The future is in our hands, Healthcare future is in our hands
A bright new future is here to stay, whether we see it or fear it, it will come! Technology has disrupted our lives already in the communication sector; how we relate to each other has changed a lot and will continue changing. The next step will be either Health or Education. For us to accelerate these changes and be able to enjoy as soon as possible the good impact they will bring us, a clear purpose and the goodness in people to serve society will have to be the main motivation! The disruption on human relations: Family’s like mine, of expats, are much closer now than they were before. When I left Brasil in 1999, cell phones did not have video calls (you do not have to be THAT old for having lived it!). I recall waiting to talk to my mother the weekends and controlling the time, as the calls were super expensive from Hungary to Brazil. Slightly before my mother passed away, in 2006, we have discovered a new “tool” that allowed us to talk “with” the computer seeing the faces of each other and for free – it was called Skype! Right now, I am able to talk to my siblings, families and friends seeing their faces whatever time I can – for people of my generation, we thought this would only be the Jetsons!!! We are indeed living what before was only in our dreams. We have right now in “one piece of device”, all our preferred music, our whole family and friends, news, notes, mails just in a “simple thing” that we can carry in our pocket! …information, connection, safety, entertainment, etc… in our hands 24/7! Some people see the negative aspects of the cell phones, I choose to see the positive! Where the next disruption will be? In my view it will be in the HealthCare sector, mainly because in the education we are already seeing examples of disruption, but this have been more silently and have been a big impact generation after generation already. The hope I see in education is, that, in the future, it will not be based on supporting one individual to be successful or to succeed in one organisation. The old ways of maximizing GDP’s of countries, Profits of Businesses, learning how to lead winning competition, influencing and convincing people to do what they might not be willing to do, is long gone. The future of leadership education will start from childhood, but to lead society to pursue a common goal – humanity well being, harmony and fight together the biggest challenges we face today! Universities as the Singularity University (https://su.org/) will take over, and the goodness and care for society and humanity will prevail. The next generations will not look for schools, Universities, where you learn how to compete and win the “wild human race”, but they search places where they learn how to cooperate and in collaboration make a better “harmonic human existence”. You can see it just by screening the first page of the SU website: “Preparing Global Leaders & Organizations for the Future Explore the opportunities and implications of exponential technologies and connect to a global ecosystem that is shaping the future and solving the world’s most urgent problems.” Why I believe HC will be the next big step of humanity evolution through technology disruption? Because Medical Science had developed super quickly, solutions that are being studied today can truly prolong life and there are researches going much beyond, but still our societies and countries are not ready. Technology has advanced hugely and right now all different stakeholders in the Healthcare sector are trying to find different solutions to be more effective and to be more productive, and to give the best service to THEIR patients. Where this will take us? This is the biggest question and the answer is another “WHY fundamental question”: “WHY WOULD WE, STAKEHOLDERS OF HEALTHCARE SECTOR INTRODUCE TECHNOLOGY IN OUR AREA?” Here comes the most important break for reflection. The right answer should always be: “BECAUSE OUR PURPOSE AND FOCUS IS THE CITIZEN WELL-BEING”. If we all truly think on the patients when bringing technology to our areas; hospitals, labs, researchers, government, then we will align ourselves in order to have the right technology to measure the clinical outcomes of the patients and track the whole patient journey, not only in that given moment, but also historical data. If Public and Private sector are aligned and “speaking” to each other, the data produced throughout the patient journey will help policies to be built which really help to optimize the Healthcare system and bring the best outcome to the patients. When procurement can be made according to the right added value to certain step of the journey, optimization of the whole chain can be achieved and the transparency can be the mother of the right decisions! This will provide the right platform for the collaboration among stakeholders, and by the end the citizens will be benefited. All decisions in the Health sector will be wiser…. How far are we from this??? My truly and deepest belief is that we are not far, and I believe that India can lead this journey. One of the biggest challenges that countries and systems encounter is the metadata to identify the citizens throughout the chain and the willingness and capability of the system to implement technology. India has both… India is the only country which has the Aadhar, which is, not only one identification covering 98% of the population, but also a biometric one!!! (Dream of any country which would plan to implement new Informatics system to track health value). India has also one of the highest acceptance of technology, innovation and the stakeholders are willing to implement technology in their “houses” to optimize services…. And…. On the top of this, in February 2018 the government has announced the biggest National Health program in the world, and among other ideas, they are willing to
Venezuela – land of example, moral and ethics (…no, I am not crazy)
Many of you might think that I got crazy… How Venezuela can be a land of example, moral and ethics??? Today I heard somebody saying that it is easy to have moral, values and ethics being born in a rich country where you still are rich, no business is on the edge, and no ethical dilemmas are presented. It is relatively easy to keep compliance and rules in a country where the laws are clear, where justice is transparent. Let us come to Venezuela…. Actual laws do not favor the private business, some of them “guide” us to sell at a price level that can not cover our own costs. Adding to this legal situation, the hyperinflation is knocking at the door of the country. Sometimes the term “justice” means more than compliance, but depending on the circumstances, justice is nothing close to compliance. Then, how to lead a multinational where you want justice and compliance at the same time and both can be perceived differently? And more, how to explain this to the headquarters? Before I was transferred to Venezuela, I had thousands interviews with high level executives of my previous company and all interviews went to the same direction – are you sure you can do business and assure good results in countries where it seems necessary to have different set of rules, where the level of compliance can be different from the required by our company? I was so so sure that it was not only possible, but also that this was a competitive advantage! Being in Venezuela, working in multinational has allowed me to prove this though right. We can find many situations where the outcome might have finished wrongly, if it were not for me being working in a multinational. Working in a multinational, european in this case, just leaves us an advantage that is the historical strictness of the companies from this part of the world. I have never had a situation in which I had to use my discernment regarding compliance, simply it is clear what kind of business we do, and I have found so many partners to do business as this. And in Venezuela right now, there are much more people that are looking for good business and very strict partners to show how honest one is. Right now the ethics and example of honesty is ery much valued. One would be surprised to see how many honest people we can find. One would be even more surprised to see that the historic record of honesty and compliance can open doors and favour one so much, as this can be the only true and the only sureness business partners want to look for. The one very nice point for us to see is that human beings are human beings, and independently of parts, parties, nations, beliefs, having a common ground always shows us the way, always shows us that we can always do business if the purpose is clear and this purpose can be shared by everyone. From my 5 years experience in Venezuela, it did not matter which was the client or the partner I had talked to, always when I started to talk about our concern about the patients and wanted to find a solution together, NEVER, EVER have I received a different answer than a willigness to be part of the solution or to work for patients… More than everything – the Venezuelans are very very much honest and example of honor… In the middle of all the situation we are living, I am a living proof of how many admirable Venezuelans are still in Venezuela, I have met so many Venezuelans, enterprenueurs, second, third generation of Venezuelans who has built the history of this country, and want, more than ever prove that you can do business as one expects here in Venezuela. Probable, because of all this situation, the honor and honesty is crucial for many Venezuelans, the word is very important and sometimes is what really sustains relationship between client and supplier. So, if you ask if the “easy” way is the best way and quicker way, I answer yes, if you ask if it would be much easier to take the short cut, my answer would be even a stronger yes… And, because all the detours and easier ways are so easy and not frequently condemned, but rewarded, that I admire so much the Venezuelan business people… The Venezuelans who are facing so many challenges to stay in their country and fight for their businesses are honorable and I owe them all my respect – I am learnign a lot from them and I am being able to use so many people as example to my children… Yes, this is also, looking on a different perspective, very good to educate children!!! Here the examples and contrast are so clear that parents can show clearly what is correct and how you wish your children to behave and who to follow! Thanks to Venezuela I can teach my children clearly what is to be honest, what is to be perseverant, what is to stand to your values and to your principles. Thanks to Venezuela I am b eing able to teach my children, from their childhood how tempting is the easy way, but how much better is the feeling to get somethiung with your effort, honesty and perseverance!!!! Yes, Venezuela is the land of opportunities, values, honor and ethics!! This is the reason I believe so much on this country!!!!!
Hope, ethical dilemmas and learning – blessings only available in Venezuela
I am getting thousand of answers to my philosophical questions the last months…. As much as the situation of Venezuela worsens and the challenges increase, as much as the decisions get more difficult and more critical, and as much as I get questioned about the situation I am living in, and as much as I myself doubt my decisions, the more I thank the Universe for having brought me to Venezuela at this right moment… Each day that ends and I even if I finish it crying, I get more convinced that my mother was right. The real learning I will have depends on how I will face the greatest challenge and difficulties of my life… Well, I was simply blessed with the biggest opportunity a person might have of becoming wise, very wise in one life-time… I have taken the decision to change completely the perspective of my life right now. I decided neither to cry nor to be sorry for everything that I cannot change; I decided that there is nothing NOTHING that I can not change… I just got the message…. The destiny simply opened, ahead of me, the door for my soul construction, and it is presenting 2 ways, and I simply have to pick one… But this choice will change completely myself and everything and everybody who is around me. How do I want to be remembered???? I want to be remembered as a person who has never given up, a person that even facing the toughest decisions has kept the head up and smiled to life and supported any person who needed. A person who, definitely has chosen the positive way. From the 2 choices, do things crying, complaining, or do things smiling looking for the bright, positive side, I chose to smile to life… By the end, the life time experience and test is happening right now, do I wanted good MBA which would give me lifetime experiences??? Well – I have signed up to a Master in Life Administration….. …and nobody has told me, I have just noticed… No place is a better place to learn how to be resilient, know how to lead by example, learn how to lead in transparency and really to test any leadership style, here if one style is correct, it will show, if not, oh… it will also show and help us God, the consequences of a bad leadership here are extreme… At the same time, no place is better to teach your children how to apply discernment, how to take decisions based on minimum data, but still doing it. If you have to decide how to teach your children, Venezuela leaves you no option – you have to choose the positive way, the “values based” way, the “love the simple” way, and you teach and learn that happiness one finds within and we do not depend on anything external to be happy, but ourselves and our choices will dictate how much happiness you will live with! Finally Venezuela teaches you that decisions have to be taken even when you are not sure that you are taking them correctly, because not deciding will have a simple consequence, decisions will be taken for you, and be clear, you want to have the decisions on your hands. The final hope is – time will show if you had made the right ones, and you, yourself, will pay in case not, this finally is the ultimate proof of Karma – you can be sure that your actions will have a consequence in this life, and in this country. Be them good or not you will be sure if you were right or not. My conclusion right now of my professional and personal situation is that I would not choose to be in any other place than Venezuela – and this will be seen in my soul forever, thanks God! Forever Venezuela
Difficulties and opportunities of being a female leader in critical situations
For years I have been struggling with the idea of being the right leader, the right co-worker, the right mother, the right wife, the right daughter, the right sister, but I have forgotten the idea of simply being me as woman, a girl, simply myself… The expectations are all around and somewhere in this journey we just leave behind the one thing we have, that is the most powerful and the most wanted characteristic of a female – the diversity of having born a instinctive human being, with emotion, who cares…. I already lost the number of times that something made me think over my actions, decisions, and the whole path that took me to these actions, decisions – and normally there are only two situations identified – the moments that I am proud of how I did it and I do not put too much thought on it, and the moments which I do not feel comfortable, and I do feel that I am not following what is right, and normally when this happens, I know something will not work. Perfect – …but, this “something”-will-not-work-and-I-do-know – trust me, just works for family, partners, and long time colleagues. But be careful…. this does not work in the work environment, unless there is a huge amount of trust… …and why is this? Doing my reflections and meditations on the topic I had a huge insight!!! The reason is a problem, but also as my mother used to say, do not focus in the problem, but look which opportunity is there, and here I did find it!!! My thoughts guided me to understand that there is a simple way to guide men (or some women who do not know) to get the best from the female co-workers, and also how the female co-workers can help their bosses to bring the best out of them. Normally the biggest gender gap comes when there is a decision to take or a crisis to face, and decisions sometimes can not be taken on facts or figures, but at the same time, some decisions that are major DO NEED more basis to be taken or to be approved. When someone is pressured to decide, if this someone is a woman, she is going to follow her instincts, and she will get the “feeling” of much more things in the air, the men will be able to capture facts and figures that will sum up to a more rational decision… Lately, and believe me, I am becoming an expert in having to take decisions under pressure, in crisis, in difficult times and with as little information as one can have, and I do feel that the decisions have been very good, but I was doubting my ability to take decisions by myself, since I had always a push, a guide of someone. Some of these days, after one of those conversations and brain stormings, and not being able to put on a paper my instincts, my gut feeling, and not being able to convince the other side, I saw that a suggestion was given based on clear facts that were right… and I had no solution but accept it, I had no argument other than instinct. …and then this huge feeling of something getting wrong came to me, how is it possible that I can not share that I do feel that something might not be good, why do I fear telling about my instincts… This was when I got back to a great book, “Women who run with wolves” from a psychiatrist and Jungian with her book translated to several languages and with several prizes for being able to decipher the archetype of the “wild women” – something that all women loses by getting mature and having to fit into society and the expectations organizations have from leaders (which normally are male models). (http://www.clarissapinkolaestes.com/women_who_run_with_the_wolves__myths_and_stories_of_the_wild_woman_archetype_101250.htm) The book helped to understand that things are going well because it is the second time in my entire professional life I have a boss who can be able to take the best out of me as a woman. The first time I experienced something like this was in Europe when I was a leader in Hungary (coincidently the author of the book is a Hungarian!) and I can not recall a more successful leadership time than this one (in my own leader life), this was the result of having the team that allowed me to be myself and made me the leader I was and I had great coaching mentorship and leadership from my boss, Dr Brocks. Coming back to this time, I recall that I had a coach, Penny Sophocleous, who helped me a lot, and each time I had a feeling an instinct of something, I used to call my boss, and I do not know if consciously or not, he used to pay HUGE attention when I asked his guidance to take a decision, which I was sure I had to make, but I did not know how to present it for approval… 🙂 Best of 2 worlds – Dr Brocks trusted me 1000%, I never felt so supported and so valued, he used to ask me many things and used to coach me until I was able to have clearly the gut feeling, the instincts into a “male” translator based on facts and a business format to present and get approval, and we did receive approval for everything and this was the same time when I used to share with my team meditations and Spiritual Quotient (Dana Zohar) learnings… The “bias” when you go higher in leadership is clear, being a woman, you are emotional and you do get involved into the situation, because you do care for people. And then when there is a crisis and there is a pressure, nobody wants to hear what is your gut feeling, your instinct, and I can really understand it, on the other side, when there are no facts and figures,
If I had the chance I would choose Venezuela again, same period, same company…
I was in one of these moments, wondering what have I done of my professional life and wondering why things are happening as they are. More than this, I was trying to find answers for questions that I am sure no one has answers for, as “Why at this stage of my career I am having to face challenges like I am doing” “Is this taking me any longer in my future or is this blocking me for further steps personally?” “Is there anything that I am doing result of Karma, so if I have to learn, what is that I have to focus on?” Well, I consider myself very lucky professionally, I had all sorts of challenges in my career. As a leader, I had the chance to live different experiences… Companies which were going through changes, where finding opportunities was easy and added to this, having a good team with good strategy lead us to be seen well. Or country which had good results, but with a fearful team, without motivation and just with the right focus working with the potential and passion of the team, believing in the team and listening to them the results were incredible! But the questions started to raise when suddenly I takeover a great team, with great results, with noble people who has built history, a team who has put together all qualities one look in an organisation, and the results start not to come as a consequence of external elements one can not control… What to do when everyone is giving their best, everyone is fighting for each objective, everybody is so committed that one thanks God everyday for the team and still the results are not coming and finally there is no right decision to bring back results. What to do when the right decision is the less worse decision… When the real right decision is to adapt to the new reality one does not see clearly? …and by the end the right decision is to let go of people you respect and you are very glad to be honoured with their presence…. This happened to many of us companies during the last 2 years, we saw colleagues who we would give any salary in any other country to have the privilege to work with, having to leave our companies… We have faced situations in which we cried after a business review when there was no right solution to bring back the business, but there was only right answers to fundamental questions which we did not want to be answerer, or pure instinct…. But by the end, if the decision is to stay as a believer and give all our efforts to bet on the country, and in all existing potential, how to do it??? Many times the answer was not exactly as one wants, nor is the implementation… So, why being good leaders here means doing everything one is not prepared academically to do, or more, one does not want to be psychologically prepared to do, as this would be the opposite of what leaders sign for??? Some people asked me if I have ever wondered why I am here with all the difficult decisions and challenges, if I was always a good person and fought for people and always believed that what you do, you will receive back, I should be experiencing a nice Dharma, not a Karma… Why do I have to lead this period of my company and be the one to take tough decisions? Why do I have to be a leader that will be hated eventually and either bosses will see you as too emotional and employees will see you as the reason why the history is being “destroyed”??? After lots, lots of thought I had an insight, and I am so so proud and happy, everything depends always on the perspective you choose to take… Here is my choice; I understood now, THIS is my Dharma, everything I prayed for is happening… If I see all the employees my company had when I arrived and the ones are working now, how do I see them?? I see these colleagues as brave warriors who taught me a lot, who built the company, who represent each value that had been the brick after brick which has grown up to be this Venezuelan foundation of our affiliate… I love each of my colleagues who worked with us, I am not ashamed to say that I fought what I needed to keep this foundation, I am emotionally involved with this country and with these team, I also am not ashamed to tell that I have good guides that brought me to solid soil, reality and help me to take the right decisions at the right moment… But the most important consideration I am making is; I am living a Dharma, a gift and not a punishment, EXACTLY for having been good and for having taken the right decisions in the past, focused on people on goodness, with all my heart and soul I am here today… The love I have for this people from my company, brought me to this conclusion – I would not choose anyone else than myself to take the decisions and to have the right team to implement them… I know from the depth of my soul that I do everything to my people, to Venezuela, and also I know that I do love, adore my team, each one who is still in the company and who left, as well as I love this country… I understood – I am the right person to be here…. I am proud of having done so well my work in the past, for having done so well to people and countries which I lived that I was “selected” by the universe to be here right now to lead this noble organisation and to be the one to have the chance to guide this team through this so special
Discernment – The most needed ability at the moment…
How to understand something that you are not raise for? How to have a decision on a situation where no answer is the right answer? How to seek for support when you do not know exactly the consequences of this support? How to know when to judge and when to discern?? What is really discernment????? Wikipedia translation: Discernment is the ability to obtain sharp perceptions or to judge well (or the activity of so doing). In the case of judgment, discernment can be psychological or moral in nature. In the sphere of judgment, discernment involves going past the mere perception of something and making nuanced judgments about its properties or qualities. Considered as a virtue, a discerning individual is considered to possess wisdom, and be of good judgement; especially so with regard to subject matter often overlooked by others. During the last period we are living a situation when no decision is the right decision, sometimes, if one seeks for the right decision, one can take too much time, and still not deciding, or deciding, but with a frustration that can not allow the celebration of finally deciding… How to deal then, with a situation when one can not feel comfortable with anything, how to feel in peace in case the no answer is not acceptable, meaning, waiting is not an option and you have to find a decision despite of not having information enough or despite of being sure that none of the solutions are the exactly right ones??? The last one year was a PHD on discernment… The moment we unveiled the real meaning of discernment it was so clear, it was so liberating… Following C P Spurgeon, Discernment is not knowing the difference between right or wrong, it is knowing the difference between right and almost right… We have translated on a way that fits better our situation, following the “2015/2016 team”; Discernment is not deciding what is the best solution, but being able to distinguish between the worst and the least worst – then being able to follow your intuition and feel comfortable deciding on what is least worst – knowing that the consequence of both decision will bring to not good consequences, but the decision you are following will have a smaller impact in the future, meaning a better long term decision… Then comes the courage and the “guts” – to assume the responsibilities of the consequences, and ALWAYS, always remember – during the journey – that the decision was based on the long term, even if the journey takes you to be hurt, to have to struggle, to have to stand for your decisions – always the solution during the journey, whenever you have doubts, is to ask: “the journey I am taking should lead me to the result which has the least impact – is this way still correct?” If you have chosen the least worst solution and picture the impacts, anytime during the journey you can redirect your way, and you can always find alternatives, and nothing is written in stone, the important is to remember that you are looking for the best decision, because if you will forget this, anytime during the journey you will be sure that you are wrong, as the decision to pick the least worst will oblige you to take responsibility for your acts, and they might not be good… …well, why to share this right now? I share it, because the way to go might be very lonely, unless others understand it and do not judge you for making decisions that are hard, and better than this is if your have partners for the journey who do believe in it, and have the courage to fight the battles and also live a life where fear is not a barrier and indeed seeks a purpose and see the transcendental result of decisions, seeing how important is to go ahead, humboldt, but never, never losing sight of our dreams, values and purpose… So, if you are living a period of difficult decisions, changing perspective might help – are you not finding the best solution, all solutions do not look good enough?? Then change your glasses – ask your self, from each decision I would take, which are the consequences? … and which out of all consequences seem to be the least worst? …and which out of all consequences seem to be the one that I will be able to live with when I look back sometime in the future?? The real wisdom does not consists on taking always the right decision, but indeed the real wisdom consists on having the courage to take a decision that is not the perfect one, but a decision that, in the future, is seen as the right one, when all is visible, and is also seen as a very hard decision to take, but also a decision that can not be avoid, but if avoided, the consequences are much, much stronger… Good night – send your energies for everybody to be able to take the decisions with the right level of discernment!!!! This will make this world a better world!!
Why working with love, purpose brings more success than working for money, for power? Yoga Karma tea
Since 2003 Yoga has been a strong part of my life, this might seem a contradiction – working in a multinational company and still feel myself a yogini from my soul… I found a place for a yogini as a general manager in a multinational company, indeed, GM in 2 different companies, in 2 different continents. A Yogini proud of delivering results, increasing market share, and also proud of motivating people to love to give results and celebrating stepping up the ranking of biggest companies in the country… It was not always like this – I have doubted thousand times if I could live the yoga life style, mainly with 4 Yamas that I admire most; Satya (pure truth), Ahimsa (Love, non violence), Asteya (not crave for wealth, power, fame or whatever that might guide you to steal or do “evil”), Aparigraha (not being “greedy”, not looking for what you do not need for live, not cumulating things you do not need…). Most of the yoguis judge multinationals and criticise the executives working with them, they judge all executives as being all opposite of being yogi, it is even worst to be in this group while working for a pharmaceutical company. Once when I was living in Budapest, 2005, and I was the head of a Healthcare Company, I was in love with yoga, I was a vegetarian, doing 10 days fasting twice a year and I went to a yoga retreat with only raw food. I was so happy the first day, practicing yoga, meditating, eating super healthy. During the dinner, a discussion started about how much damage the pharmaceutical companies were doing to the world and how the cure of cancer was already discovered but the companies were hiding it for their own profit… Judgment, criticism, which I analyse now as pure Avidya (lack of knowledge), one of the reasons of human suffering. I was not mature, and I judged myself, even being super hyper proud of what I was doing. I gathered my stuff while everybody was sleeping and I left… This Sunday I had a great conversation with my mother, I told her that I decided to leave my company or to ask for a sabbatical year, go to India, learn deeper the Yoga and try to help people and spread love around the world in India, Africa… My mother asked me if I thought that what I was doing was not doing good for people, and I just answered that, on the contrary, I did believe that the company was saving lives, but the image did not reflect the reality. Also that I did believe that I was touching my team’s heart, but I felt it was too difficult to be “different”, a person who talks about love in a multinational. I remembered hearing (we were by the phone, she in Brazil and I was in Hungary) her laughing and she just answered: “yes my daughter, I agree with you, it is indeed much easier to spread love and kindness in Africa and India where everybody is open to receive it, it is too much of a challenge to change the profile of a multinational and prove that what they are doing fits the values you have, it is too much of a challenge to lead a company with love…” Well, guess what?? …here I am, 9 years later, a different GM in Venezuela who talks about working with live, and during these years I read more and more about yoga, I discover that being a yogini is not how much further you push your leg into your ear, but deeper, you have to believe that love and peace of mind guide your life. All these doubts made me understand that, if you work for the simple reason that you love what you do and you want to prove that your values are aligned with your companies, and your purpose of life is aligned with its purpose, you will work much harder, you will work to deliver the mission of the company, that mixes with your own mission and when this happens, all comes, you can inspire, you can influence, you are consistent on what you say and what you do, the results are not celebrated for the finances they bring, but for the good deed they represent. I started to understand the pattern; always when I did not focus on the bonus itself, I did not focus on the financial results or on the image I would enjoy, but, always when I did something with passion, enjoying fully the work itself, all the results used to come so, so constantly… I understood then the results I was always achieving by reading in Bhagavad Gita about Karma Yoga – yoga by action. “Work alone is your privilege, never the fruits thereof. Never let the fruits of action be your motive; and never cease to work. Work in the name of your purpose, a greater good, abandoning self desires. Be not affected by success or failure. This is called Yoga.” ….Yoga, thousand of years ago, taught us what experts in psychology are telling us now – find a purpose for you and your team which is aligned with your company purpose and the results will come… …and finally the yoga tells – the one who truly work for the sake of working, for a greater good, and inspires and influence others to do the same, building a better world, shall receive more and more to be able to influence more people to do even a better universe! I do work for a greater good, I did find a company that has it in its core, and I have a team that does believe in a purpose, we are looking for a balance, whatever it means. …and I do believe, from the bottom of my heart and my soul that the results we are achieving are to give an example that, believing in this greater good,
Venezuelans leaving Venezuela, we should not judge or criticise, we should support…
But after seeing more and more people coming to my office to say goodbye, and see inside the eyes of each one, the speech had changed a lot… I can not count how many people have come to tell that it was an opportunity that they could not refuse, but also telling that they are not giving up on their country… The going “expat”, the challenge of going to another country is also bringing a rare feeling in Venezuelans, people lately had had a bad emotion to accept a proposal outside, or when they finally decide to leave the country, the guilty has become a nightmare… Last weeks, not only in my work, but also outside, I have repeated many times that deciding to leave does not mean giving up on their country. Indeed each Venezuelan behaviour and each Venezuelan success outside brings an image to Venezuela that can change the bad impression raised by all circumstances…. Once one decides to go, should not have this additional feeling of guilty, should not listen to the people who judge, or criticise. The choice of staying or going is very private and the reasons do not matter for anybody but the person him/herself. Neither should the person feel sorry or excuse him/herself to the ones who stay… I heard, 2 weeks ago, somebody who told me that she should talk to me, she does not work with me anymore, but she decided to leave, she was very nervous and told me that she needed to apologise to me, that she needed to tell me herself the reasons why she decided to go, simply because she felt very bad for leaving her country while someone foreigner as me stay with all the love and all the faith on her country… As I said, our motives are only ours, and from the bottom of my heart I have too many reasons to stay, I have too many “missions” I still did not finish… Among them around 6000 patients that depend on us to further live… I do not feel myself a heroine or anything that one should be over proud of herself, what I do feel is just a clear feeling that here is my place right now, exactly as once, in 1999, I also felt that my place was the world… I also left my country, I also left my family, my friends, my workplace, I also felt sorry for leaving and not growing and fighting for my country, but something bigger attracted me, the world… Now, not less than before, I have not 1 country, but 6, I do not have the same friends, but I have many more who were worth the sacrifice, I miss my workplace, I even changed the company I work for and still feel in love with my work, and above all, I have a family, which I would never have if I had not left my country, and this is part of my deepest mission in Venezuela. When we all realise that life will always bring us to the right path, when we all find the correct faith, the correct trust in ourselves, we will take decisions easier, and then we will have our mind, our hearts together with our purpose focused on finding the “right place at the right moment” – and only at this moment we will know that we are doing the right thing, and we will not apologise, feel sorry, we will have only to balance our feelings of leaving something to meet other somethings, we will only have to see forward and live our lives, giving ourselves the chance of trying, mainly if your are sure of your purpose and believe it from the bottom of your heart with all values and principles that back you up… Take your chance, live your journey, and assure to make a difference in people and make the world a better place!<a href=”https://polldaddy.com/p/9017590” target=”_blank”>Take Our Poll</a>
Resilience – last learnings….
Lately, the most used, remembered word, has been resilience… Different coaches, different people, have given different definitions, but my preferred one is : “From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Psychological resilience is defined as an individual’s ability to properly adapt to stress and adversity. Stress and adversity can come in the shape of family or relationship problems, health problems, or workplace and financial worries, among others.[1] Resilience is not a rare ability; in reality, it is found in the average individual and it can be learned and developed by virtually anyone. Resilience should be considered a process, rather than a trait to be had.[2] There is a common misconception that people who are resilient experience no negative emotions or thoughts and display optimism in all situations. Contrary to this misconception, the reality remains that resiliency is demonstrated within individuals who can effectively and relatively easily navigate their way around crises and utilize effective methods of coping.[3][4][5][6] In other words, people who demonstrate resilience are people with optimistic attitude and positive emotionality; they are by practice able to effectively balance negative emotions with positive ones.[1]“ I love this definition, because it does not tell that you have to smile always, it does not tell you that you have to be ever happy – but, following the definition of my daughter – “It is when Ms Happiness is able to make Mr Sadness or Mr Fury smile…” meaning, you know what is making you sad or angry, but you are also able to see a smile there, an opportunity… Another nice thought about resilience is being able to see each fall, each difficulty as the brick that builds the building stronger… You will not hide the “scars” made by the hurtful event, but you will show it elegantly and with proud, because it is the charm to share your fights and your survival! But better than this is to understand and be aware that being resilient is not a gift, it is not coming from the genes, but it is result of efforts, building habits and mainly being able to manage your emotions correctly… 🙂 I am in my way to learn how to build it, I feel I have to be an expert on resilience so I can be an example and I can help whoever needs, but indeed, now I am having so many role models in my work, in my life, in my children, that I am sure that I will turn to be a very resilient person by “osmosis”… Right now, just by walking through the corridors through my workplace, praying with my children every night, living day after day, finding thousand things to be thanking for when I wake up, have been the best way to feel resilient! To close, I share a phrase that I have remembered in many different moments when my soul does not allow me to be a learner instead of being a judger – when I have to put my neurones to activate their synapses to work – brain work, not heart work – rationalising a fact that irritates me… “It is not the fact itself which irritates you , it is the judgment you make of it, it is your interpretation, your perspective of the fact that makes you irritated, not the fact…” So learn – whatever you feel about something is not about this something, it is about how you are seeing it….. #resilience
We know our friends when we need them, also our employer, our company!!
What kind of company do you want to work for when you lead a country full of challenges???? My choice is for a company with values, strong values, and which most valuable asset is people – costumer or employee. I have learned the hard way how to value a company, while I was in interviews, for my actual company, one of the last interviews, the interviewer has given me the perfect answer, the wished answer, the dream answer for the question “How do you take decision here in the company, how do you advise me to take decision when I am in doubt”, the answer was “Always ask what is the best for the patients, and you will know the right answer….”. This answer was key – I knew that the company was known for being decentralised, quick decision making and with great focus on patients and employees, but a company is a company, however, my hearth wanted to follow the goodness, I wanted to work following my hearth, I needed a lot to have new dreams, new hopes and new believes, so I joined them! My expectations were high, as were my fears, I was very much afraid of disappointing the new team, the new boss, the new group, were I ready to come to such a company? I was too much “clustered”, living a centralised world where decisions were taken on your behalf, and for each decision you had more than 4 levels or superiors to align. I remember during my first 6 months, after calling my boss for many little decisions, my boss told me “Lara, feel free to take the decisions alone, and if you feel more comfortable, send me a mail for information, you are general manager of the country, you are responsible so you have the freedom to lead it as you wish I am here to support in case of doubt or a decision which you feel like to discuss…” hmmmmm…. was it real? Well, surprise after surprise, you get used, and it is very easy to get used to be really able to lead a country, to be trusted and to be supported, I started to understand why the executives here were so professional, so creative, so diverse, but also so so so committed. The result of having so much freedom and being fully responsible and accountable to your business, is that it makes you also care more for the decisions, the strategy, the results, so the trust will not be broken, and you want also to make your team stronger, since you need all right information to get to the right decisions and you need them making their own decisions! Then, when the challenges come, as a marriage, you measure the real value and the “beauty” of the relation – this comes when you have difficulties, when you have to take difficult decisions, when one of the parts is not accomplishing for some reason. …and that must be well understood and supported from the other side, and you can either be patient, tolerant, listen, support and lead the partner to find the right solutions and then help to follow with the plan, or you can simply throw the blame, judge, loose trust and get to one side deciding and imposing solutions that might not be the best ones… A company with a GM in a country in difficulties is the same, and in this right moment you see which kind of marriage you are in! Well, in a hard way, most challenging phase of my professional life, I figured out that I have chosen the right marriage… I remembered the answer of my interviewer, a high executive – “Here in the company when there is a doubt you ask what is the best for patients, short and longer term…” And I am seeing it day after day, in all difficult decisions or complex moments I can tell that several persons from several departments from global, regional, have showed me the same approach… It is so good to have your values reinforced when you are going through a period of doubts, I am, day after day, happier for having decided for the right path… This week, more than once, my team and I have thanked for working in this company, we are proud of what we are trying to do, it is difficult to decide when there is no absolute right answer, it is difficult to follow a path if there is some light missing, but it is great to feel supported and backed up by a company and colleagues who are all thinking together to try to find the right way! I needed to write to express my gratitude, and to make it completely clear that there are companies that still put people first. This is the place for the executives who trust the hearth way. Do not accept less, if you work with your hearth, with your integrity, and you have courage – do not give up, keep looking – you will find the right marriage, there is still companies that deserve our dedication!!! :))) #bosses #companies #leadership
