Because Life is restless and change is constant, we need to be regularly transforming ourselves to meet this demand. Many of us do this by responding to society and its demands. Few actively shape their destiny. Of the 1,200 individuals I have been privileged to work with I know of at least ten in the last decade who become CEOs. Some are entrepreneurs and all really wanted to be CEOs and business leaders. It was their purpose.
Too few have realized the dreams/aspirations/hopes that they shared in our appreciative discussions. I don't know why, many have certainly not fulfilled their theoretical capability and have accepted their lot as career options have narrowed and the years slip by...
Their purpose.
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| A Different Sort of Game ! |
So I asked if there appears to be any commonality in responses. For many who choose to paddle their own canoes they have made decisions based on listening to and acting on an inner voice.
I call this listening to "the Voice in the Shadows" and by that I mean paying attention to that something we called intuition. For many of us, Intuition really does battle to make it itself heard, because we make it as difficult as possible by filling our lives, as my friend Mary O'Brien says with "busy, busy, busy". Sometimes that Voice goes away and we are left with feelings of regret for doors we never had the courage to open.
Yet for some people the voice from the shadows does not go away; it comes back and when it does we need to listen up. It is about deep purpose and is not so much about a career path as a career destiny[i]. When one finally realizes that and accepts it; the quicker the pace of change becomes and if it is uncomfortable, the quicker you have to move, the easier it is. No one said being on purpose is easy; it just means you have access to a few simple tools like being in flow, resilience, energy, synchronicity, creativity and most of all faith.Let me tell you a personal story that goes back more than 25 years. I was a fresh ex-military officer, recently married and working in a mining community with a wonderful job, when I visited Findhorn, a community in the north of Scotland dedicated to an alternative way of living. It has been really successful, but is not driven by business ethics or values and making profits is not on its agenda. In fact these are values it rejects.
Findhorn has its own teaching institution offering a unique product range, dedicated to an alternative way of living based on values of community. It has a unique brand and deals in kindness, learning and compassion (value systems of green, yellow and turquoise). It exports energy through its wind farm, practices permaculture, right living, sewage treatment and heating. After fifty years of existence, it operates with an informal global network.
But something stopped me from entering that day twenty five years ago; it was like walking into a brick wall. Many years later I would later rationalize that it was a clash of different value systems; mine, the military and business; theirs inclusiveness, community, sustainability, spirituality, compassion; in short a totally different way of living. In trying to explain my reaction I summed it up with a crass summary of their world view - “if we love each other enough it will all be OK" What a simple and convenient explanation.
It took 25 years of immersion in the business world, three companies and chasing the dollar; including moving continents twice and collecting lots of pain along route before I would return to the gates of Findhorn. This time however, I made it through. There was no hesitation now, no longer was it a call from the shadows. Vuokko, a colleague from Finland talks about how the Voice in the Shadows can become a BIG voice when it is time!
I came to realise that I had been ignoring my intuitive sense of purpose and it had taken 25 years to understand the message and acknowledge it, although it had regularly and consistently steered me towards a specific path.
So what was the voice from the shadows? Let me contextualise; A new world is emerging which like it or not, is restless and unwelcoming to nine billion of us. Not that we are short of warning; remember Limits of Growth (Meadows et al), Small is Beautiful (Schumacher), Collapse (Diamond) or McGibben’s Eaarth and Paul Gildings The Great Disruption to mention just a few.
And the warnings go on... a quick glance at my morning copy of The Independent featured a major report saying the world’s oceans are faced with an unprecedented loss of species comparable to the great mass extinctions of prehistory. The report by a panel of 27 leading marine scientists considered the latest research from all areas of marine science and concluded that a “combination of stressors is creating the conditions associated with every previous major extinction of species in Earth’s history.”
So where do we start? I don’t think tinkering with big complex systems is the answer anymore. At least for simple individuals like me. And I don’t believe that those at the head of governments or corporates have the leadership ability to steer our species into the future, even with all their capability. I think this time around the movement for change must come from the bottom upwards and like Schumacher said, small is beautiful.
And that brings me back to the intuition - the Voice in the Shadows. Almost all the work I had been doing in business was, I realised, preparation for this Call to Adventure. And the how was what I finally confronting. I realised in hindsight that voice in the shadows had always been there, pushing, shoving, giving pain, giving reward; in a specific direction.
Well, maybe I have not been ready.
Do you have a Voice in the Shadows?
Findhorn has its own teaching institution offering a unique product range, dedicated to an alternative way of living based on values of community. It has a unique brand and deals in kindness, learning and compassion (value systems of green, yellow and turquoise). It exports energy through its wind farm, practices permaculture, right living, sewage treatment and heating. After fifty years of existence, it operates with an informal global network.
But something stopped me from entering that day twenty five years ago; it was like walking into a brick wall. Many years later I would later rationalize that it was a clash of different value systems; mine, the military and business; theirs inclusiveness, community, sustainability, spirituality, compassion; in short a totally different way of living. In trying to explain my reaction I summed it up with a crass summary of their world view - “if we love each other enough it will all be OK" What a simple and convenient explanation.
It took 25 years of immersion in the business world, three companies and chasing the dollar; including moving continents twice and collecting lots of pain along route before I would return to the gates of Findhorn. This time however, I made it through. There was no hesitation now, no longer was it a call from the shadows. Vuokko, a colleague from Finland talks about how the Voice in the Shadows can become a BIG voice when it is time!
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| Action is Needed |
I came to realise that I had been ignoring my intuitive sense of purpose and it had taken 25 years to understand the message and acknowledge it, although it had regularly and consistently steered me towards a specific path.
The report offered recommendations and calls to take measures that would better conserve ocean ecosystem and in particular demands the urgent adoption of better governance of the largely unprotected high seas.[ii] But the UN is powerless, just yesterday the Security Council members showed their persistent inability to forge an international consensus on climate change issues[iii].
Suffice to say, in this critical decade we cannot ignore or fail to respond in some way to a difficult call.
The problem is growth is still seen as a solution. That the only hope for Greece is to grow its way out of bankruptcy (well we know they were bailed out). Our market economy's solution to faltering systems is growth. Let’s grow the market of our Planet’s 9 billion people by offering them an illusion.
I met Paul Dickerson, CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project, who aims to increase transparency on carbon emissions and to analyse the data supplied by many different corporate resources. Paul was running his operation on five million pounds and he needed 50 million to get the job done. Could I help?
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| Madness |
And that brings me back to the intuition - the Voice in the Shadows. Almost all the work I had been doing in business was, I realised, preparation for this Call to Adventure. And the how was what I finally confronting. I realised in hindsight that voice in the shadows had always been there, pushing, shoving, giving pain, giving reward; in a specific direction.
Well, maybe I have not been ready.
I have known for decades at a subconscious level what I need to do, but I was not ready to accept the challenge. I wanted security, I wanted control, I wanted corporate support and I wanted to belong. Well in spite of 25 years of trying, including 10 years of being in an uncomfortable rut I did not achieve those objectives. I also realised I had not been willing to take the risk of letting go and accepting that the only option for an abundant life is to transform.
So, with the full understanding that life is short, and I want to fill it fun, giving, adventure and being on purpose, I am stepping out again. Yes; of course with apprehension, some fear and trepidation, but also with a wonderful feeling of being alive and empowered. I think taking power back is intoxicating. The intuitive voice had whispered in my ear 25 years ago what I needed to be doing, but I was not ready to accept it then until Life SHOUTED at me. Once I have accepted that, powerful synchronicity has come to play offering a web of connections within a whirlwind period of two weeks.
Do you have a Voice in the Shadows?
