Yesterday, my car got stuck in a muddy part of our acreage. With all the wheels spinning deep into the mud, I had no choice but to leave it to the expert. I called for help.

I wonder how this situation is transported in many scenarios in our lives and careers.

How many times we refuse to call for help when we should and not 'game' or 'risk' deepening our being stuck in the mire?

Most of the time:

We thought we can do it. DIY is always the first choice, anyway. Good for learning and making sure you get what you want. Safety, time lags, and wasted monies are consequences for poor planning and execution. 


We thought we don't need to bother anyone. On the contrary, before we get more into debt or trouble, we should call them now and not tomorrow.


We can survive and overcome. When was the last time, you flunk the interview/exam or going into a meeting completely unprepared and acting tentative?  There are clear consequences for misfires and trials.  Learn from the experts, become an expert, or completely walk away, because it's not your strong suit. 


The expert drove the car down in a slope and shared some kind words of instruction. He said, "Some people drive purposefully in a mud, but with not with you."

We need experts and friendly allies to help us, remind us of the things we easily forget, and steer us in the right direction.

But it all starts with asking for help. 

​Cheers!

Do you ever guess how this network economy works? There is no denying that we live in a hyper-networked and interdependent environment. The pandemic contagion provided a good point that one sneeze here can result to another upheaval over there. 

Business leaders and entrepreneurs whose work is about creating impact for society, environment, culture, and economy know that to win is to contradict the prevailing dog-eat-dog culture and transcend parochial interests. There are four strategies to lead with virtues in this dangerous time. 


Practice Generosity: prepare to give to get. It is a level-headed business strategy that operates from a point of feeding the market first, and then establishing reciprocal relationship where indispensability is established and accepted. 

Build your community: keep your allies and kindred friends close. They provide the nudge and the right strategies to keep you accountable and updated with best practice. Best of all, you can trust them with relevant market information outside of your immediate operations. 

Look up to real heroes: Where do we pledge allegiance to? There is no longer a center that holds everything but a series of multi-centers and nodes that operate and relate to one another based on needs and mutual benefits. We depend and become loyal to organizations and institutions that have risen above and beyond their calls of duty to excel in their missions. We look up to them for a way-out and a light to shine in moments of confusion. Who are your models and heroes? 

Renorm what networking is all about: Instead of the shallow forms of networking, aim to build robust and deep connections that transcend immediate interests to long-term mutuality. Beside and beyond business, there is a large unmet need to form stronger bonds, not just to keep isolation at bay but to support strong, healthy, resilient leaders in their journeys. The value of connection is never about quantity, but quality. 
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What are you doing right now to maintain the virtuous circles to lead boldly in this dangerous time? 

There is no better way than to rethink your organization, business, and life in this time.

We are not shocked that there are new cases of COVID19 in many places.

Wearing masks, social distancing, and keeping clean are a way of life.

Suddenly, we are immune to all the onslaught of changes that require enormous amount of adaptation. 

Yet, we refuse to see things clearly, isolate the positives of the situation and process them in a way that creates momentum for us.

The last time I checked, stronger companies are having their best seasons. People continue to invest in growth, both in business and in their lives. There is no limit to how people can adapt magnanimously to limits imposed by health and safety authorities. 

We should remain committed to being inured to epidemic but not immune to goodness and positives that abound everyday.

​Cheers to another great week!
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There is no life and work balance right now. It is all about our life.

Work at home has given a whole new taste of living life not in compartments but in fluidity and delighting in that fluidity.

What we learned from the lockdown is really about slowing down. Slowing down enables us to think, reflect, ponder about the most important aspects of our lives and our work. 

Without the distraction and wasted time of commute and going about our daily lives in mindless chatter and goings-on, we can be more attuned to the people around us, to the ideas that we hear, and we are more receptive and open to change.

When we really get connected to our most important essence, we become fully alive and able to become united with our purpose.

The obstacle to real greatness is the distractions all around us. Working from home is about controlling our environment and making clear boundaries about what is work and what is home, and enjoying a lot of downtime which is healthy and renewing for our families and for ourselves. This also allows us to be more critical of how much time we really need versus how much we have been expending to get our tasks done. Also, being fully present to accomplish work in our homes means, doing our best and taking off when it's time.

Slowing down means being more strategic about our use of time in the context of WFH.

The future is not about life and work balance but life balance. 

We were out and about yesterday doing our weekly errands, we thought it would be different to start eating out to help local businesses and save myself from cooking.

The local restaurant is a franchise of a large chain and owned by a young entrepreneur couple who moved to Canada 11 years ago. This couple is commendable in their attitude towards the reopen and how much of their effort is building confidence with their customers by showing how they approach the preventive measures. 

Confidence-building is essential in every customer interaction especially in this time. It shows that you are on the ball and are committed to ensuring that they can count on you for safety as part of their experience with your products, services, and programs.

Exuding confidence is like a balm on a very itchy skin. It assuages  and builds further confidence that is required if you want to keep more business coming. The right mindset is always an optimistic one-one that is pragmatically positive. 

Who can tell you need confidence? We all need confidence. We all need to be boosted up one way or another. We all need a word of comfort and acts of solidarity. We all need to know that others care for us and we care for our community.

Small business owners are particularly hit hard with today's recession. They are the unsung heroes of our community. Every lay-off is a difficult decision especially when a staff has no other options on the horizon. A lot of workers do not have the cushion of savings to rely on during temporary setbacks. Last March, 2M people lost their jobs. 

Despite these, they are open and they are serving us with a smile and a confident demeanor that they are ready for better times ahead.

What are you doing to exude confidence and build trust with your customers and stakeholders now? 

A recent meeting with another organization led me to believe that not all efforts are wasted on merely connecting. In the era of social media and autobots, in-person connecting is very primal-it is akin to breathing. We are social beings.

When businesses and organizations connect with one another on the basis of exchange of goods, services, and ideas, an exponential gain happens. But when results do not come quickly or clearly, we tend to see 'connection' events as good to have but not easily transmutable to business bottom lines.

How many connections fizzle away because we force the issue on people, whether it is an idea, ideology, religion, product, or service?

How many connections we didn't even try because we thought, it wasn't worth to even break a leg? 

How many connections just die because both parties have found it to be totally pretentious?

How many connections led to many more fruitful encounters with mutual benefits outweighing the costs of the transactions?

Think about what you have to offer, not what you can get. 

Be a connector between people and learn to give and reciprocate a kind gesture.

We are all in this together whether we acknowledge this or not.


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