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By Morrie Shechtman
Find
your way to fulfillment in
today's
rapidly changing
business world.
If
you want to change your professional trajectory, you've got to open
up, drill down, and go personal. It is no longer about working a
system from the outside in. If you want to succeed in today's rapidly
changing, information- and communication-laden society, you will
have to ride a new wave——the Fifth Wave——and
make real changes from the inside out.
In his new book, Fifth Wave Leadership: The Internal Frontier author
Morris Shechtman, takes the experience and insights gleaned from
35 years as a therapist, an educator, and a business consultant
and offers readers a compass for finding professional success and
personal fulfillment. He has identified a new wave of societal change,
one that focuses on advancements in internal development, rather
than external forces.
"Social scientists have isolated four breakthroughs or 'waves'
in societal change: hunter/gatherers became farmers. Farmers were
transformed by the Industrial Revolution into factory workers; then
the Industrial Revolution gave way to the information age; and the
information culture has progressed to a fast-paced global communication-intensive
society," Shechtman explains. "We are now in a Fifth Wave,
where our futures are no longer predicated on what happens out there,
they are predicated on what happens in ourselves. To be meaningful,
breakthroughs for both individuals and organizations have to be
internal."
According to Shechtman, you can throw out the old compass that you
used to govern your way through corporate waters. It no longer applies.
Just look at how personal failings——greed, lies, unethical
behaviors——have brought down some of the icons of American
business. If you are going to avoid being associated with the unsavory
business practices that befell Enron and Arthur Andersen, if you
want to survive layoffs, downsizing, office intrigue, and rapid
change, you need to turn your compass inward and draw on your own
resources to guide you on your way.
"It seems like everyone has an MBA. Everyone has immediate
access to cutting-edge data and technology; everyone knows how to
network," Shechtman says. "To move forward in your career
and be more effective in your work, you can no longer look outside
yourself for an edge. The right degree, hard work, and keeping up
with the latest developments in your field simply allow you to stay
in the game." He adds, "If you are going to compete, if
you want to win, you are going to have to change. People who are
willing to confront problematic behaviors and trace them back to
their emotional source will adapt and evolve much faster. These
are the people who will succeed."
In his book, Shechtman offers readers concrete steps to get them
on the path toward greater emotional balance and, ultimately, greater
professional fulfillment.
* Recognize your familiars. The familiar is a feeling
of state to which we return again and again. It is an emotional
pattern that holds tremendous power over our choices, our relationships
and our careers. Rooted in our families and our upbringing, the
familiar is a feeling that we unconsciously reproduce, sometimes
to our benefit, but often to our detriment. This feeling may keep
us from doing things that are productive or smart. It may even cause
us to do things that are self-destructive. Next time you feel angry
or rejected or undeserving, ask yourself: When have I felt this
way before? Do I somehow feel comfortable with this feeling?
* Identify your contrast places. We find ourselves
in a contrast place when we receive a positive payoff for behavior
in the present that we received a negative payoff for in the past.
For example, if you have ever experienced a real success on the
job and then experienced temporary euphoria that is quickly replaced
by sadness or anger, you are probably in a contrast place. Someone
from a past family relationship likely put you down or ignored your
accomplishments. Ask yourself this question: Is there anything in
the present reality that warrants me feeling this badly?
* Learn who your symbols are. Symbols are people,
in our lives today, who elicit feelings we experienced from people
in our lives in the past. Identifying the person from our past who
has given rise to a symbol can be a challenge, often because the
symbol may share few physical or behavioral characteristics with
the person from our past. What makes someone a symbol is the emotional
response he or she elicits from us. Ask yourself: What relationships
drain and frustrate me most at work and at home? What relationships
do they most closely resemble from my past?
Who are the people with whom I have ir-resolvable issues?
* Don't be afraid to grieve. Most of us fail to
grieve our losses properly. When we shut down our feelings about
the losses in our past, we end up feeling a little bad all of the
time. When this happens, we are in a state of chronic grief. Shechtman
encourages us to convert this chronic grief to acute grief, to share
our deepest feelings with someone we can trust. Although experiencing
acute grief does not mean all feelings of sadness will magically
go away, the grief will diminish over time. Ask yourself: Do I feel
blocked? Do I have a nagging sense of sadness? Are there unresolved
incidents or relationships from my past that I have been ignoring
or minimizing their impact on my life?
"Many executives and professionals are uncomfortable exploring
their own Internal Frontiers," Shechtman says. "Our business
culture looks upon emotion, compassion, and self-exploration as
a form of weakness." He adds, "But in the Fifth Wave,
it is the people, who are willing to drill down and do the work,
the ones who have the courage to move beyond the stereotypes and
develop emotionally that will be the next generation of leaders."
In Fifth Wave Leadership, Shechtman presents intriguing case histories
of real people——the CEO of a financial services company,
a VP of a mid-sized technology company, and an insurance agent——who
have transformed their careers, and their lives, by riding the Fifth
Wave. He provides the compass. It is up to each of us to find our
own True North.
About the Author:
Morrie Shechtman is an international change management consultant
whose ideas have shaped public debate in this country. He has taught
at distinguished universities throughout the United States, has
worked as a therapist and counselor, and now runs a successful management
consulting company, The Shechtman Group. He has consulted with top
executives in Fortune 500 companies and has lectured internationally
on personal transformation and productivity.
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