Some Reject Change At Every Chance They Get

When the ego thrives on negativity, one’s reality is rewarded in kind with a negative reality. I’m guilty of moments in my life when my best self was subdued by a negative ego seeking spectators. I’m ashamed that my son felt the need to shake me up to awaken my higher sense of self. I’m also quite embarrassed to share this story openly. But as someone who believes deeply in personal integrity, accountability, and trust, I believe it’s necessary for me to not only learn from my experiences but to open up and share them as well. Consider the relationships you have and who you believe you are as a person versus how others may perceive you. Ask yourself, Do I present myself in my highest sense of self, aiming for the utmost integrity and dignity? How can I direct this through my character in all that I do? Can I be a positive influence and role model for my children, my spouse, or my friends and community? I often think about my son’s words and how they influenced me. I’m certainly not perfect by any measure. I just know that the most important things, such as love, relationships, and life itself are diminished when we allow ourselves to propagate negative behaviors. But I was basically asked to speak about the emerging skills, capabilities, characteristics, traits, values, and behaviors of next generation environmental business leaders. The conference committee was interested in where the industry of environmental management was moving and, with it, the types of talent needed for success. The conference and talk went splendidly.

Put One Foot In Front Of The Other

I was able to deliver my presentation and engage in a panel dialogue in a meaningful way. The experience enabled me to bring forth some key concepts and topics from The Sustainability Generation before an audience of peers, further helping me to refine and clarify my core message. One of the key areas of dialog for the panel and the audience that day was around the stark differences in culture, work ethic, and values between boomers and millennials. It became clear to me that I was one of the younger people in the room, presenting a talk on a topic that most of the audience had led a career experiencing, and on a topic that was super charged with emotion, perception, and fear. The perception was that millennials, as a generation of workers, were lazy, entitled, selfish, and unrealistic about their career. I challenged the group by telling them they were all early career professionals at one time in their life and may have had similar perceptions placed upon them by their supervisors twenty and thirty years ago. I then asked them to think about who they had become in their career and if it measured up to the image they had of themselves when they were in their early 20s. The look of consternation could be seen on many of the faces in the audience. It was clear that many of them were beginning to see that how they thought about their career in their early 20s was much different from how they were thinking about it at our meeting. The audience began shifting in their seats. The looks of dread began to lift and facial expressions began to emulate hope, confidence, and joy. Many people in the audience began to reframe who they were.

Careful Where You Stand

Instead of thinking of their jobs as competitive and on the chopping blocks they said that they have led meaningful careers with diverse experiences. As a result, they had unparalleled context, knowledge, understanding and insight into not only their job but also their entire corporation, business sector, and global economy. Furthermore, they understood that they had an opportunity, should they choose to pursue it, to not just manage people but to mentor and lead them. This minor tweak in mindset that shifted their negative thinking, elevated the mood and aspirations of the audience. While not everyone may have walked away from the presentation with a newfound focus on leadership, I’m confident a few did and then took it upon themselves to stop viewing the younger generation as a force of competitive tension, but instead as a force for good that needed to be harnessed, guided, and directed. No matter where you are in life, there is always a unique role for you to serve. We should not fear what we do not fully understand. I advise that you challenge yourself and the status quo of your peers. You can reinvent yourself by reframing your capabilities, strengths, and goals in a new context that will reshape your reality here and now and into the future. We should not succumb to those that want to bring us down to the level of their limited beliefs, behaviors, and perceptions of the world. Some reject change at every chance they get, as they themselves fear change and would rather go without having it imposed on them than become leaders who accept the occurrence of change and choose to create a new future because they fear what is ahead. There is much to embrace about what is going on in your career and in your organization, community, and home.

Around And Around

During most of this time, our son has been strapped tightly into the seat of the roller coaster, sitting safely between us. However, as he has grown to into a vibrant third grader, we feel as if we are helplessly watching our son bounce around in the first seat of the roller coaster as we watch in horror from the back. Statistics show that autoimmune diseases are on the rise. In fact, autoimmune diseases affect more than 50 million Americans, or nearly one in five people. People and the lives they lead represent much more than numbers however. Our son also has chronic eczema, asthma, and colitis. Medical management follows the diagnosis, but an often overlooked aspect of living with a complex disease is the emotional toll that families experience as a result of navigating issues of safety, inclusion and lack of understanding.