This morning I’m teaching a large class of corporate employees my course entitled Supercharge Your Career and Work Like a Genius.  It’s a spiritual experience for me to teach the class. By that I mean that I am fortunate enough to help people identify their personal bull’s-eye that’s at the intersection of their design and their desires. Then I help them turn that knowledge into a unique value proposition that transforms a job into a career and finally into a calling.

I find it spiritual because, although it may sound corny, there is a real light in each of us that gets ignited when we come in contact with our deepest self.  My experience in working with thousands of people is that each of us are designed to succeed.  I feel privileged to help people become something that I can only describe as being “soul-aware.”  It’s a kind of super-conscious awareness significantly deeper than self-awareness.

As many of you might know from my barrage of e-mails I am going to be doing a series of women’s Leadership SPA events this year. We are getting a steady stream of enrollments so I am not writing this as a sales letter.  What I wanted to share was a brief stream of testimonials that my team recently put together as a kind of surprise for me.  They want to use it for marketing which is cool. But the impact it had on me was simply a flood of gratitude not only for these people but for the opportunity I have to be fulfilling my life’s work.

One thing that struck me is that what most people talk about is the one thing they heard that was exactly what they needed to hear to get clear, make changes and accelerate in their chosen direction. Very often I have no idea whether my training has any impact at the time I deliver it. It’s usually much later that I get an e-mail from someone who got inspired and invented the public health product to prevent the spread of disease, or reinvented the way their company does recruiting to promote diversity, or lost 50 pounds, or convinced their company to institute flex-time and scores of other small and large accomplishments that are as different as each individual’s need and interest.

What produces that change seems very serendipitous.  When someone hears the right words at the right time they spring into action.  Fortunately this is true for all of us. You have affected the lives of many for good. Any time you encourage people to learn what they need to learn, or do what they need to do, to produce the life their deeper self is longing for you release a flood of creativity and energy. You have no idea how many lives you have changed for the better.

Beneath the surface life is spiritual…we are all fortunate to have each other.

If you want to watch the video the team put together it’s on The Leadership SPA homepage just below the fold on the right.  What I’m sure of is that you could make a video just like this about the impact you’ve had.  When you are at your best I’m pretty sure you’re awesome.

We live in an age of extremes. Most of us are a bit hypnotized by our smart phones overflowing with the stream of urgent trivia as well as vital information that impacts our work, our families and our lives. Our brains and emotions were not designed for this constant onslaught of stimulation.

At the same time personal meditation has gone mainstream. More and more business organizations are teaching their employees the disciplines of mindfulness and encouraging them to meditate, even at work. Yoga has never been so popular.

Extremes also dominate our inner life of meaning. Religions struggle to resolve their old doctrines that create tribal beliefs while the world culture simplifies spirituality into universal love.

Humans are designed to wrestle with the big questions. We seek certainty in an uncertain world. We want the light of unchanging truth as we try to make good decisions in the dark.

There are many big thinkers who believe that we are transitioning from a religious age through a secular age to a spiritual age. Time will tell. But I believe what really matters is that each of us wrestle with our theory of life until we arrive at a world that helps us to be the best person we can imagine becoming.

There is nothing more personal than our inner theory of the meaning of life. Even in the most ‘doctrinaire’ religions each individual creates their own personal theology.

It is inescapable. According to Gallup surveys a large percentage of avowed atheists sincerely pursue humanitarian ideals because they believe in a vague but real source of empathy-based morality… “The Golden Rule.”

So what is your theory of life?  How do you derive meaning? Research suggests that there are three main theories:

1. I can control the events of my life through perfect obedience to moral rules. (This is the common belief that if you say your prayers and eat your Wheaties that bad things won’t happen.) Although this mindset is obviously flawed, millions of people hang onto it as their only strategy to control things that evidently can’t be controlled.  This is very stressful and creates a crisis of faith. After all, when a loving God allows really bad things to happen to really good people it makes you wonder, “What the hell is going on?” Psychological research tells us that this theory of life creates a lot of inner fears and anxiety.

2. Life happens…deal with it. This theory suggests that life is ultimately meaningless and random. Seeking pleasure and avoiding pain is the only rational approach. The problem with this theory is that seeking pleasure does not fill the hole in our hearts that can only be filled with deeper meaning. Most often when we see people who have lived their lives on the pleasure maximization principle, those like Hugh Hefner, and we feel sad for them or disgusted.

3. Life is for learning. End-of-life research reveals that people who have this life theory are most satisfied. This mindset allows for life’s undeserved ups and downs as a means to personally grow into a better person.  Again, at the end of our lives what most happy people have wished for is that they have become wiser and more loving. (Not richer or more famous.) This theory of life is very optimistic and robust because it trains our inner voice to tell us that we can learn something beneficial from everything that happens to us. It infuses meaning into everyday life. It makes our setbacks sacred. And it makes us grateful for our successes. When people say everything happens for a reason what they are acknowledging is that we can benefit from all of life’s experiences… if we choose to. That’s the inner story that will make you the most stress resilient and satisfied.

So now some thoughts on the meaning of Christmas. For a minute let me separate the message of Christ from Christian religions. But before I do, let me give you a few thoughts on religion. Contrary to popular belief most wars have been fought over land and money not religious ideology. Much, much good has been done by both individuals who are devoutly religious and by religions themselves.

However, when hard power, competitive people, who are almost always men, claim to have an exclusive relationship with God it brings out the worst in them. It legitimizes mind control, bigotry, slavery, holy war and terrorism. So, its also true that lots of very terrible things happen in the name of religion.

Religion can also serve a great human purpose by helping people gain impulse control and self-discipline, which are vital tools on the path to personal fulfillment. And it also turns out that people who worship together are psychologically happier and live longer. This is true even if they don’t believe exactly the same things.  There is something potent about communal celebration of a belief that life has purpose, love is the supreme value, and that our choices and actions matter.

Today there are thousands of Christian sects so Christianity is more of a tapestry of beliefs with thousands of individual threads.  Some Christians try to strip away the centuries of added dogmas and doctrines that obscure the message of Jesus. Sometimes these are called “Red Letter Christians” because in many New Testaments the words that are attributed to Christ are printed in red. These folks tend to downplay the words of Paul in his epistles as well as theologians, founders of religions and others who claim a special power to speak in the name of God. (Or for that matter to speak for the universe… or the force…)

The reason that Red Letter Christians like to focus on the words of Christ is because they are almost universally words of inclusion, non-judgment and forgiveness, even for big whopping moral flaws. Instead of commandments Christ gives us the Beatitudes. In fact he says the whole moral law can be reduced to one big idea. We need to actively love each other. Complicating things more than that destroys the power of universal compassion.

Of course we need to love each other wisely. Love does not mean co-dependence or allowing selfish, evil-acting people to cause suffering for the rest of us. Real love is not weak… it is strong. Christ did not hesitate to condemn the religious establishment of his time as being power-mad, greedy and mean.

My point in all this is that it doesn’t matter if someone says Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or nothing at all. The spirit of Christ’s message is that loving-kindness really matters. When our personal characters are drenched in loving-kindness guided by wisdom we are becoming the best person we can imagine.

I have one last Christmas time thought.  Some of you might find it disturbing but I find it exciting.   The Christian mystic and scientist Emanuel Swedenborg writes that heaven and hell are really states of mind. The states of mind are so powerful they literally create our experience. And we actually create either heaven or hell right now through our conscious awareness.

Although Swedenborg does not actually seem to say this, the implication of his mystical experiences is that we are currently living in hell. That’s why bad things happen. That’s why life is so uncertain, so often unfair.  That’s why when people relate near death experiences they often say they don’t want to return to a world full of undeserved pain and sorrow.

This point of view gives rise to the idea that this is the best of all possible worlds.  If there could be any less suffering or uncertainty, there would be. What I find comforting about this possibility is that instead of being frustrated and angry with all the injustice we experience and see innocent others’ experiences I can be grateful that my higher self has an opportunity to make things just a little bit better. It also helps me relish all that is good in my life.  It makes me want to strive to bring the conditions of heaven into my life and the lives of others in anyway that I can.

Maybe I’m goofy. I don’t pretend to know what I don’t know.  And I don’t know a lot of things. But what I do know is that loving others wisely is my path to meaningful happiness. Loving makes me a better person.

I like to think about that Christmas time. Be happy.

 

• Using a simple string of beads made and sold through a uniquely sustainable business model, Cape Town-based Relate makes “cause” bracelets that create opportunities that change lives.

• The organization has raised more than $1.2 million for causes and social upliftment.

• The bracelets are made by the elderly, refugees and unemployed township youth, allowing them to earn an income and gain on-the-job training.

• Formed in 2004 by Lauren Gillis to help reduce poverty, she explains the wider thinking behind her social impact.

A strong commitment to humanity and social justice was instilled in me from an early age. After studying social work at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, my 30-year career evolved into forming businesses and philanthropic organizations committed to supporting individuals reach their greatest potential. It’s amazing how something as small as a bead can do something so big.

I believe that we are all connected, and that each of us has the responsibility and privilege to be an agent of social change. I am passionate that a small handmade connector, a simple string of beads, has the remarkable power to restore dignity, hope and resilience to humanity.

I want to share a story, a process, a model, a philosophy, and a tool that I am unbelievably excited to be involved with. It’s a story that is practical but has abstract implications. It’s a story that starts with a small bead and ends with impact across a continent. It’s a story about the power of connectivity and how creativity can find elegant solutions to lessen the divide between the haves and the have nots. It’s a story that deals with donor fatigue and the negative energy associated with NGOs begging for survival. It addresses corporate and NGO needs in a manner that benefits both. It’s a story about sustainability, leadership and bringing people together.

I was originally inspired by Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong rubber band that clearly showed us that humanity has a desire to be connected. I thought how cool it would have been if that machine-made band had rather been handmade, and how many lives could have benefited from it. I thought how awesome it would be if there was a beaded string that could connect people to a cause or a brand – and ultimately to each other. This might be an idea that went beyond job creation.

Let me take you through the life of one of our handmade beaded bracelets.

The United Against Malaria Bracelet is not made in a factory. It’s made in communities where it uplifts, up-skills and offers dignity and hope. A string of beads that bridges the gap between food on the table for pensioners and orphaned grandchildren, and also addresses bigger issues on the African continent.

Packs of beads and elastic are sent to senior clubs in the townships where the elderly thread the beads. Many are old and frail and taking care of orphaned children and grandchildren, sometimes from the consequence of HIV. These amazing people have taught me about the meaning of productivity at any age and the true meaning of the South African phrase Ubuntu. Ubuntu can be translated as “humanity to others.” Everything they earn, however little, is shared between family, neighbors and friends.

These seniors have been given a focus and purpose and they sing as they work in the knowledge that their hard work will result in the protection of moms and children from the deadly disease of malaria. Their dementia and arthritis improves and many health and social benefits have also been noted. They don’t want a handout. They are proud to have an opportunity to work, to earn and have a sense of purpose.

The beaded balls are then sent to younger groups in the townships, who complete the bracelets. These are predominantly single mothers who have a very low level of education, many of whom are illiterate. There is little chance of them ever getting a job.

Because we believe that the ability to communicate is a basic requirement for employment, we have made it compulsory that part of their earnings goes towards English classes. They are then assessed for potential new areas of interest and ability. Some are now learning how to use a computer, learning to drive, or doing different technician or trade courses. Every part of what we do is built into the cost of the bracelet.

 

The packers, who are refugees from war-torn African countries are up-skilled in the same way. One packer, who is passionate about soccer, has funded soccer coaching courses, and another is working toward becoming a truck driver.

The beads are all mixed up when they come back from the townships, and we then give them to the mentally challenged, who are paid to sort them into different colors.

So what happens to our bracelets then? They are sold to corporates and retailers.

More than a third of the cost is donated to the Global Fund, who in turn supply us with mosquito nets that the amazing humanitarian explorer Kingsley Holgate distributes throughout Africa to mothers and children below the age of five.

Malaria still kills a child every 60 seconds. In the past we have raised $500,000 to buy nets – A great example of where Africa is not asking the rest of the world for a handout. A simple hand-made bracelet was the catalyst that enabled us to take care of our own continent. The proceeds from one bracelet can protect a child for up to five years.

Our business model creates an opportunity for corporates to combine CSR with marketing and brand building too. Let me give you an example.

Hyundai Germany identified the need for a new school hall at an impoverished townships school and saw our bracelets as a great way to fundraise. They placed an order for branded Hyundai bracelets which they sold through their dealerships. In addition to the $0.50 that Relate paid per bracelet to a non-profit cause, Hyundai raised a further $2 from the sale of each bracelet. In under a year $50,000 was raised for the building of the school hall and more than $11,000 had been invested in skills development programs. Not forgetting, of course, how many people were now wearing cool and fashionable Hyundai bracelets.

I hope my story will serve as a reminder of the power of connectivity; that something small can have a big impact and that we all have the potential to become agents of social change.

Secular economists and so-called business experts have commandeered the purpose of business like blood-thirsty pirates taking over a merchant ship. The ship is our moral minds. We have been taken prisoner.

Since the 1970’s when the popular economist Milton Friedman insisted that the only purpose of business was to make money, greed and shortcuts have been legitimized as smart business strategy. Jack Welch enthroned creating investor wealth as the primary goal of every competent CEO.

What has this mindset brought us? Recently, the corrupt culture of the major international car company, VW, used their engineering talent to make highly polluting diesel cars appear to be clean. Public health officials believe that VW has sold enough of these cars in the LA basin to cause new asthma cases in the children that live there.

The thinking of moral buccaneers has brought us Turing Pharmaceuticals, a drug company that acquired Daraprim and raised its price from $13.50 to $750 a pill. That’s not a misprint. This drug is a vital life-saving drug used by cancer and AIDS patients. The only words that describe Turing CEO Martin Shkreli is that he is an immoral pig. Neither he nor his scientists have created anything.  The drug is 62 years old.  But few in the pharmaceutical industry condemn him. Drug prices have risen over 13% in the last year not because of the cost of R&D but because of the popularity of the new drug pricing strategy called “What are people willing to pay to save their lives?”

Gilead Sciences is one of Wall Street’s most admired companies. The business press admires them because they charge $84,000 for a 12-week treatment for hepatitis C. They don’t try to justify their price on the cost of R&D.  They simply say we charge that much “because it works.” The entire pharmaceutical industry is out of control.

We live at a time when business greed is so taken for granted that even those who were directly responsible for the financial meltdown of 2008 were not only left unaccountable; many of them received multimillion dollar bonuses made possible from the taxpayer bailout.  Now I am a big proponent of the wisdom of the government bailout of the economy.  It saved us.  But virtually all the heads of those financial institutions should’ve, at minimum, been fined and fired and some should’ve gone to jail. They should all be banned from working in the financial industry for life. But most of them are back doing reckless stuff.

And of course nearly all industries that are major contributors to greenhouse gases that are driving the looming disaster caused by climate change argue that they have a greater responsibility to make money in the short-term for their investors then they do to the children of our world that will be be growing up in a time of man-made environmental catastrophe.

I could go on about how businesses knowingly use unhealthy   additives in food, toxic chemicals in products, and would rather pay fines when they’re caught polluting than stopping the pollution, but let me stop here.

As someone who has been in scores and scores of meetings with the most senior executives of very large publicly owned companies I can assure you that leaders making these decisions are not inherently evil.  Most of them are good people corrupted by in immoral system in which short-term financial self-interest is the only standard that is consistently applied to important decisions.  It sickens me.

What we need is a moral revolution. We need leaders who empathize with their employees, customers, communities and the future generation of unborn children. We need leaders with courage to change the mindset of business. We need leaders who understand that the true purpose of business is to improve the quality of life of all their stakeholders, including the wider community and future generations.
Those of you who know me know that I don’t believe that most men will take up the torch of moral change.  Men in general are simply too competitive and too self-interested to sustain their moral courage.  Without a doubt some men are but most a not.

We know from research that women are the primary civilizing force. Recently, social sciences have confirmed the influences of respected women are a major cause of men becoming empathetic.  Bill Gates became a philanthropist after he married Melinda.  Mark Zuckerberg pledged to give his fortune away through a vision given to him by his wife.

So as you know, I am tirelessly beating the drum to elevate more women into leadership.  Women’s brains are affected both by hormones and their neuro-networks to think long-term. Their brains are designed for empathy and social inclusion. Women are more interested in community benefit, stopping injustice, and creating a future that is better for everyone’s children.

I assure you this is not psychological mythology.  These are the conclusions of hundreds of research studies using brain scans and behavioral psychology experiments.  This does not mean that all men are stupid and immoral and all women are smart and values-driven.  But what I think it does mean is that if we want a future that is good for all our children we need more women in leadership of businesses and institutions large and small.

You might be thinking that it’s as hard to name more morally-inspiring women CEOs as it is to name their few male counterpart CEOs like Howard Schultz of Starbucks or Mark Parker of Nike.  And you would be right. Susan Cameron leads America’s biggest tobacco company. Marissa Mayer turned Yahoo into a rudderless salt mine.  But my point is that Schultz and Parker are highly exceptional men.  And Cameron and Mayor are negatively exceptional women. They got to their positions of power by mimicking male toughness which too many senior women do. What’s needed is a whole new mindset which enables women to lead with their gender-based brain strengths. That’s when the revolution will take place.

As I have wondered how to accelerate getting more women on Boards of Directors and in corporate C-suites it struck me that I must use the logic of our current business norms to force the issue.  So I commissioned research project to examine the evidence of the impact of women on the financial, strategic, innovative and operational performance of business organizations.

What I found in the research is that women are generally superior to men in 20 key competencies that directly affect the financial performance of a large enterprise.  This means that corporate boards have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to elevate more women into senior leadership positions.

What I’m saying here is that if corporate boards feel their job is to ensure their company creates as much short-term shareholder wealth as possible they are obligated to recruit and elevate women who excel at most of the 20 competencies listed below.  Right now, women who get to the top usually have to mimic men.  But we don’t need highly competitive, short-term focused, self-interested women in leadership.  Instead we need business cultures that promote women who possess high social intelligence, thinking versatility, and creative empathy.

Companies that do not systematically promote these kinds of women need to be sued by activist shareholders who want their companies to prosper both now and in the future.  I think that’s a hell of a big idea!

The list of 20 ways that most women outperform most men is down below.

The world is not going to change on its own…at least not for the better.  What you do matters. What you stand for matters. This is not the best we can do…we need to do better.

20 Reasons Why Advancing Women into Leadership Is a Fiduciary Duty of Corporate Boards

1. Women Get Results. Companies with diverse boards perform better than those run purely by men: Francesca Lagerberg, “Woman in business: the value of diversity.” Grant Thornton International, (2015): 1.    https://tinyurl.com/lb7kk8d
2. Women are more effective collaborators. Women are naturally wired for career success in today’s workplace with attributes such as cooperation, collaboration, and communication: Catherine Kaputa, “The female advantage: 9 ways to use it.”  The Women’s Conference Archive Site.     https://tinyurl.com/ougpx5d
3. Women are more versatile. Character traits of women leaders include “masculine” traits such as straightforward communication style, action-oriented, risk-takers, skilled at solving complex problems but additionally resilience, energy, and empathy: “Women leaders research paper.”  Caliper Research and Development Department, (2014).    https://tinyurl.com/lb7kk8d
4. Women “read” people better. Women have higher social intelligence and are more intuitive and empathetic: Catherine Kaputa, “The female advantage: 9 ways to use it.”  The Women’s Conference Archive Site.     https://tinyurl.com/ougpx5d
5. Women are more mentally agile. Women use both right and left hemispheres of brain making them outscore men on oral and written tests; better communicators: Catherine Kaputa, “The female advantage: 9 ways to use it.”  The Women’s Conference Archive Site.     https://tinyurl.com/ougpx5d
6. Women express themselves better. Women have higher emotional intelligence, can express emotions more accurately which unites others: Catherine Kaputa, “The female advantage: 9 ways to use it.”  The Women’s Conference Archive Site.     https://tinyurl.com/ougpx5d
7. Women are better transformational leaders. Women are more “transformation” leaders; they are skilled at getting subordinates to transform their own self-interest into the interest of the larger group.  Women transcribe their power not to their position within the organization but to their own personal characteristics: Barbara B. Moran, “Gender differences in leadership.”    https://tinyurl.com/p7uomgl
8. Women are better at creating win-win solutions. Women leaders are more democratic; better at win-win situations:  Barbara B. Moran, “Gender differences in leadership.”    https://tinyurl.com/p7uomgl
9. Women are better at leading teams. Women think more holistically, have higher levels of compassion and team-building skills, more persuasive and assertive, and are better at influencing without using authority.  Drew Gannon, “How men and women differ in the workplace.”  The Fiscal Times, (2012, May 25).    https://tinyurl.com/oeeoyu6
10. Women are better at uniting teams.Women are better at building team cohesion: Kenya McCullum, “The feminine advantage: 4 unique qualities women bring to the workplace.”  Worldwide Learn (2014, Sept. 9).     https://tinyurl.com/p835d4n
11. Women are more confident in their ability to deal with risk.Women leaders are more persuasive, assertive and willing to take more risks than male leaders: “The qualities that distinguish women leaders.”  Caliper Research and Development Center, (2005).    https://www.calipermedia.calipercorp.com/whitepapers/us/Qualities-in-Women-Leaders.pdf
12. Women are better at facing challenges. Women managers may be better prepared to cope with the challenges of the future: Barbara B. Moran, “Gender differences in leadership.”    https://tinyurl.com/p7uomgl
13. Women are better at getting results through teamwork. Women create more committed, collaborative, inclusive, and more effective teams: “Women leaders: the hard truth about soft skills.”  Bloomberg Business, (2010, Feb. 16).      https://tinyurl.com/pgjm5o2
14. Women are better at creating loyalty and commitment. Women are better at building relationships that inspire and engage others: Mitch McCrimmon, Are women better leaders than men?  Management Issues, (2014, May 6).    https://tinyurl.com/nh2rhrw
15. Women in the E-suite create better business results. Women generate better teams and better teams generate better corporate results: Solange Charas, “A mathematical argument for more women in leadership.”  Fast Company.     https://tinyurl.com/o8vxk43
16. Women are better at leading change. Women are better at promoting change: “Women leading change.”  Oxfam, (2011).    https://tinyurl.com/o6e6aba
17. Women are more flexible under changing circumstances. Women are more flexible: Christine Avery and Diane Zabel, The Flexible Workplace: A Sourcebook of Information and Research.  Quorum Books (2001).    https://tinyurl.com/qfehe8j
18. Women are more adaptable to new circumstances. Women are more adaptable to change: Margaret Andersen, Howard Taylor, Kim Logio, Sociology: the essentials, eight edition.  Cengage learning, (2015).    https://tinyurl.com/oj4mhj8
19. Women are better at avoiding reckless risk. Women are better at avoiding reckless risk: Asha Kaul Manjari Singh, Gender inclusivity: theory and best practices. PHI Learning Private Limited, (2012).    https://tinyurl.com/nrayc35
20. Women are better at resolving risk. Women are better at resolving conflict: Colleen E. Kelley and Ann L. Ebien, Women who speak for peace.  Roman and Littlefield Publishers, (2002).

Thank goodness, the Climate Change talks in Paris have actually ended in an agreement to reduce carbon emissions, supported by 195 countries. Many world leaders have now committed to doing what many of us have been doing for a very long time. It’s taken many, many years –and a few natural disasters—to finally contain our sperm-like impetus. Acting less like sperm and more like eggs, however, could solve the situation without effort.

I was speaking at an event for entrepreneurs recently in Madrid. The previous speaker kept telling the audience how “sperm strategy” would make them rich. It was funny, a little mischievous, and very compelling: get to the goal before anybody else, push and shove your way there, never relax, seek the shortest path, etc. It sounds exactly like most of our business mumbo-jumbo, doesn’t it?

Twitter is full of spermfully reflected uses of the allowed 140 characters, designed to catch our eye and drive us to a product, a person or an idea: “the secrets of…,” “How to conquer…,” “Why you need (this) to succeed.” A total explosion of sperm-tweets pushing us to find our egg and break into it as quickly as possible, every minute of the day. Exhausting quite frankly, and you can imagine that no real egg is going to spend a lot of time sitting around in there! It’s like gang-rape!

It’s overwhelming, excessive, over-anxious and far too thrusty. Sadly, we’re all playing the same game, and though we would never, in our wildest dreams or most decadent moments actually consider anything like actual rape, we do give off this vibe of excess enthusiasm that can be quite counter-productive. Is it any wonder we’re generating too much of everything? Too much carbon dioxide, too much plastic residue, too much production is regularly dumped to control prices, too much trash is growing in piles and puddles around us every day. Enough with the proactive sperm vibes!

Now visualize the egg. The first thing we notice is size. Sheer size. The enormity of the egg beside the tiny, little jumpy sperm hovering around it. The egg is just there. Doesn’t need to move, chase, try, scream or tweet. No need at all. It just waits for the right opportunity to come along. And it somehow always knows. The cost of choosing the wrong business partner to create a new business baby is simply not worth it. Too much investment, too many years spent growing arduously, too many hopes and expectations to fail. The egg doesn’t rush into a business deal of any sort. It sits and waits.

But it’s not an anxious wait – full of hopes and expectations. No. It’s serene and mysteriously calm in its movement. Like waves on the surface of a pond going nowhere. It can recognize the absence of a feeling, a very specific chemistry of infinite success and passion without which there can be no conception. The egg knows that it will die if the right guy never comes along. But the egg has no fear. It is not worried about what other eggs will think. It doesn’t need to leave a legacy. It doesn’t need an award. The egg lives to serve life, at whatever cost that life demands of it.

Think of the calm tranquility of life. The slow, love-full accumulation of energy inside that majestic miracle of organic potential. The silence and darkness surrounding that egg, protecting it from any possible harm. The mystery of its entire future, in perfect communion with whatever it is that moves our world forward. The egg surrenders to the mysteries of its destiny without judgment, expectation or criticism.

And when that perfect tiny mate finally appears, among thousands of  wiggly little tricksters jumping over each other and kicking each other in the guts, the egg simply dissolves with pleasurable love. It opens just as little as needed to let him in. Only him. Always him. Forever him. There never was any other. It never felt this right. Only he feels like he was meant to be. Life takes off in a total explosion of growth and development that still surprises us with its magic, its wild strength, its very own agenda.

We need a lot more egg energy in our lives and businesses. It’s that dark, chaotic and mesmerizing Yin energy which Chinese philosophers described long before the war of the sexes began. We all have it. We all need it. We all recognize it as slow, serene, generous, self-confident and fully open to serve others. We’ve forgotten to give it space and respect its utter power… so impressed are we with the blind racing of millions of tiny, Yang-infused sperm.

Including the egg strategy in our lives is so simple we don’t know how to do it. Because there is nothing to do. It’s precisely about doing the opposite of doing! Stop talking. Stop tweeting. Stop thinking a million thoughts about how to get this or achieve that. Forget all that “make a difference” gibberish. Surrender. Meditate. Contemplate.

Go to your meetings and events without a sperm strategy. Forget your plans. Give up the careful games you want to play with others to get what you came for. Just sit there and breathe. Breathe in other people’s nervous energy. Breathe up your own fears, anxieties and worries. And as you notice them, they begin to disappear. They just dissolve as easily as they arose.

Create quietness around you two or three times a day. You don’t need to sperm-fight your way to total emptiness of the mind in a yoga pose that crushes your joints until you feel numb. No. A few minutes will do. Wherever and whenever you find them. Like the egg, you won’t even have to look for them. Somebody will be late for an appointment. Some electronic glitch will kill your phone battery. Some airplane crisis will ground you in an airport for a little longer than expected. But instead of opening your laptop or searching internet for sperm-friends to compete with, you can just sit there and take life in as it happens around you.

The egg strategy contains the mysteries of the feminine. It opens up to unpredictable encounters, unbelievable creativity, impassioned certainty about who you are and why you are hear. It helps us relieve the excess running, racing, thinking, doing, planning, trying, blah,blah,blah….

We are all made up of feminine, or Yin, and masculine, or Yang. But we’ve become terribly imbalanced on all individual and collective levels. We’re chronically exhausted with ourselves and others, trying to think of ways to recuperate our energy levels again. What a ridiculous hamster cycle.

Let go. Surrender. Trust. Trust yourself. Trust your destiny. Trust life. Our feminine energy is full of love, passion and abundance. All we need to do is let it come up to the surface to bathe us in everything we ever wanted but never dared to wish for.

 

As the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) comes to a close, the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) has released the following insights from its international law and global economy and politics experts regarding the outcomes, including the final Paris Agreement released on Saturday, December 12:

1. “The Paris accord represents a huge step forward in the move toward a low carbon economy. It also provides a new legitimacy for the United Nations in this area. More than 196 countries approved a deal which has some sharp teeth. It calls for efforts to limit the average increase in temperature to less than 2C (and even the unrealizable 1.5). It calls for the planet to be carbon neutral in the latter part of this century. It provides for resetting national targets every 5 years so that we might actually get to those temperature goals. And it calls for regular stocktakings of where we are. This is just a first step. Now the real challenge begins. These kinds of reductions in Greenhouse gas emissions will not come without pain or cost, especially in an energy intensive economy which has frittered away its earlier chances to do something. When Minister McKenna and her band of happy warriors return to Ottawa after a job well done, they will face a Herculean challenge to prepare a Canadian strategy capable of meeting these targets.” – David Runnalls, CIGI Distinguished Fellow 

2. “The road from Paris COP21 begins an epic journey. The new Paris Agreement, like the Sustainable Development Goals and the Addis Ababa Action Plan also concluded this pivotal year, embraces principles of solidarity, equity and sustainability and reframes intractably complex issues like climate change and poverty as matters of common concern for all human kind to resolve together in a spirit of sharing and cooperation.  This work is just beginning at the international and domestic levels.  In Canada we need to develop a comprehensive climate change strategy that leverages the powers, resources and capabilities of federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels of government, and engages with civil society and indigenous peoples to determine how we will transform ourselves from a nation embedded in the fossil fuel economy to one founded on principles of global solidarity, equity and sustainability and enabled by knowledge and clean innovation.  An epic journey begins with a first step.” – Oonagh Fitzgerald, Director of CIGI’s International Law Research Program

3. “The Paris Agreement is a historic milestone. For the first time, all the world’s governments have pledged concrete steps to arrest climate change, and to ramp up their efforts in the future, through cooperation. Governments, companies, and families had already begun to transition to a low-carbon world economy.  This agreement means this transition is now irreversible and probably will accelerate. Investors, take notice.” – John Odell, CIGI Senior Fellow

4. “The new climate change treaty negotiated at Paris rules out business as usual growth in the demand for oil and other fossil fuels. The emission reductions that will be required to hold average global temperatures to under a 2 degree Celsius rise mandate both significant  and imminent declines in world oil consumption, challenging the sustainability of high cost sources of supply such as Canada’s oil sands.”   – Jeff Rubin, CIGI Senior Fellow

5. “This Agreement will not save the planet.  Although the Agreement contains lofty goals such as keeping the global temperature rise to less than 2 degree C, it fails to require individual countries or even groups of countries to reduce emissions by specific amounts or by any particular deadline.  Also, despite the words used by many world leaders and commentators, this is not a binding “legal agreement” by which Canada, or any other specific country, must reduce its emissions, and in any event the Agreement specifically forbids “enforcement” action that would punish a particular country for violations. In short, the Paris Agreement contains no specific legal requirements and no means to ensure that carbon emission will decrease and that humanity won’t be roasted, toasted, drowned or exiled.  Additionally, there are no lofty or indeed any specific goals in the Agreement to restrict new coal mines, new coal fired power plants or petrochemical projects and also no requirements to phase out existing carbon-based fuels, such as coal, oil or other fossil fuels by a specific date.” – David Estrin, CIGI Senior Research Fellow

6. “The agreement is a major milestone with regard to addressing climate change. What becomes clear is that we have to pay the costs for carbon emissions that we have externalized for the last century. Finance is one of the main issues for climate change mitigation and adaptation. A part of the payments will be to reduce carbon emission in developed countries and another part to help developing countries to follow a path of low carbon economic development. Finally, stranded assets caused by a carbon bubble become reality. Investors should be aware that we have to keep a large amount of fossil fuel resources in the ground to achieve the goals of the COP21 agreement. This will create a major shift of investments away from fossil fuels into renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure.” – Olaf Weber, CIGI Senior Fellow

7. “For clean technology innovators, a fully implemented Paris Agreement would set the conditions needed to remove the three most important barriers to climate solutions being deployed – Finance, Procurement and Regulation.  Finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions will redirect capital away from carbon-intensive sectors toward those that accelerate decarbonization. Asset managers also deploy capital toward climate mitigation project finance. Public procurement will accelerate as governments set examples with carbon-neutral operations and with greater attention to global commerce of environmental goods. Supported by public procurement in developed countries and by development support via $100 billion in annual climate finance, global trade in manufactured environmental goods will double to $2 trillion within 5 years, on a baseline of $970 billion in 2013. Finally, in keeping with obligations of all Parties to undertake and communicate ambitious efforts, countries will update GHG regulations to support intended National Determined Contributions.”  – Céline Bak, CIGI Senior Fellow 

8. “Legend has it King Canute ordered the tide to not come in. Canute syndrome – chronic belief based on aspirations rather than evidence or practicality – afflicts climate negotiators, governments and most of the media. The Paris aspirations to limit temperature increase and to mobilize funding are unattainable. Climate sensitivity to increased emissions is uncertain. We insure against many risks, but are blind to the probability that likely future concentrations of CO2 will lead to much higher increases than the 50% or 66% scenarios project. Never mind Marco Rubio’s “The government can’t change the weather….We can pass a bunch of laws that will destroy our economy, but it isn’t going to change the weather.” A serious effort would start with ensuring that global population does not increase by nearly two billion who will require food and energy services. The prospect is that we will all be as wet as Canute.” – Barry Carin, CIGI Senior Fellow

9. “Debates over fair differentiation of obligations, one of the most controversial topics placing developed against developing countries since the inception of climate negotiations, continued to the last minutes. The result, a nuanced and dynamic differentiation, is groundbreaking in international law. Developed countries wanted to ensure large developing emitters like China and India would do their share in reducing emissions. Developing countries wanted guarantees that developed countries would face their historic responsibility for accumulated emissions, and succeeded in including clear references to their greater development needs and the required leadership of developed countries in climate action and finance. The concept of progressive obligations enabled this compromise. Developed countries will immediately pursue absolute economy-wide reduction targets. Developing countries will reduce emissions intensity, peak their emissions as soon as possible, and move towards absolute economy-wide emissions reductions over time. More disputes on differentiation are expected during implementation, yet overcoming this intractable negotiation obstacle was one of the greatest achievements in Paris.” – Patrícia Galvão Ferreira, CIGI Post-Doctoral Fellow

10. “The momentum of the Paris Agreement should be picked up by WTO officials and trade ministers who will gather in Nairobi this week for the WTO Ministerial Conference and can do a lot to ensure the 1.5°C can be reached. The WTO’s 20th birthday is here with not much to celebrate – no significant agreements have been signed since 1995 and the future of the Doha Round is uncertain. This can be changed. If WTO member states want to capitalize on the Paris outcome, then this week in Nairobi they should make efforts towards progress on the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) which is currently on the negotiating table. The target of the EGA is the reduction or elimination of tariffs on several products that help clean the environment and contribute to renewable energy production. The agreement can create a robust green goods trading regime within the WTO, which would signal to world markets and investors that it is in their best interest to progressively switch to renewable energy sources and green goods’ trade. The world trading system can become the enabling force for the institution of green policies and market incentives, as long as its members negotiating in Nairobi this week, like their fellow ministers in Paris, think ‘green’.” – Maria Panezi, CIGI Post-Doctoral Fellow

At the COP21 United Nations conference in Paris on Friday, officials from nearly 200 countries reached a new agreement to address the threat of global climate change. On behalf of the United Nations Foundation, Chair Ted Turner, Vice Chairs Senator Timothy E. Wirth and Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, and President and CEO Kathy Calvin commented on the agreement, saying:

“This conference will be remembered as a turning point in the fight against climate change and in our efforts to create a more peaceful, prosperous planet for all people. The new agreement creates a strong framework to launch an era of unprecedented climate action. Now we must move with great urgency to deliver on that promise. We know this agreement alone will not meet the threat of climate change; that will require continued ambitious action from governments, the private sector, and all of us to limit the global rise in temperature and move more rapidly toward a clean energy future with net zero emissions.

“After decades of debate, the battle over the reality of climate change is over. Countries from every region of the world and every stage of development have committed to act because they recognize that it is in their self-interest and in humanity’s common interest. The commitment to act by countries including Brazil, China, India, and the United States is a clear sign that countries are no longer focused on whether they should act, but how.

“Importantly, the conference in Paris went beyond national governments to welcome the engagement of civil society, the private sector, financial institutions, cities and states. More and more business leaders and investors recognize not just the obligation to act, but also the economic opportunities in the growing clean energy economy.

“The Paris conference made a number of significant advances, most importantly by agreeing to convene again on a regular basis every five years to bring forward increasingly ambitious steps to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, and by strengthening the world’s long-term goals for keeping down the rise in global average temperatures.

“Combined with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, this has been a historic year for people and the planet. Our collective task is immense, but so is the opportunity to usher in a new era of sustainable development. The United Nations Foundation will continue to work with the United Nations and partners around the world to help achieve this future.”