Leaving the past behind. Economic recovery and a sustainable future…

The relativity of recovery, is our economy going in the right direction?

We are all weary of hearing about concurrent financial woes and economic crises, which seems to be like a wildfire reigniting when the slightest of winds reach it. Once again there is Euro-trouble and Germany faces off against Greece in a troubled negotiation of a deal to make Greece into something many will say has not existed for hundreds of years, which is a prosperous state with a lowly leveraged debt ratio present on its balance sheet.

So if we had the same troubled headlines 7 or 8 years ago, why are these troubling headlines back into the world’s media of today? Politicians all over Europe will argue about Greece’s heroism in confronting corruption, change, unions, etc… but the reality is that Greece’s failure to conform to “market expectations” in its EU bailout deal is down to three kernels. Changing international market conditions, unrealistic EU demands/critical errors in judgement and of course a clan type culture in Greece, which is currently dominated by endemic corruption, nepotism and greed. In short, I believe the downplaying of Greek cultural attitudes to austerity and the resulting positions of powerful grassroots people and groups has set Greece up to ‘fail’ despite the best of intentions to the contrary. If you don’t accept something is inherently wrong, you will never attempt to fix it. A sad but true fact that has left me wondering, if we are doomed to repeat such impacting mistakes with such gleeful enthusiasm, what hope to we leave for our children’s children who would be better served receiving an economic future that is at the very least headed in a sustainable direction?

A profound question we all should consider even if the world does keep on turning and we see a continuance of what was in what will be. On that note, if we value a sustainable future for our children’s children, here are some points of consideration for that golden tomorrow:

Intuitive Bias. We make too many decisions of an impacting nature based upon our intuition (summary of our past experiences). What needs to change is us in terms of what we bring from our past; relying less on past outcomes and more on learnt lessons we gleaned from our experience, applying them to decisions on present day problems for better future outcomes.

Think outside of the box, as creativity knows no limits. We are bound by the rock we live on, which leaves us with a limited amount of resources we can pass onto the next generation. What is without limit is the horizon of our mind’s eye so thinking outside of the box in a limitless search for better solutions will positively enhance the impact our limited world will have on our children’s children.

Think collaboratively. It’s not a given for everybody to think collaboratively, but what if we all tried? For if we think collaboratively, we share our vision with others and they with us to a common purpose and outcome. After all, it’s not just our children that will benefit from our collaboration; it’s our neighbour’s children too!!

Greed is a vice that our children’s children will pay for. There is no sustainable future in overarching greed, for it’s a parasite that bleeds the life out of a sustainable future. A leader who could take all but decides to delegate the success, reward or even kudos to his team sets a standard that all should follow at all levels. By embracing community and sharing success, we reach to those less fortunate today giving them a hand up, who just may repay us tomorrow when they are donned with a ‘lucky break’ and want to be kind like the guy who help them out when they were at rock bottom. In denying over arching greed, we allow ourselves to be lead by purpose and share our humanity to common outcome.

True genius is knowing nothing but wanting to learn everything. Its hard suppressing ego and realising that the more we learn, the less we know. It’s one of the hardest hills we have to climb but when we do, we become stronger and more balanced in quantifying our true place in the universe along with gaining a clearer vision for the path ahead. Vision is a critical factor in creating a better tomorrow and is a capability within us all. We just need to dig deep to find it.  When we do, it’s amazing what becomes possible!

Learnt lessons as an aid. We don’t have all the answers and will continue to make mistakes, but if we embrace a sustainable future as the objective of today’s labour, then we will take our learnt lessons from the past, incorporate them into our decisions and plot a future free from past mistakes so that our children’s children will enjoy an outcome better to what we received from our fathers. Deploying learnt lessons allows us to evolve on a sustainable path once we keep the longer-term view in focus.

It’s a huge ask of any one person to “change tomorrow” and one day, one person just may with exceptional vision, ability and courage. However, what will impact tomorrow with much greater efficacy is our communal commitment to a sustainable future where our children’s children will inherit a better economy, culture and planet from us along with the responsibility for continuing the journey started by those who have gone before.

Credits/Sources:

Pics;

www.fairobserver.com

www.telegraph.co.uk

www.wowep.hints.me

www.laurakate1919.wordpress.com

http://publicdomainarchive.com/category/modern/page/2/

Credits;

“Public Domain”

Self-Actualisation, love your life!

Self-actualisation comes with a price… is it in $$$ or just finding yourself?

I remember watching an interview with Marshall Bruce Mathers III aka ‘Eminem’. He was asked if he was relieved as a successful artist that he no longer has to worry about the poverty issues he endured from his early years. He said “while you do not have to worry about money any more… all you really do is trade one set of problems for another”. His insights are consistent with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs of which self actualisation is at the top. So if a Rap star has such insight, do we also posses similar insight into ourselves or are we a little more adrift then we realise in our ‘raison d'être’?

Great professionals are passionate about what they do and all passion comes from our centre of gravity that is our ‘reason for being’, our ‘raison d’ être’ if you will. Our ‘raison d’ être’ houses our values, our beliefs and our interests in a seem-less structure that motivates us to reach for the stars should we dream it so. So how can we harness this and realign our lives to what will see us happy?

Fortitude. One needs to be sure they are lacking in self-fulfilment as a human being, before calling and committing their energy, strength and resources to change.

Honest Self Reflection. Be sure to be honest with yourself as you will be the sole benefactor of truly knowing what lies in your own heart, thus able to see where passion can be found from within. Without this, there is no compass to direct us to happy outcomes in life.

Understand the outcome to begin. Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. I submit that we also need to make sure it is in the right direction. When we find something that stirs our passion; research, testing and insights from established professionals in the area are of paramount importance. Tragedy occurs when our hearts are broken by simple misunderstandings on what we thought something was ‘V’ what actually is.

New Direction ‘V’ Old Values. When we make change, we leave allot behind on the way despite our intention to bring our “transferrable skills” with us. We leave experiences and expertise on the shelf to expand ourselves by engaging our passion in change for our new professional direction. It’s important for sustainable change in our lives to be rooted in that centre of gravity that is our raison d’ être. Without it, we risk conflicts with what lies there such as our values, our beliefs and our inner peace. Without synergies established with these elements within us, we will struggle more in our new profession and never truly find happiness, which rests upon self-fulfilment and actualisation. If we listen to our inner voice in self-reflection, we increase our chances of success in just about anything we do that is aligned to our raison d’ être.

Knowing our course and direction in life, our need to be happy through self-actualisation, should be considered a given, so what’s next?

Harness the passion. Structure passion to purpose and it will drive you forward with impressive energy. Make this your presence in the world.

Feel a single purpose. Commitment can be felt. Feel it through your passion for your new direction as a single purpose, a single cause in your life. Feel pride when asked, “What do you do?” The reward lies in the two golden words of reply “I am…”.

Draw from the past, don’t let the past draw from you. My dear old mother once told me that being able to let go of bitter experience and become better by learning the lessons it teaches for the future is a real plus in change.

Be flexible. We all become settled in our comfort zones. To reach a better place, we need to become happy outside of our comfort zones and be willing to never stop learning and growing as individuals as much as professionals. Be brave, be flexible and you will enable success to visit you on your journey.

Plan a direction only. Avoid detailed planning for your career change as you will become bogged in the plan’s detailed points, which inevitably will be conflicting with life and it’s changing goal posts. My own career change plan is simple and in a few lines: “(Research+Testing+Validation)+Plans/(College+SoftwareDev+Networking*2+CompScience+JobSearch+DevelopmentProjects+Progression)==Happiness."

Loving what you do is not just a tagline for the ages, it’s a way to live your life, so deep thought now can direct or redirect your life to greener pastures that you would never think possible on any given day. By truly recognising our own raison d’ être, we embrace our values, beliefs and inner qualities fuelling our passion for the direction we want to take in life. By travelling a road to self-fulfilment and meaningful contributions to the world we all share in, we make a better tomorrow by our efforts today! Not a bad start, middle and end, don’t you agree?

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.vccaugus.org

www.free-to-be.net

www.lifechoicememphis.org

www.socyberty.com

www.thesexywallpapers.com

http://publicdomainarchive.com/public-domain-images/page/14/

Credits;

“Public Domain”

Why personalities and not skills will drive future career choices

New talent for a new environment in a new age! 

We don’t care to admit it, but we are getting old! Yesterday’s kids are today teenagers and today’s teenagers are tomorrow’s twenty something’s with their own culture, habits and outlooks that will drive tomorrow in so many ways, it hurts to even think about it!

So why is today’s information age making the personalities of those working in it so important it materially impacts the way businesses are run, or in many cases need to run in order to survive and grow by retaining the best talent for tomorrow’s challenges? Tomorrow’s world will have the hall marks of the information age; such as transparency, agility, flexibility and qualitative accuracy in fulfilling the wants and needs of a much more demanding customers with products that have shorter and shorter lifecycles.

Technology needs no introduction as the driver of these changes and those prepared for tomorrow will understand the impact today’s personalities are having on employee morale, innovation, company culture, performance and the brand of the company (and sometimes industry) they work in. So what should we all look out for in our organisation today that more and more candidates will be watching for and expecting in our company of tomorrow?

Organisational Structure. Is the organisational structure ‘fit for purpose’ to the companies stated culture, goals and objectives? Is it a good match for the industry where the structure fits in with what competitors have?

Change Management. Has the company a prescribed change management programme and does it fully keep up with the times to make it a consistent and sustainable leader in its field?

Transparency. Is the company open and honest in the way it does business and does it accurately reflect in the level of transparency a candidate can see. Is the company’s social media and digital brand engaged seeing honest disclosure as the way forward?

Leadership Style. Is the company consistently led in the same leadership style from the top down, which seamlessly fits into its organisational structure and company culture?

Company Culture. Is the company culture correspondingly suitable for it’s leadership style and organisational structure? Is it “one company, one vision” or a collection of sub cultures formed around powerful people, functions and/or professions?

Professionalism. Does the company have a defined sense of professionalism that binds business practice, leadership style and culture together in a manner that resonates with “like minded” professionals?

We all like to think we value the diverse option laden information age but still conform to old restrictive norms. Nothing wrong with that, but when we think of our company’s substance, it is not always a good thing especially when it justifies us looking to change at a pace that is comfortable to us and the culture of our company in today’s tense. 

So what will keep in the race for talent and a prosperous tomorrow?

Know Our Company. Bearing the above in mind, knowing our company from this perspective will allow us to see our company through the eyes of those not influenced by established “norms” in our company. We can pretend to be ourselves as long as we mean it!

Change Effectively. Know how to change effectively in a process that drives change, not avoidance of powerful functions, issues or people. If it has to change, it has to change, so politics needs to take a step back and allow mapped out change management process to effectively enact change in the company.

Understand the importance of Company Culture. Often overlooked, the importance of the feeling employees gets when going home and coming into work should be “No.1” in the management handbook of metrics. It’s this feeling that is a result of a company culture, which fulfils employee satisfaction resulting in engagement, higher performance and creative productivity. If you don’t have it, you should get it!

Value Our People. Very few people truly like being mistreated in the workplace even if it is seen culturally as a right of passage. Our hyper-connected world is allowing employees to share experiences and reputations of award winning companies can be ruined by bad management and leadership practice. Taking an interest in and spending time with staff is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of good leadership. Valuing our people stretches beyond employee of the month bonuses and when the organisation hits the same note valuing staff, staff will respond with engagement revealing the true potential of a better tomorrow. 

Nobody can claim to have all the answers, but what is clear today that if we don’t do a better job at valuing employee potential and importance, tomorrow’s world may not include our company. Good companies define themselves by great products; great companies define themselves by the people within their walls. When it comes to sustainability through fast change changing times, my money is on the latter, where is yours?

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.blogs.citrix.com

www.workingmoms.about.com

www.colombus.gov

www.careersuccess.typepad.com

http://publicdomainarchive.com/public-domain-images/

Credits;

“Public domain images”