Rebel in a Business Suit

R-Evolutionaries are compelling people. They are compelling because they are driven by their vision - by passion and purpose.

They are enthused with the venture that they have undertaken, they are committed to its successful outcome and they are clear about the benefits and value that it’s success will bring for them and to the people around them.

Because they believe so passionately and have such a clear vision - they are very congruent and very convincing in their communication and how they sell that vision to others. Their conviction shines from them lending them a powerful and persuasive charisma.

R-Evolutionaries instinctively tap into two very elemental values - service and love. They love what they do and they do it in the service of others.

It seems to me that the world is driven by the least of expectations - by LCD - Lowest Common Denominator. I’m not talking about the need to make things accessible to people who might be disabled in some way - in fact, they are the people who will never settle for less than the best that they can be. I’m talking about the general consensus in the working population that ‘OK’ will do.

‘OK’ service, ‘OK’ committment, ‘OK’ quality. If you’re a rebel - committed to taking change to the next level - then ‘OK” definitely will not do. As R-evolutionaries we are committed to creating a world that is better, even more than what it is now. That change has already started within us and every day in all kinds of ways we bring it manifested into the world - despite the lethargy and outright resistance of others.

How could we not? For we are committed to a personal vision, a personal vocation. The ‘rebel in a business suit’ is driven by something greater than just ‘the suits’.

We are driven by the need to ‘give’ service - others are driven only by being ‘in’ service.

Rebels are committed to HCD - Highest Common Denominator. It is of us that a fellow Irishman George Bernard Shaw might have written:

‘Most men see the world and wonder why? Whereas I see a world that has never been and say why not?’

I haven’t posted much these last few days. I have been tasked with writing numerous posts and articles for other publications - all relevant - but distracting from the main business of getting my own stuff down. It strikes me however that this can all be for the good.

I have found that my thoughts and reflections around being a ‘rebel in a business suit’ have morphed and changed and evolved so that the message is clearer and more defined. It strikes me that two things are required for good writing - detachment and discipline.

Detachment from the subject is required so that the mind is given free rein to assimilate and synthesise earlier ideas - ensuring that one’s thinking does not follow a narrow path. Detachment is also important so that one can view the effect of one’s ideas on others when one has a chance to discuss them - and then take that response on board in order to make one’s message more meaningful.

Discipline to sit and write is the next one. Actually sitting down each day and getting something down is a habit of personal discipline - and one which requires cultivation. I’m afraid that I don’t have it yet but perhaps this process of writing might help me with developing both thesed valuable life-traits. Traits that can transform a life.

I was asked recently what did I mean by ‘r-evolutionary’ business?

The word stems from my original idea of the ‘rebel in a business suit’ - that person who is no longer willing to follow the old corporate way of doing things - no longer willing to work simply with compliance or control or is moving beyond simple ego-based motivation - and wants to find new ways and new values for being successful in their career and business.

These rebels are seeking new ways of working and living and are increasingly more self-aware. Because of this corporations require a new way of working with them. Linked with ‘rebel’ is the idea of ‘revolution’ and from that came ‘R-Evolutionary’

There are two parts to ‘R-Evolutionary’ - ‘R’ and ‘Evolutionary’.

The ‘R’ stands for relationships.

If we look at the new values in business - values of communication, co-creation, co-operation, connection, compassion - all of these new values are based on the quality of relationships that we can form. It requires a high degree of understanding of relationship skills. In fact, one could say that all leadership and power now comes from one’s ability to persuade and influence other people.

In my view, the new skills of business leadership (based on observation over quite a few years) are 1. the ability to build networks, 2. the ability to persuade and influence, 3. the ability to effectively and systematically coach and mentor colleagues and 4. the ability to communicate and present to groups and teams in a media-positive way.

In effect - leaders need to learn similar skills to those which top-level sales professionals should always have had.

As leaders we can’t manage by dictat anymore - we have to learn to sell our messages and our visions and get the willing and active engagement of our people. People who have better education, higher expectations and a greater sense of their personal value than any generation of employees up to this day. We have to learn to ’serve’ our people better.

‘Evolutionary’ - is about stepping businesses up to the next level - evolving it to a more sophisticated and even more productive level because now the people driving the business are working with greater respect, understanding, a sense of service to each other, a sense of collaboration in the pursuit of value, profit and personal gain.

By following the business values of the new age, we can create even greater and more willing synergy within businesses where, presently, increasing numbers of people are detaching themselves from their organisations and seeking a sense of meaning and value. They are putting their energies into more personally valuable areas of interest (not necessarily in the business itself) or leaving positions to pursue more meaningful work.

The ‘R-Evolution’ is about stepping business up to the next level by learning and applying the real power of relationships.