Change and turbulence. What a fascinating world we are living in!!! I remember Allen Bruford who was the Head of Operations for Customs and he had a wonderful plaque on his desk. "Everyone wants progress but no one wants to change"And for some people this is true.

Interestingly for most people it is not true and that is why the world around us changes so much and why we live in such amazing times. Just imagine it!!! We are living in perhaps the most exciting, most fluid, changing and perhaps challenging time in history.

And if you doubt this then check out the summary on Wikipedia of a wonderful book by Thomas Friedman "The World is Flat". It is quite fascinating and really puts into context the turbulent times we have lived through and are living in now. Add to that the turbulence we are dealing with in the economy and we will enter a very different world in the next 12 to 24 months. And I think a much better one.

It is in these times that real leadership shows up. Not just leader leadership (someone else doing it) - but real personal leadership at every level. And when turbulence hits us or when change happens or when we struggle - it is then that real leaders ask "what is the opportunity here?"

Real leadership is about dealing with today (right now) to change things and then continuously asking the same question time and time again - "what is the opportunity here?"

I believe that success comes to those who take responsibility of their lives and who take leadership in any sort of way - no matter how big or how small. That is one of the wonderful things I love about being a Kiwi. We are a land of people who have an attitude of "let????????s just do it". It has been what we have built our country on and it is what has enabled us to produce so many wonderful people who have made the world a better and more inspiring place to live in.

So in this time of change and turbulence let us take that thought into every part of our lives, into our businesses and into our dealings with each other. Let us ask the question "what is the opportunity here?" - and then take responsibility to do something to realise the opportunity.

And through this time - as well as through the holiday season let us celebrate the blessings that we have in our lives.

Date: Fri 28th Nov 22:17 PM     Author: Terry McCloy