My friend Chris is a wayfinder. Every time I go through the Union Station in downtown Toronto, I think of him and wish the powers that be had hired him to help people literally find their way in this newly (and it seems never ending) redesigned transit hub.
I had the extreme delight of being led by these wonderful guides on various adventures over the last 7 years. Each are from different countries and cultures and led vastly different experiences with different groups of people. They work with G-Adventures, my go-to company for adventure travel.
One of the very first questions I ask a new coaching client is when last they took a real vacation. I am an unapologetic vacationphile, so I’m always amazed at how many leaders don’t take real vacations i.e., vacations with purpose and intention, unplugged and disconnected from work. I have coached many a client in this, and they are amazed when they can actually do it. But it takes quite a bit of planning and preparation.
“How are you”? I asked two C-suite executives I reconnected with at a conference recently.
“Stressed” they chimed in unison.
“Busy” one quickly asserted.
“Busy is an understatement” the other added, just to make sure I got it.
“Well it doesn’t have to be that way you know …”
I was about to launch into the benefits of mindfulness meditation in managing stress, but paused when I noticed the looks on their faces.
“Love is the answer” – easy to say, but so difficult to do.
I look at the crises in my home country Jamaica, and in Canada, my new home, the war in Yemen, Ukraine and other hotspots, the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, political turmoil in the USA and many other countries, and innumerable crises begging for solutions knowing that what we are doing is not working, or not working fast enough.
Many years ago, when I ran my family’s door manufacturing business, our master joiner, Mr. Samuel Reid, drowned.
Mr. Reid’s workstation was right below my office on the mezzanine floor of our factory. I would often look down and marvel at him working. He was a quiet, decent man who worked with patience, meticulousness and well, love.
In a Strategy Kickoff event that I facilitated on Sunday, a fairly new member of the team asked the CEO what’s important to him when hiring people:
“Be nice and mannersable”
The room fell quiet, a silent gasp visible from the looks on people’s faces. That’s it? Yes, he answered. That is all.
Welcome to the new year!
Many of us are making our resolutions, full of hope – confident that 2023 will be different, better, more – THE year when our dreams come true, when we are the best we can be.
Shift your focus from what's going wrong to what's going right.
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