To awaken…

If you feel that there 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 than that '𝘻𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘦-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦' haze of indifference that can creep into a bureaucratic environment - and you want to be 'moved', you want to be inspired, then 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, go out and watch Bill Nighy in "𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠".

It is a remake of a Kurosawa film, and while set in a British civil service office, I recognised so many '𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴' from my own time in the Australian Public Service.

It is a cautionary tale, expertly woven, and reminds me of the below quote from Anaïs Nin's diary (Vol. 1: 1931-1934):

“You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Then you read a book… or you take a trip… and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating.

The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death.

Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children.

And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death. Some never awaken.”

The caution is to not submit to the overwhelming nature of process for process' sake. Not to 'sell' your individuality, your vigour and your optimistic desire to connect and thrive, for the sake of safe conformity.

You can connect with your authentic self, and incorporate this into your leadership identity... and if you find you have gotten lost, then take the Insightful Path back toward who you are. We can help you to re-awaken and thrive at work, and in life.