The New Year is here. Well hello 2018, but I’m not ready for you.
I don’t have anything clever to say; I don’t have any new ideas and I don’t give a flying “fun” pack of festive socks for resolutions. I’m not ready for you because I have barely figured out how I got through the last few weeks of 2017.
The year-end is increasingly a way to place people under maximum pressure while simultaneously telling them to be super happy. TV advertisements rub it in with their knowingly ironic look-at-us-being-an-ordinary-family-with-not-enough-chairs; but instead of exchanging dark looks that would take down a reindeer these adverts are full of people smiling. SMILING for goodness sake!
The week before Christmas is a mix of guessing who I had in mind when the umpteenth box of scented candles arrives at my front door, while also apologising to everyone I work with when I fail to meet their it-would-be-great-if-this-was-finished-by-Christmas-even-though-we-both-know-it-won’t-be-read-until-mid-January deadlines.
New Year then rocks up like an irritating, needy friend of a flatulent bully. Stuff it. January is a shit month anyway and doesn’t deserve to start with a party. It would be better to finish it off with a party; at least we could all be pleased we don’t have see the month again for another year.
In this humbuggery mood the only thing I’m predicting is that I don’t want to read another cheerful PR piece about how my life will be TRANSFORMED by the next i-bot to simultaneously take away my livelihood and remind me of my children’s birthdays. I don’t wish anyone any ill-will; I don’t want to live in a cave and I’m happy people are passionate about their world, but I don’t want transformational i-puffery either. I want to hear about things that REALLY matter.
I long for a press release that isn’t about a self-congratulatory brave new technological world, but instead puts people at the heart of strategy and at the heart of what leadership and success should mean.
- Men and women respected equally and paid equally as well.
- Policies that truly promote wellbeing and sustainable work practices.
- Executives who are kind, generous with their time and interested in doing the right thing.
- Clients and their communities seen as long-term relationships to invest in and not short-term units of profit, and
- Respecting the family life of everyone employed or otherwise supporting the business.
Now that would lift my mood no end. A business promoting thoughtfulness, kindness and community would be a business worth supporting.
Finally, if I may, I will take this moment to wish you a very Happy New Year; I hope it brings you all you would hope for and thank you as well for reading my occasional rants and mutterings. I really appreciate it.
Take care. Paul.