Do we ever stop to reflect on the things that influence our lives, our careers and our businesses? A few weeks ago I received a call from CEO inviting me to do the closing address for the Most Influential Women Road Show. Trying to hit the right note and tie in all that might have been said is always a challenge without sight of everyone’s presentations. But then a word popped into my head, “round”.

The thought that at large functions everyone always sits at round tables, the fact that the MIW event is set around rewarding our most influential women, the connections that these occasions allow us to make.
So, what’s round – a circle. How much of an influence on our lives is the circle? The signs for the female and male contain circles!






We speak of the circle of life (spring, summer, autumn, winter), and the continuum of those four seasons in our own lives. We live in a spherical world, we play ball, and we couldn’t live without the wheel. Windmills and now wind farms play significant roles and the sun and moon are both round.

Then, there are the mysterious circles – crop circles, ice circles, earth circles – circles that intrigue and fascinate.

In life we speak of our circle of influence and in business we aim for effective networking circles. And so it goes on – always circular linkages.

Research into the influence of circles reveals that the oldest and most sacred of these is the “Flower of Life”, held to contain the patterns of creation. The first of these images is “The Seed of Life”, formed from seven circles being placed with six fold symmetry that forms a pattern of circles and lenses, which acts as a basic component of the Flower of Life's design.







The same vortex's motion was continued, creating the next structure known as the Egg of Life and this structure forms the basis for music, as the distances between the spheres is identical to the distances between the tones and the half tones in music.







If we continue creating more and more spheres we will end up with the structure called the Flower of Life. The most common form of the "flower of life" is an hexagonal pattern (where the centre of each circle is on the circumference of six surrounding circles of the same diameter), made up of 19 complete circles and 36 partial circular arcs, enclosed by a large circle.







The flower of life shape contains a secret shape known as the Fruit of Life that consists of 13 spheres that hold many mathematical and geometrical laws. These laws represent the whole universe and so bring together math, geometry and spirituality.

The flower of life can be found in all major religions of the world. It is something that connects us all and it is also one of the strongest sacred geometric shapes!

So what has this to do with a closing speech at a business seminar? Well does this shape resonate?









People connecting with people forming a Flower of Life shape, people connecting with people to create a knowledge pool and people connecting with people for the betterment of all can be a cornerstone to business enjoying smooth sustainability. My life’s work is now focused on assisting people and businesses to grow and the circles within the Flower of Life reminded me how strong the influence of the circle can and should be.

It’s also an opportunity to reflect on how the Flower of Life might impact within our business world. I am continually faced with companies battling with knowledge transfer, where fear drives those that have the knowledge to want to hold on to it and those that need the knowledge not knowing how to access it. This not only creates knowledge barriers but also team dysfunction.

Back to the evolution of the Flower of Life – how did it happen? From the Seed of Life. What can we plant within our own business “circles”? Seeds. What seeds? Mentoring seeds.

Being a mentor, being mentored, or facilitating the bringing together of two people that might not otherwise connect can be life changing. Many companies have recognised the benefit to business to be derived from mentoring and have introduced mentoring programmes. Some have made it part of the performance evaluation methodology.

Sadly, these attempts at creating knowledge sharing circles often fail. Why? Because people do not know what’s expected of them, either as a mentor or as a mentee and so the connections do not offer both parties as much as is expected, needed or anticipated. The matching process can be flawed and the programme is not monitored and therefore evaluation is impossible.

Much fear is attached to the process – mentors concerned about “giving away too much information” that might deprive them of their career and for mentees, who often think that they are being “tested” in some way, so do not relax and embrace the process but who are guarded and unresponsive.

Great opportunity exists but without the correct support structures, initiatives are doomed to fail. Expectation is created but with poor results. Formal mentoring is best served through a structured process that has integrity otherwise it won’t be as effective as it could be.

Nothing is achieved when individuals are instructed to run mentoring programmes or be a mentor without explaining the outcomes envisioned and the procedure necessary to facilitate that.

Essentially mentoring allows two people to connect with each other over a period of time (often structured) that will allow both to grow from the process. It is where advice can be shared, and challenged, so that all involved experience new understanding. It leads to team members realising and performing to their full potential, people that are goal oriented and motivated and individuals, who become confident, think creatively and show initiative.

Teams become cohesive and future leaders can be identified and nurtured so improving team member retention.

And that’s as it should be – a shared experience, where one person may take the lead but two people gain and businesses are enabled. The business knowledge circle becomes complete.


Yvonne Finch is a coach, team and strategic business development specialist who also runs mentoring programmes for companies and organisations nationally. Her structured approach enables companies to measure outcomes and have team members expertly supported whilst the mentoring process is correctly monitored.


Research on the “Flower of Life” - Wikipedia