I have more than 25 years of operating experience in business. I create through many different roles and in different areas. I have worn many different hats, the one of business owner, the employee, the consultant, the trainer and at the same time the spiritual seeker in combination with my involvement in areas of psychology and personal development. All these have given me the opportunity to comprehend a business from many diverse perspectives. This leads me to believe that it is an absolute necessity to view a business from many different angles.
During a management class in 1997 a teacher of mine said something that stayed with me all through the years: “In order to manage a company, you first have to learn to manage yourself”.
The principles are the same, whether you are managing yourself or a company. The principles to manage crisis and change, are the same, regardless if it is on a personal or a company level.
In a world of constant challenges, changes and evolution, planning, measuring and sticking to the rule may not work. What was effective and useful yesterday, does not work anymore.
The future is created by being in the moment. It is created by the awareness of what is going on in the here and now. Today, more than ever, having self awareness and strategic thought is an absolute necessity.
The system, whether it is personal or business, needs to connect to its self and know:
- Who it is
- What are its behavior blueprints
- It’s values
- The direction it is taking
It is of utmost importance to have a purpose and a meaning.
Self-awareness requires connection to the parts of the system and connection to the people, no matter what their role in the system is (stock owner-employee-manager-client-supplier).
Modern science reminds us that we live in a world of interrelations and it is necessary to seek out these relationships, connect to them and the information they have to give to us. We live in a world where we are doers, and at the same time, observers of what is happening. This means that whatever our role in the system is, we also play our part in affecting it, forming it, creating it.
Niki Anandi Koulouri
29.01.14