple effects will go far and wide for the betterment of humanity.