empowering values. They must be values
that serve as a foundation for greatness.
The Bible says that if the foundations are
destroyed then there is nothing that even
the righteous can do. Values should be
foundations that can hold the weight of
the vision that you have. The foundation
required for a bungalow is very different
from the foundation required for a
hundred floor building. Many people
are attempting to build skyscrapers on
bungalow foundations and that is where
the problem is.
Idealism that says it is either my way or
the highway is likely to get into serious
turbulence. Greatness requires a level of
pragmatism that is open to other ideas
and other methods. No human being has
the monopoly of intelligence. As such, a
person who is locked up to other perspectives
is going to live a very limited life.
Idealism that says it is either my way or
the highway is likely to get into serious
turbulence. Greatness requires a level of
pragmatism that is open to other ideas
and other methods. No human being
has the monopoly of intelligence. As
such, a person who is locked up to other
perspectives is going to live a very limited
life.
There is more to life than you know and
there are more ways of getting things
done than you know. Principles that
give no room for alternatives will never
take a person far and when trouble hits
like a pandemic that totally changes
the world as it was known, such people,
organizations or nations falter the most.
Using the case study of the United States,
it is evident that when a leader is so
fixed in his own ways and belief systems
and is not open to divergent thought or
differing ideas, such a leader will find it
difficult to operate when the world they
know is altered by a pandemic. New York
Governor, Andrew Cuomo said that, 'You
don't defeat a virus with politics. You
defeat a virus with science and medicine."
Unfortunately if you have a president
like the US president who has always had
things his own way and who has built a
reputation on always cutting deals, you
do not expect any different during the
pandemic. The reality however is that you
cannot strike a deal with a pandemic. You
have to adapt to a new world governed by
different rules. To prepare yourself for the
next pandemic, remember that the oak
that falls is the oak that refused to bend.
Now the truth is that every single person
in leadership has heard over and over
about the need to change and the need to
be flexible. Why then is it that they still
fall victim to change? My discovery has
been that many leaders are so focused on
the entity that they lead and have not paid
attention to themselves as individuals.
So while they preach the need for
change, they are not students of change
themselves. They preach the theories and
no one knows that they lack the practice
because they have never been exposed to
a situation that makes a demand on their
need for change. Well, all that changed
with Covid-19.
So in order to become that leader that is
adaptable and flexible, where do we start
from? We need to address the total being
and not just the person at work. I have
often said that companies do not change
it is people that change. A company is
as good as its leaders. A company is as
progressive as its decision makers.
So as an individual, you need to go back to
the roots. You need to look at what makes
you, you. What is your vision in life? What
is your purpose? People with a very strong
sense of purpose and vision are likely to be
more flexible because they are driven by
a destination and anything that comes in
the way of their reaching that destination
will be seen as an enemy. People who do
not have a very strongly defined vision on
the other hand are not likely to viciously
fight obstacles.
So, for some people, Covid-19 became a
pause or complete stop to life but yet in the
midst of it all, there have been exceptional
stories of people who quickly adapted to
the moment and seized it. People whose
comfort is assured regardless of their
effort are likely to be more tolerant of
obstacles than people whose comfort is
directly tied to their efforts.
To create a vision out of comfort you must
sometimes learn how to induce discomfort.
The good thing is that Covid-19 has
brought discomfort on the whole world
so this is a great place for us all to start
again. I will therefore proceed from this
point as if I am writing to a person who
is just starting off their life. These are the
questions I sincerely wish someone had
asked me when I was younger.
To take this thought further, think of a
jigsaw puzzle. If you have a picture of the
end result it will become much easier to
execute than one in which you just have
the pieces and not the picture. The picture
acts as a compass for where you are going.
It gives direction.
Many people are living their lives with no
clear personal picture. They have a clear
picture of where the organization is going
but none for their own lives. In fact if you
ask them where the organization will be
in a few years they can give you an almost
accurate prediction but if you ask them
where their lives will be that is a totally
different story and that is why at the
slightest setback they get catapulted and
completely derailed.
I normally kick those who participate in
my one-on-one sessions off with what
I call Life's Big 4 Questions. What
surprises me the most is that when I ask
them professional questions they are able
to answer immediately and off the cuff but
when I ask these life's big 4 questions, even
after a week of giving them time to think
and come up with answers, they always
ask for extra time. This trend really got me
thinking.
I am shocked at the number of people who
have not deliberately sat down to plan
their life and where they want to be and so
I want to share these big 4 questions with
you and let’s see how quickly you are able
to answer them and do feel free to reach
out if you need further guidance on how to
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MAL37/20 ISSUE