We?re born with our eyes closed, and we leave the same way.?In-between though, for however long we?re on this planet, our eyes are open.
And yet, sometimes, it feels like they?ve stayed closed since our first breath in the open air.
Journal
A Blog is Exactly What We Wish It to Be
When I first started blogging “seriously”, it was a continuation of a public relations blog that I had, back in my early solo consultancy days.
The goal was simple ? to share thoughts and ideas on social media and where that fit in the business world.
Progress and the Farmer – A Fable
The Farmer had been the same all his life.
He used the same hoeing tools his father, and his father’s father, had used.
He used the same ox-pulled plough from the last century that was weathered and broken, but The Farmer insisted did as fine a job as any of these newfangled tractor machines.
You Answer to Nobody But Yourself
When I was young and impressionable (and still trying to make an impression), I believed ? foolishly ? that I had to answer to people.
Whether that was my boss, colleagues or peers, I was under the impression I had to answer to them in all I did.
Now, before folks get the wrong impression, yes, it?s definitely important to have some form of hierarchy to get things done.
This doesn?t necessarily mean a boss/employee relationship, though ? think of it more like expertise and the wisdom to make the right things happen.
But the idea that you have to answer to someone because they say you have to? Screw that.
Just like trust and respect needs to be earned, so does answering to someone.
You want me (or others) to listen to you? Show me you know your shit, and show me you?ll use that knowledge to do things the right way.
Which brings us back to the opening statement.
People in positions of power may feel you have to answer to them, because their job title says so. But here?s the thing ? people don?t stay in companies for 25 years or more anymore.
People also see through BS faster, and know that ? thanks to social media ? it?s easier to be connected to someone that can help them make their next move than it was just five years ago, when an old boy network and a good suit was the ?in? to a new position.
What this means is that employees don?t need to take the kind of shit anymore that they used to stay silent about. Nor do they have to worry about a damaged reputation, since the truth always comes out.
Always.
Instead, now people can choose what really matters to them ? respect, reputation, family. Instead of answering to those that don?t deserve it, you now answer to those that truly matter.
Which, at the end of the day, is where the real rewards are anyway?
No One Deserves to Live In Fear (And How BACA is Helping Those Who Do)
When I was still living and working in the UK, one of my colleagues (who would later go on to become my girlfriend) confided in me about her abuse at the hands of her boyfriend.
Both mental and physical, the abuse was so bad that my colleague had taken to cutting herself (on her upper thighs, so the cuts were hidden from public view).
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