Freedom after the sharks

When something positive or good happens to you or occurs in your life, are you able to take credit for it or do you attribute it to something like luck, good fortune, or even just a fluke or coincidence?

There are many times we can get stuck in a negative mindset, only letting our brains focus on and attribute the negative events that take place as something we are in control of or cause. However, this same negative mindset or thinking can affect our ability to view the positives that we accomplish as our own accomplishments.

What do people say about an orchestra maestro or conductor who brings a group of individual musicians together and then directs them to perform brilliantly and beautifully?

When the orchestra produces perfectly, the conductor is praised highly for their brilliance in melding all of these individuals together into one finely tuned unit.

There are public acclamations and applause because, under the tutelage of this conductor, each one performs in perfect harmony with all of the others.

None of the individual musicians brings unharmoniously sounds into the mixture. And the praise all goes to the maestro.

The dictionary defines ‘luck’ as “The force that caused things, especially good things to happen to you by chance and not of a result of your own efforts or abilities.” And coincidence is “a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.”

I recently took a trip to the US and was recommended by a very dear friend to read a fascinating book by Paulo Coelho: “The Alchemist – a fable about following your dreams”. It has sold more than 65 million copies worldwide in more than 50 different languages, making it an international bestseller.

It follows the story of a shepherd boy named Santiago who travels to Egypt after having a recurring dream about a treasure that awaited him there.

If you have never read this book before, I highly recommend it. If you have, then you’ll know just how insightful and inspirational the story of a simple shepherd boy who decided to follow his dream can be. Possibly one of the most meaningful reads with purpose that I have ever read.

Interestingly in the book it describes the force of luck and coincidence. Luck and coincidences are recurring aspects in the Alchemist. Santiago was blessed with good luck when he met with the King of Salem, who guided him into pursuing his dreams.
However, he later experienced bad luck in Tangiers when the very man whom he thought he could rely on for help ended up stealing all of his money. Santiago worked like a good luck charm for the crystal merchant because his presence brought in many customers and fortune. It was a coincidence for Santiago to meet with the Englishman, who was also very familiar with the two stones, Urim and Thummim. Both of them also shared the same path to their destination and were in search of a “treasure” of some sort.

Luck and coincidence really plays a big role in this story as it determines the plots. So many things have happened to Santiago that was determined by luck either it is bad or good, it is his luck as when he was robbed it was bad luck on his side as he lost his money but then by what happened he meets the crystal merchant which was good luck as he gained a job and a kind master who helped him through his hardship.

What maktub means that its written and can’t be changed, and it’s used because the merchant who is a muslim and speaks in arabic and this is a word used in the Quran to say that our lives have been decided by allah from the day they were born and it’s maktub. It shows the reader how Santiago and the merchants know that their fate is written for them so they have to follow it, but each in a different way.

Paulo Coelho on Luck, Coincidence, and Faith

As Denis Waitley once said: “Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.”

Taking risks is not the secret to life, but taking risks does mean we are never at risk of doing nothing.

Too many people ‘play it safe.’ This is the playground of mediocrity. It is where average people live. They colour inside the lines, and always play by the rules. They fear the unknown, and rarely if ever venture outside the boundaries. People who ‘play it safe’ are predictable. Their life is run by rules and routine. Their actions are often dictated by the opinions of others. This is the crowd that fights to keep things the same…

Risk-takers are entrepreneurs, however, they are a different and extraordinary breed. They live in the realm of possibility and greatness. They are not afraid to live beyond the boundaries and to colour outside the lines. To them, there is no such thing as failure; only experiments that did not work. Risk-takers are marked by a sense of adventure and passion.
They care little for the accolades of the crowd. They are more focused on squeezing everything they can out of every moment of time. They are not afraid to ‘boldly go where no one has gone before.’

Everyone has a story, despite difficulties in family life and professional setbacks, the journey to success is the learnings we all have, we all possess the determination, drive and skills to create a successful and happy life, the bigger question is if we choose to use these skills…..for the great of good.

Think about it. Try naming one historical figure that made a difference by playing it safe and being average. The vast majority of successful people are remembered for the difference that they made in their lifetime. And that difference required them to take risks and challenge the status quo.

We are inspired by people who go beyond the norm and push the boundaries of possibility. Mediocrity, on the other hand, does not inspire. Nor does it lead to greatness. Success, however you define it, will elude you unless you are willing to push the limits you have placed on yourself, and that others have placed on you.

The Orville brothers would have never made their historical flight if they had listened to the naysayers. Henry Ford would have never invented the automobile if he had paid attention to his critics. David would have never defeated Goliath if he had allowed his own family to discourage him. The list goes on and on.

Every major breakthrough in history, in business, science, medicine, sports, etc. is the result of an individual who took a risk and refused to play it safe. Successful people understand this. Their innovation is the result of their adventurous spirit. They invent, achieve, surpass, and succeed because they dare to live beyond the realm of normal

Change has a funny habit of teaching you much about yourself; it goes to the core of your own weaknesses, strengths and eccentricities. Leadership forces you to stay true to yourself and recognize times when you are at your best and worst; the key is to stay focused and to make decisions that will look at continuous improvement. Even though this may be small, incremental change, it is positive change you can build upon even though you may be in quicksand.

Business has taught me much about life, learning and sharing knowledge and life stories with my employees and associates. My hopes, fears, beliefs, values and dreams were tested to the limit. I learned that only the difficult things in life truly bring satisfaction, and that achievement is proportional to the struggle needed to get there.

I believe we are not forming relationships because of the environment we live in, the world of technology, the fast paced, instant access, immediate response world, we receive things immediately, therefore we expect everything instantly, we are conditioned to having it all “now”.

Brene Brown puts these words into great prospective:
“I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.”

As with the greatest things in life, the magic only happens when things are given time to breathe, when thoughts are clear, when the mind is at peace. It is only in this environment that love can flourish. The magic ingredient to love is finding peace within your own mind; for when your mind is at peace others will be at peace. It is with this level of peace that bliss exists.

Listen to what your relationships are telling you: love and listening go hand in hand. To love unconditionally you must have the ability to listen to what another person is asking of you; not listening to what your emotions and desires are telling you, but really listening to what that person is asking of you. When we listen to what another requires above our own needs then we create trust, and we create understanding; when we understand things, the fear goes away. It is only then can we become selfless, allowing the time for love to flourish unconditionally.

Like The Alchemist the question is always: “How much do you truly want your dream, and do you have the courage to pursue it?”

“Love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny.”

True love will never put a blockade between you and your dreams. Be it the love of your family, friends or significant other, if the people who surround you do not support, encourage or urge you in the direction of your destiny, they may not be the best people to keep in your company.

You are a product of your environment — choose yours carefully. Surround yourself with the doers, the believers, the dreamers and the thinkers. Only they will lift you higher.

“The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself… no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.”

Fear holds many of us back in life. The fear of failing, of rejection and of other’s opinions can impact us so heavily that we only fail ourselves by our own inaction.

We’ve heard it many times before: The thought of something is often worse than the thing itself. It is no different than fearing failure if we go in search of our dreams. Don’t underestimate your own resilience.

“People are capable at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”

There is no such thing as too old or too young when it comes to chasing your dreams. There is no such thing as a right time or a wrong time, either. It is simply a matter of deciding what it is you want to do and taking the necessary steps to get there.

Wherever we are in the world, and in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, only we can decide to take the leap of faith and make our dreams realities.

“When you want something, all the Universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

What you think about, you bring about. If you put all your focus, energy and positive thoughts toward whatever it is you want, you’d be amazed at what opportunities come knocking.

Whatever it is, however, it happens, if you want something badly enough, it’s as if the stars re-align and are only too willing to give to you whatever your heart desires. Call it fate, coincidence, beginner’s luck or whatever sits best with you, but when you put that time and energy into something with all you have, you will manifest it into your life.

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight.”

Advocates of people worldwide have sworn that success in life cannot come about without great failures. No matter how many times you get knocked back, rejected or turned away, either personally or professionally, the key is to never accept defeat.

Always move forward and never stop learning. See your failures as valuable lessons on the road to success, learn from them, grow with them and never give up on your dreams.

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

You will meet many a person who will share opinions regarding your life and your work, whether you ask or not.

Some will agree with you, some won’t. C’est la vie! You will never, ever, please everybody.

At the end of the day, the only person you need compare yourself to is the person you were yesterday. As long as you’re working toward your own happiness, don’t let the opinions of others divert you, especially those from people who have not yet found their own paths in life.

We are all unique, what we decide to do with our time is entirely up to us; listen to your heart and answer only to yourself.

“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”

The greatest riches we can ever hope to have are the ones that make us truly happy. Where do you find your happiness? To where does your heart call?

It may be a profession, a hobby, a place, a person, a pet or a lifestyle, but it’s only when we stop and acknowledge what it is our hearts want that we will find our greatest treasures. These are the treasures that will bring joy and happiness into our lives; this is where the heart is.

“The Alchemist” is a book that is full of wisdom and valuable lessons that can inspire us to live more purposeful and meaningful lives. The book encourages us to follow our dreams, trust in the journey, and embrace the challenges and opportunities that come our way.

I would like to leave you with some thoughts on love and purpose. I believe every single person on the planet has love to give whether we like to recognize this or not, love if directed in the right way or focus can create amazing things, however, love in the opposite can destroy.

So many of us, for reasons only we can answer, do not implement, execute or action our true and resolute feelings.

Unfulfilled love creates a cavity between our present and our true potential. You have all heard of the saying ‘if only’ or ‘it might have been different if’, we all need to chase our dreams, you need to be careful what you wish for, because it may just come true. Unfulfilled love can only create negative and malicious intent which takes us away from our ultimate desires and purpose in life.

Taking the first step or leap of faith is hard. It involves risks, learning of new things and getting to know new people. Making sure the direction is right can also be trying. But when there is no step, your vision or dream will not come true.

Once you have made up your mind, take the first step, however small the first step is.

Each of us thrives on being successful and in doing so we often forget the difficulties lying in the path to success. We set targets and want to achieve them right away, but we are humans and may fall short on those goals.

Often in life, you make a journey that changes the meaning of life as you knew it. I believe every single person can be extraordinary for something if directed in the right way and if circumstances can take them there for the great of good, amazing things can happen.

Finally, I used to think that omens were magical and rare. But in The Alchemist, omens are both real and common.

When I look back at my trip, I see that there were all sorts of markers for me to follow. I just hadn’t realized until I looked for them. I had stopped listening to my heart because it stopped making sense. Like Santiago, my heart was afraid.

It was afraid of failure. It was afraid because there were no guarantees that anything remarkable would come out of the trip. For the longest time. The Alchemist just as it did for Santiago, if I listen and watch with intention, great things can manifest.

As Friedrich Max Müller, who was one of the great scholars of the nineteenth century once said:

“A flower cannot blossom without sunshine and man cannot live without love”

In the last few years, leaders and their styles have been in the spotlight. What can this person, regardless of political affiliation, learn from leaders of the past?

Confucius recommends that we “study the past if you would define the future.” Lessons abound in past lives, to be sure, and no more than in those who led. As Retired Admiral Stavridis (and former NATO Supreme Commander) notes in his book The Leader’s Bookshelf, leaders across time, profession, level and setting face “creating effective strategies, inspiring subordinates, distributing scarce resources, communicating effectively, building collaborative teams, and developing innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems”.

Mark Twain would, likely sardonically, agree as in this quote often attributed to him: “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.”
Hence, anyone ignoring history ignores the lessons, often hard won, of millions of leaders. Time does not begin with us. However, the future does.

A lot of criticism and praise have been poured upon different leaders for their decisions and the way they managed business and people throughout these difficult years. It is said that a crisis can bring out the best, as well as the worst in a leader.

However, leadership today is geopolitical war, rising inflation, talent shortages, revamping policies to meet employee demands for more flexibility, and constantly reassuring and focusing on employees in the face of constant uncertainty.

But does being a strong and effective leader enough to cope with the rising challenges presented by the world?

Trust, empathy, compassion, and inclusion are the key asks from the leadership of today! And what’s the better way than to go down the lane and learn from the biggest crisis and shape our leadership with the right skills.

Leaders need to be empathetic, humble and present. That ideal may sound thoroughly modern but it was pioneered by the ancient Greek philosopher, general, historian, novelist, manager and economist Xenophon (430-355 BC), a ‘Renaissance Man’ centuries before the Renaissance was even a thing.

Lauded by Peter Drucker, the ultimate management guru, this Athenian aristocrat remains overshadowed by his mentor Socrates and by Plato, his hero’s famous (and fascist with a lowercase ‘f’) pupil, who saw no place for poetry in his ideal republic.

Xenophon’s worldview was more nuanced. He was admired – and read – by Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Jefferson who, in their differing ways, drew inspiration from his example as a leader who was both thinker and doer.

Leaders need to let go of the “power” trap. People lose the skills that got them power in the first place. Leaders need to beware of the traps that power can create in them which often lead to disaster.

Followership is an important aspect of good leadership- without followers, there are no leaders. Everyone, including leaders, has been a follower at one time. There have been countless research and workshops on effective leadership but none on effective followership.

To differentiate between the “Yes Man” and loyal followers that truly help leaders in creating an impact and achieving the vision. Hence, it is imperative for a leader to be committed to their followers and learn about their team members as individuals. Learn their personal interests and aspirations.

“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.” – Walt Disney

Disney is seen most often sitting around a drawing table or storyboard, with a dozen other artists — sometimes as many as 40 – meticulously plotting and crafting scenes and characters. Walt Disney relied upon his need to give more opportunities to their teams to collaborate and innovate and make the desired impact, and hence participative leadership is a win-win for both employer and employees.

Reading from time-to-time about Roman history, I often think of the great triumphs and advances made by the Empire. I also think of its great generals and emperors who led with robust confidence and self-belief; and of each Roman who did their part in creating an enriched society that stands as a powerful example of what can be achieved by a well-organised collective.

But I also consider the reasons behind the Empire’s downfall. The conceited leadership, the vast expansions, the greed, deceit and betrayals that ultimately led to the Empire’s end have as much to teach us about the perils of leadership that can arise when we aren’t paying attention.

No matter how grand a leader or an organisation might be, success – to paraphrase Winston Churchill – is never a final result.

Jack Whyte’s books ‘The Singing Sword’ is book two of “The Camulod Chronicles”. I could not help but think of the days King Arthur was in power and of Julius Caesar. How were the words honour, integrity, probity, morality and self-sufficiency used then and exactly what can we learn from this era about ethical or moral conduct of a business or operation today.

Do we lack determination, imagination, courage, and passion in today’s business world?

Are we lost in the big data phenomenon and blame/accountability of others?

Do we actually take responsibility of our actions with others?

How is this effecting the way we behave, our conduct, and more importantly, the outcomes?

So as you can imagine this discussion did provoke lateral thinking around our experiences and learnings from assignments, when finally we came to historical information vs. historical thought.

There is a great deal of historical knowledge around today. We are awash with books on history, massive biographies, and philosophy on historical figures. Information on history is much broader than ever before, but there is very little historical thought across both spectrums in the business world.

As a famous lord, Lord Acton, once said: “Historical thought is far more important than historical knowledge”. Historical thought is using the lessons of history to understand the present and to make decisions for the future.
Can or should we be using history as an analytical tool and making use of the lessons of history?

If we were to draw lessons from the Roman Empire and experience it in our everyday existence, as human nature never changes, similar circumstances will always produce similar events. Churchill did change history and this should act as a guide and impediment to understanding the present, so that we can change the future.

The questions we should ask ourselves:

Do we have the reserves of moral courage that the Romans did to undertake that burden of empire or in business?

If we make change, what will be our legacy to the next generation?

Are we generous in spirit, determined to leave the world a better place, or are we hoping that an algorithm or technology is the answer?

Should we constantly refer to the Roman era or can we in still the disciplines, teachings, values and techniques that are far more enduring and far better than that of the Roman era?

In leadership, we need to have the courage to develop a bold vision, but we also require the humility to recognise that tomorrow doesn’t care about yesterday’s successes. That said, there are several lessons we can take from the ancient world of the Roman Empire. Here are just some of those which stood out for me:

1. Know that good fortune doesn’t last forever
In Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, he writes about his mortality and the certainty of death; and, in Augustine’s works, we read his deeply sad account of his mother’s death. Great leaders use profound realisations of impermanence to consider how to best prepare for the future.

2. Be bold in your leadership… but keep your feet on the ground
In the examples of Julius Caesar and Caligula, we can see just how easy it is for power to go to a leader’s head, making them believe that they have all the answers and their way is unquestionable. Many emperors of the Roman Empire took for granted their power and its continuous nature.

3. Learn from your competitors
The Romans were an ingenuous people, but much of their advances including technology and engineering was helped by taking in the Celts and the Gauls’ approach to developing their own cultures. They would then quickly deploy what they had learnt to enhance their own culture and society, enabling success for the Roman Empire and establishing their leadership.

4. Invest in building a strong culture
This point is well-worn in leadership circles, but many of today’s leaders have yet to learn how to put this valuable idea into practice. The Romans knew the importance of building a culture where everyone knew their role and felt a strong sense of belonging.

Finally, The collective motto of the Roman Empire was Senātus Populusque Rōmānus – “The Senate and the People of Rome”. Having a shared identity and a common purpose – which all were clear on – meant that the Romans truly gave themselves to the cause.

The culture wasn’t simply an idea – it was a lived lifestyle that informed every success of the Empire.

As Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman, once said:

“Experience is the teacher of all things.”