Dear CEO,
About a year ago I sent you a letter. I was angry and I wanted to let you know. I wanted you to care. To make you understand that your people are the ones that make the difference. For your customers, for your shareholders. In essence for success. I felt the numbness of the employees and wanted to do something to power things up.
We never got to talk about it. You kept on doing your thing, as I kept on doing mine. Although, not quite. Since writing that letter a lot has happened. I started a journey to try to understand what’s going on. To find out how I could make at difference. This also led me to talk about it, to write about it and publish a book.
And.. to realize that change does not come from anger. Anger puts people off, creates a distance. Real change – or rather transformation – comes from being connected. To reach out and find common ground. To accept different points of view. To respect and be open for dialogue.
This year I would like to reach out to you and let you know that I feel that times are changing. There is a different vibe in the air. Maybe it’s because we are entering a new decade. Every decade has its own signature. What if we make these upcoming years to be the decade of connection? Where we allow ourselves to connect with ourselves, with each other and with the whole. Let this be the decade of empowerment of people. Where people can be people, every one of us, unique as we are.
It’s actually pretty simple if you know what empowerment looks like and during my journey I stumbled upon a magical video that says it all. This is my gift to you. To give you a vision of what connectedness and empowerment looks like. It’s as easy as this. “Je suis donc tu es”.
The 20’s will be the decade of passing each other yellow balls. Of recognizing and refusing to take on the black ones. A decade of connectedness. Of the rise of the Homo Conexus, where we distinguish ourselves by our ability, but also our need for being connected.
Sometimes I believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast. And yes, this is one of them. I believe we can do this. You, me, all of us. Happy 20’s!!
Warm regards,
Margot van Brakel