Just before Covid hit the world, I had the opportunity to travel to Mumbai and receive an award. I received an invitation to receive a citation in the global HRD Congress as one of the under 21 most influential coaching leaders in the world. Of course, I accepted this with pride. I was also fortunate to have been been given the stage to speak to the delegates for a few minutes on the subject of this book: Vision with Imagination.
Among the attendees was a combination of professional people, but being in the early stages of Covid, people from the East of Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and China did not attend this international Congress. But it was four amazing days on the theme: ‘Happiness in the Workplace’.
I had the opportunity to meet up with a group of very interesting speakers and attendees from all across the globe; Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. All leaders in the field and most of them very active life coaches and the balance were made up of professional HR practitioners from corporate organizations all over the world.
I was so expectant, blessed, and hungry that I never missed a session. My Master Coach, Ingvar Johnson was also there from Iceland, who was also a speaker and received one of the recognitions. There were quite a few South Africans too, from different walks of life and different organizations like corporate companies, government institutions, universities, etc.
With all the amazing speakers there, one theme that kept reoccurring for me in the sessions was able to attend was the advice that people have to clear their minds, get clarity, and be much more focused. Processes, activities, and philosophies that are mostly linked to the east and I realized that all of a sudden we were confronted with this and that it’s becoming a worldwide trend. It was presented s a fine art, like breathing that allows one to relax and take control of their emotions and so forth.
I was also challenged with the concept of bringing happiness into the workplace. I attended a session with a friend of mine who traveled from Belgium. She was instrumental in implement work from home principles in a semi/quasi-government institution back in Belgium. They managed to implement it over two years with great success.
What they did was let people who want to go the office, had to reserve an office where you go to for that day.
Everybody started working from home and she was sharing figures with us how the company manages this. She was telling stories of how there were quite a few people that could not handle this change, that were completely resistant to change, and how they just felt that by the wayside and decided to resign and leave the organization. It was astounding how much money the company saved and the efficiencies that this shift brought in.
And then the simple things, like effective communication, that you can do in your organization to ensure your employees are happy. What makes people more efficient? Stop trying to fit those who are square pegs into round holes. That’s the goal. If you can achieve that, you will have a much happier individual because you help the individual to do what they love doing, and by achieving this people are energized at work. If you don’t approach it this way and moved out what comes naturally to you, it SAPS your energy.
We all have experiences throughout our life where you arrive home at night and you are drained. You’ve got nothing left is in you because you are involved in activities where you have to exert yourself unnaturally.
It almost pre-empted my M.O: The subject of vision with imagination, which has now become the foundation of what I practice and what I teach. I believe with a vision, we can handle everything that that is thrown at us. It doesn’t matter if we are an individual, an entrepreneurial, a professional organization, or a corporate company with a vision.
You have a purpose! With purpose, you have answers to anything foreign to you, because you can manage it. You are thinking beyond the limitations of fear.
The congress was very exciting to me because as you walk in the hallways, you can meet up with many different people. I was privileged to meet from government representative ministers to a wide spectrum of other interesting people I was able to talk to.
The interesting thing about the conference was, that many of the delegates were women. Women who were highly qualified professionals with doctorates. One of the discussions I was honored to be part of was about one of the traditional Indian philosophies and principles. that’s applied by families where children have to follow in the steps of their parents. Conventionally the parents would decide who they are allowed to marry, what they get to study, where they work, and how they’re gonna live their life.
The interesting part was, hearing from the Indian women, that this is changing. Many of these women have doctorates by following their educational paths. And then, from a relationship point of view, they were starting to be allowed to choose their life partners. This is a subtle change I noticed during the congress.
So women, globally, as leaders, have come alongside men and are becoming stronger and stronger. I believe, as the world is shifting, that caring and sharing with the emotive side of human nature in management and leadership, women are changing the way we approach things.
Women have a natural way of approaching things differently. It’s got nothing to do with, different leadership styles or management styles, they are just differently attuned. Let’s call it being attuned to the cost.
One of the latest developments in highly successful agencies is to appointing women in the position of HR officer. In one instance the appointed had the title of Chief Heart Officer and the function was simply an HR function and building relationships with staff.
That’s absolutely the way the world is moving. I experience it a day today, there’s a subtle change happening, and working with people is not only a soft skill, but it’s become tactical: The human being in the workplace is of cardinal importance.
I have been creating podcasts for over 3 years now, and in them, I simply share the philosophies and experiences I’ve gathered over the last 40 to 50 years. I’m very privileged to share them.
The reason I’m sharing with you my Mumbai experience is that it was the seed for this book. There, as with this book, I shared the concept of Vision with Imagination. I an earlier part of 2020, I was networking with most entrepreneurs on LinkedIn, and I started corresponding with people there regularly.
Our chats were just a meeting of minds… with some, the focus may be philosophy, and with others, the focus may have been ‘masterminds’. Through the process of developing disciplines of thought, I realized what I’ve always been talking about three elements in my life, which are overview, insight, and foresight.
This process assisted me to find my view of what is most important. I believe everyone out there has a purpose, and through the process, they have goals so also a vision. Vision will pull you through because vision gives you a reason to get up.
Here’s a scenario where you don’t have a vision of where you want to grow: Imagine you have a new business solution. We start reflecting on 2020 with its expectations for a few weeks and may put out some projections for 2021The natural result from this are the new year’s resolution.
Often, these resolutions are related to the physical. Suppose you want to lose weight; you start exercising, practicing and going to the gym, etc. Those actions are futile if you don’t have a goal. But Bertie, I do have a purpose! I’m going to go to the gym etc.
I would venture to say you still don’t have a goal. Your goal should be a clear vision of where you want to go with going to the gym. What is the reason you want to do it? Do you want to lose weight? If so, then how many kilo’s? No, no, I just want to lose weight.
That’s not effective. You’ve got to have a vision in your mind of Angelina Jolie or Duane Johnson. Perhaps you think you could never be those people, but at least have that vision of saying: I want to work towards a change in my physique and in my life to look and eat healthier. Here’s why it matters: If you just have the simple goal of losing weight, then one kilogram would have you reached your goal and you step off it.
Masterminds are very powerful. They allow you to develop a platform to bring together like-minded individuals that share their passions. These sessions are a great way to challenge each other, bring across concepts and purposes that may have been conceived in your mind, or have perhaps molded your outlook in life.
As a transformational coach, I am fortunate to focus on assisting people to define their imagined, in-state, imagined vision. I call it the vision with imagination because I want you to create an impossible vision for yourself. An impossible dream. And I will guide and help you because if you can see it, you can achieve it.
I do not doubt that everything starts with a thought. Coaching and mentoring people around the concept of having a vision, having a purpose, and having a reason to get up in the morning is what I am passionate about.
Reflection is important. You may not know this, but I also contracted Covid in late 2020 and I feel like it was a good thing. At the end of the day, I was able to advise, guide, and counsel people from a contextual point of reference, having gone through it myself.
