PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Life’s 4 Big Questions
By Dr. Wale Akinyemi
Every week I have one on one
coaching sessions with leaders
from all over the world and I am
truly amazed by the fact that people who
are able to articulate strategies for their
organizations or their departments are
very clueless when it comes to planning
their own lives. This is alarming because
what you will have left when work is no
longer there is your life and if you have no
plan for it you might not like where you
will end up.
A person with no clear articulation of
vision will be a victim of circumstance.
In essence, if you do not know where you
are going you will have to get down where
life drops you. My goal here is to help the
leader reading this to rethink a few things
about their lives.
There are people who are out of work
today who could never have imagined this
happening to them at the beginning of
this year. It is not that they did anything
wrong. It is just that events overtook the
world. How does one prepare themselves
for such? The truth is that while you are
never 100% ready, there are ways for
you to mitigate the effects of adverse
situations over your life.
A look at some of those that were able
to stand during this period revealed that
they did not just develop the traits that
made them stand. Their winning traits
were already embedded in them as habits
long before the pandemic showed up. No
army begins to prepare for war when war
is declared. Any army that tries that will
without doubt be vanquished!
The one defining trait that seems to run
through those that have made it through
this period in a big way has been their
adaptive nature. No era in my lifetime
has best given visuals for the statement
credited to Darwin that it is not the
strongest of the species that survives, nor
the most intelligent that survives. It is the
one that is most adaptable to change.
We have seen this play out before our very
own eyes. Companies that seemed strong
Motive gives a level of boldness like few
things do. Boldness is what happens
when you have found reasons greater
than your fears and this is what motive
does to people. It is what will keep you
going even when it looks like there is no
reason to keep going. It is the 'why" of
the things you do.
before the pandemic are now appearing
weak. Even nations that the whole world
looked up to as strong have fallen flat
on their faces. These nations are led by
the United States which has the highest
number of deaths and infections from
Covid-19 in the world.
These nations, organizations and people
that have fallen flat all have a very common
trait. Similarly those who made it through
everything have a common trait. What
then are the common traits found in
people who thrive in the pandemic?
They are flexible people who believe the
statement that the oak that bends never
gets uprooted by the storm. They know
that what saves one from the storm is not
size but flexibility. While many a tree have
lost their existence to storms and floods,
shrubs and hedges rarely do. Storms are
not resisted by force. They are overcome by
bending.
Think of a branch. When alive it is flexible
and can easily be bent. When dead, the
slightest pressure can snap it into two.
Flexibility is a manifestation of life.
Rigidity is the practice of death. The size
of the tree is not an advantage in the face
of a flood. What matters is its ability to
bend.
Where then does one draw the line between
principles and flexibility? Principles should
never be potential limiting. Principles
should be designed to give expression to
values. The most powerful principles are
derivatives of strong values. We should
therefore ensure that the values from
which the principles derive their power are
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