Good day,
We have often talked about the many current challenges that cause some people to feel queasy: There seems to be nothing we can do about issues like war, inflation, or power plays.
At the same time, we have the most knowledge, the latest technologies and all the financial resources needed to get to the root of the problems.
How can we bridge the gap between knowledge and action that has become embedded in our collective behavior?
British historian Arnold Toynbee has studied the rise and fall of civilizations and found that much depends on the ability of leaders and their institutions to respond creatively to the challenges of their time. Moments of transition reveal themselves in three aspects:
In hard facts: Figures indicate changes.
In lack of communication: a common conversation about what happened does not take place.
In the human mind: We are seeing a massive increase in mental health issues.
We find all three aspects today. At the same time, this should give us hope and drive that "coming into action" is possible. Here are three examples:
#1: Keeping a sense of change
In the circle of 50 executives, we were able to exchange ideas at the Neutrik Group in March on the topic of culture in times of transformation. Marcel Gstöhl, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Chad Trevithick, CEO of Neutrik Group, gave exciting impulses on the company's development from the founding days to today's technology leadership in the world of professional entertainment and industrial applications. It became clear how important it is, especially in times of success, to keep an eye and a sense for when it is time to initiate change. For Neutrik, close cooperation between the board of directors, management and employees developed into a decisive success factor. In this triangle, it is important to avoid a vacuum and to manage the business not only operationally, but also strategically.
The change got rolling when the company's management realized that it needed to secure its innovative strength in the long term. The company embarked on a path to awaken the "hunger" for change in the organization.
#2: Shift leadership from top-down to co-creative and dialogic.
The example shows: The necessary measures for change are feasible. This is also confirmed by simulation models developed by the Club of Rome, which brought together leading scientists to identify ways of achieving a sustainable transformation of the economy, society and the environment as a whole. The result: it will not fail due to financial resources - a change to sustainability would cost between 2 and 5 percent of global GDP.
The problem is rather that current decision-making structures are often under the one-sided influence of organized interest groups. However, many decision-makers in business and politics personally agree that transformative change is needed now. They would like to be part of a different story of the future. But they don't know how. A crucial question is: How can we evolve our decision-making structures to become more distributed, dialogic and direct?
In order to facilitate dialogue and a change of perspective between organizations, we have founded the "Communication Café" in Liechtenstein, where we regularly meet with decision-makers to discuss questions of cultural change. The next meeting will take place on May 5 in Vaduz. You are cordially invited - click here to register.
#3: Relate learning to reflection.
When the world changes radically, what do we have left? We have ourselves. And we have our relationships: How we relate to nature, how we relate to each other, and how we relate to our selves. These are our sources of inspiration, optimism and change.
So today I'm also excited to invite you to a new learning experience that will help you discover what drives you personally: Our new Meet Your Purpose app, which guides you to discover and bring to life your purpose and meaningful work. In the course format we accompany you to get to know yourself better and to align your life in a meaningful and focused way. Click here to register - a free offer for all, which we were able to develop with the support of Erasmus+.
As always, thanks for reading this far.
Empower Yourself. Live Purpose. Change the World - that's our motto at Meet Your Purpose. Give me a quick answer about what was most inspiring for you today - I'd love to hear from you!
