Chapter 1 (30/1/8)
Chapter 1 – Rebels Rising
“You look like them. You talk like them. But you don’t think like them”.
Have you ever felt that there’s more to life and work than the daily grind? That the people who are supposedly ‘in charge’ are unsure about what they should be doing about creating change or providing leadership?
That organisations and systems seem to exist for simply profit and not for the people within them? That mediocrity and ‘rights’ are replacing aspiration and responsibilities? Have you ever felt like its time for you to let people know?
The world of business is entering a new and dynamic age led by a new generation of business leader. These leaders are motivated not just by profit but by purpose, not just by reward but by personal meaning.
By ‘leader’ I mean a new class of people, regardless of their position or occupation, who are adapting and working from a different set of values than ever before.
These new ‘leaders’ have little time for hierarchy and we are creating our own set of rules. We no longer follow the corporate way and we are creating a revolutionary new way of working and succeeding.
This new generation of leaders are taking our motivation not from others but from deep within ourselves. We are seeking a more authentic, value-centred, approach to our life and work and are more willing to make choices about our careers and businesses that help us fulfil this internal desire.
Unlike previous generations we are not as happy to conform. We want a life and career that is imbued with a passion and a purpose. A life and career that has meaning and we are creating and adapting a whole new set of life and work values in the process.
We new “rebels in business suits” are being drawn from I what I term the “transitional” or “bridging” generation (incorporating both the current generation and Millennial generation). Between the ages of 25-60 this group has experienced, or are the first to have the benefit of, probably the most profound change that any generation has ever had to face in history.
We may not have faced the wars and the carnage on the scale that the last two generations did, but we were born into (or immediately after) an era that faced the possible wholesale extermination of the human race as a result of superpower competition, we have witnessed ‘the rise of the (information) machines’, we are now looking to the end of oil energy and the possible accelerated endangering of our life on the planet.
We have faced social change on a scale unimaginable 40 years ago. Email and the internet has become a part of our lives and yet, microcomputers were just a pipe-dream when many of us were students. Now our children have them in their bedrooms and carry out their homework by means of the ‘Net’. Communication is global and immediate - hand-written letters a thing of the past.
But we have adapted. We have succeeded and have taken and are taking our places at the head of businesses, organisations and corporations.
But this generation has also seen the fall of the pillars of society - the church, politics, business - and now seeks a new vision that they can hand on to their children.
No other generation has been at this unique moment in history before and that is why we are looking increasingly within ourselves to find a direction and discovering the amazing power that lies within.
We are wearing the suits and working the system - but we are rebelling at how things have been. I call us the “bridge generation” because we stand between the ‘old’ world and the ‘new’ and we are the heralds of change of a ‘new age’ and a new time.
It is from our dreams, ambitions and values that the future of this world will be written. We are making time to value and explore our true selves so that we can set a light to their children’s path. As we continue to live longer – we new rebels realise that we shall be walking more of it with them.
But why do I call us “rebels”?
My grandmother was reputed to have once said that “the only people at my wedding were rebels and sailors”.* *(My grandfather, Patrick Weafer, had been active as an intelligence agent for the rebel forces in the Anglo-Irish War of Independence in 1916-21 and had also been a seaman by profession)
Not a bad thing actually.
After all, rebels are extraordinary people who would willingly sacrifice everything they have for the sake of something they truly believe in and value. As for sailors, the “gypsies of the sea”, they only have to turn the ship’s wheel to face new horizons every time.
Both rebels and sailors act from what I term purposeful intent - and both are vocations with a powerful calling.
Driven by this purposeful intent, rebels have been catalysts for change throughout the ages of civilization - creating the death of old orders and the birth of new visions and new paradigms.
They may not always have been popular – in fact, mostly they acted against the inertia of the many to create these new visions and new worlds. Their very existence challenged the status quo.
In their time they have often been isolated, outlawed, hated and even brutally subdued– for they caused a great deal of discomfort for those who would not willingly change and wanted to hold onto the “old ways” - while the rebels challenged the old order.
The effects of rebels in every age, acting with purposeful intent - from the small band of rebels at the birth of the American Revolution (and ages long before) to the political, business, social and spiritual rebellions of today – has been about the birth of new values and new impetus in society.
Rebels are different from explorers too. They want to create something new and not just find something new. They want to break down the old and put something of even greater value in its place.
Today’s new rebels are those who of us who are looking within ourselves, seeking to reach deep into our authentic selves and live lives of purposeful intention. We are not afraid to make decisions that define our lives – living on our terms – discovering and drawing from the things that we value most. We are willing to accept the pain and the pleasure of pursuing our dreams. We live true designer lives – life by our design.
We push the boundaries of perception and of self-imposed limitations - refusing to be held in the chains of other peoples or societies faults, inadequacies or limiting beliefs. We pursue infinite potential – moving along paths that lead us to the full and complete expression of ourselves in the world that we live in.
Or perhaps I should really call us ‘R-Evolutionaries’.
By ‘evolutionaries’ I mean that we seeking to evolve ourselves, our businesses –even our societies. We want to actualise the full potential within us, to raise ourselves to a new level of being and doing in the world. We are responding to a call that echoes deep within us, calling us to continue along the path of ‘perfecting’, so that we may leave a mighty echo in the halls of eternity.
We are responding to a new set of values in the world, values that are rooted in the ‘R’ of ‘R-Evolutionary’. The ‘R’ stands for ‘relating’ or ‘relationships’.
How we ‘relate’ to ourselves is the basis of our ‘reality’. How we see ourselves, our perception of ourselves, is the basis of how we project ourselves into the world. The basis of this ‘projection’ is the ‘reality’ that other people see and respond to. It creates our world.
Only by coming to really understand ourselves and what drives us, can we get the sense of clarity and control that gives us the confidence to connect, involve and engage with other people to help us fulfil our dreams and ambitions.
Only by coming to an understanding of ourselves can we learn to be of service to others to help them build their dreams and ambitions.
The world is increasingly a collaborative and connected place. So ‘R-evolutionaries’ value the skills of connecting, involving and engaging. They value the power of communication and influence and persuasion. They understand that the willing engagement of a person is far more powerful than the commanding of a person to comply.
We do not accept conformity but we do value order. We value wealth and material things but as tools that both frees us and provides us with the security to pursue the evolution of our authentic selves.
The new rebels don’t necessarily appear in torn jeans and logo’d t-shirts either. We exist in our midst in smart business suits in the heart of our global business worlds.
We are independent of thought and value the power of inter-dependence, networks and connectedness. We new “Children of the Revolution” are the ones who also see that the cause of business can be the cause of the planet – and that the cause of the planet can be the cause of business.
Increasingly we are taking roles as entrepreneurs, following our own path and becoming business principles in our own small, highly- adaptable and successful businesses – or as “intrapreneurs”, operating special project or task groups that are leading the way within larger organisations.
Not for us people the macho, slave mentality of being in before the boss and out after him/her – we are making our own rules and are not afraid to follow them. We are also increasingly engaging some or all of our work in philanthropic endeavours, reaching out to our communities or to the wider world.
We see the potential of business leadership as a transforming power for the planet and we are taking the reigns of this tool of transformation. We do not seek wealth to engage in a pointless race of comparison. We are not influenced by the consumer agenda of a world driven by manufactured celebrity and crass materialism.
For us, as the author Seth Godin put it, ‘Small is the New Big’.
We work for material success as a means of actualising our passion and providing a quality of life for us and our families. We want to create security, quality education and a global outlook in our kids so that they, in turn, can be the rebels of tomorrow.
The new rebels in business suits celebrate those who strive to hold onto and release their uniqueness and desire to let their own light shine. We are the heralds of the change of ages.
We stand in an interesting space at this point in our existence, as the Information Age brings into being the ‘new age’. The Information Age is heralding a further evolutionary step – an age of purpose and meaning – and age of personal values.
In this ‘new age’ qualities of collaboration, communication and nurture, will replace those of pure competition, survival and exile from the planet and each other.
The ‘old age’ was a time of pioneering endeavours – a time of the rise of societies, empires, exploration, industry and technology. Values such as dominance, hierarchy, control, order, position, security, duty and so on created an environment when we could expand our physiological and psychological abilities through the creation of machines.
However these values have had their day. Not that they will entirely disappear – but they are being replaced by the values of the ‘new age’. These values are collaboration, connection, mobility, adaptability, community, co-creation, accountability and personal responsibility. Rebels don’t need leaders – we want co-leaders and facilitators.
These more human-centred values indicate a shift away from the nameless, faceless businesses and organisations controlling people to a more person-centred world. It is a revolution of consciousness.
At a personal level have you noticed an increasing sense of detachment from the work place? That we are increasingly overwhelmed by the pace and commitment to work that is expected of us?
That the pursuit of wealth for its own sake is no longer appealing, that something deeper is calling us? We are waking up to the fact that wealth alone, while nice, cannot provide what a sense of self-respect, of community, of personal human value can.
That increasingly we (and our colleagues) do not define ourselves by our work? That now we see what exists outside of work as more important - that there is a shift of perspective going on - that “work/life” balance is now firmly on our agenda?
Have you noticed senior professionals starting to “drop out” or “opt out” of successful corporations and make new lifestyle choices? Have you seen the effect that this has had on the businesses they leave?
Have you seen the new younger employees dictating terms as to how they wish to work? Have you seen them unwilling to accept just ‘any job’ but move until they find one that suits them? Even travel abroad? Have you seen them more fluent with technology and ‘social networking’ – communicating on many different levels at the same time?
We are seeing the rise of the new r-evolutionary spirit – one that questions. A spirit that is looking for new dreams and new definitions of success.
Today’s, values-centred, rebels in business suits are increasingly asking questions about important things – such as the purpose and meaning of our work, its contribution to the wider world, the value it provides for us, the impact it has on our lives and families.
We are looking for new visions and if businesses want to retain all our power and potential they need to meet those questions.
We are even questioning society itself. See how the mighty pillars of society - business, politics and religion have been discredited and fallen from their pedestals in recent times. What replaces the old? What steps into the void?
We new rebels look for a new and powerful vocation, a new impetus in our lives, a new meaning and a defining purpose in our lives and we are no longer finding it strictly within the pursuit of business profit. We no longer wish to conform to outdated ethics, morals, practices and visions.
Rebels want to feel a passion for what we do – the kind of over riding passion that tells us we are embarked on a great endeavour and living life fearless and free.
Rebels aren’t just men either…oh no. A large number of these new rebels are women (in keeping with the new people-centred values) as they step out of the constraints that society (and often their female colleagues and friends) place upon them and assert the feelings and values that lie at the heart of their true selves.
Look at the impact of female rebel entrepreneurs such as the late Anita Roddick of the
How clear a statement of rebellion against the old ways is that? She built the dream she had to serve a higher purpose and the universe moved to aid her.
My father once told me that I was a “closet subversive”. Looking at my shocked face he explained this further by saying that “You look like them, you talk like them – but you don’t think like them”.
I suppose it’s not really a surprise that I’m a rebel – I’m simply following an established family tradition of rebellion and mysticism.
I guess what my Dad was trying to say – was that rebels like me fit into the corporate machine seamlessly, we support its systems and methodologies but what animates us is not that which animated our peers.
Behind the drive for material success is something deeper, something more powerful, something more vibrant. I was a “rebel in a business suit”.
Since then, through my work, I have discovered many other ‘r-evolutionary’ rebels just waiting for the call to r-evolution – all over the world. Our time has come. The rebels are rising.
I believe that the most powerful force for change in the world today can be business. I believe that the successful businesses of tomorrow are ones that promote the idea of working in symbiotic harmony with the planet, that promote the support of communities and listen, connect and engage their employees as co-leaders and co-creators of shared visions and adventures.
The world is shaped by its leaders and we are looking for a new way – not the way of fear which has led to war and profiteering out of the suffering of others but the way of nurture, of connection and of the kind of collaboration that solves problems.
My purposeful intent is to be a herald of this ‘new age’ and our place within it. My ‘r-evolution’ is to awaken the rebel in you and provoke you to put more passion and purpose into what you do.
It is time for our “inner child” to grow up into our “inner rebel” and assume its place in the world while retaining the capacity, for awe and dreams, excitement and passion.
These new businesses and this new world will be led by the ‘r-evolutionaries’.
Welcome to the ‘R-evolution’.