People Tweak

                                                                                           Jermaine Ee on Unsplash “Yesterday.” Paul McCartney. You’ve heard or/and read it a thousand times. Voted the song of the 20 th century. One of the most covered songs. A top 5 of the Beatles’ most popular hits. He wrote it in his sleep. Not really. The tune was germinating in his sleep. He birthed it when he woke up. He labored to get the tune from the womb, his subconscious mind, and delivered joy to the world. Actually, it’s melancholy. The joy is when you sing it well, with the lament out of your chest, spread across your audience. Or against the rush of shower. A legend. Jack Nicklaus. A top three winningest golfer. He claims to have perfected his grip in a dream. Schwarzenegger saw the body he wanted in his mind. He claimed it, made the vision real. Encouraged by this breakthrough, Schwarzenegger imagined the glamorous life he is living.   “…create a vision of who you want to b

  Chantal Garnier on Unsplash If not verbatim, this is as close to what I heard from Mark Schaefer, a top-notch marketing guru and an innovative giant in his field, “Where there can be corruption, there will be corruption.” Mark tells it like it is. There are more people who choose to be politically correct than being honest, holding preciously to “let’s not rock the boat” pseudo-wisdom until they taste the contaminated water. There is nothing wrong thinking that people are good. It’s dangerous to believe it despite the red flags. I agree with Mark. Fully. Where there can be corruption, there will be corruption. Jose told me he cornered one of his better bosses, Tony near the staircase after an announcement of new measures to arrest corruption. This was a month after a series of investigations and a spate of resignations. “I told Tony that I disagreed with more PowerPoints, more rules. They only provide the covers, guidelines for the crooks to avoid detection,” Jose recalled.

  Docusign on Unsplash When I was offered a leadership role to run the Building and Employee Services Department, I rejected it without thinking. The employee services part was a cinch. I was involved in that function for more than twenty years. Imagining the demands of building maintenance overwhelmed me. “At least you must have a working knowledge of civil engineering,” I justified for my foolhardy decision. In my course of work, the only contacts I had with the building services team were to clean up before and after my events. And only if they were held on site. I was doing the annual events; leading ad hoc committees delivering the mega event for twenty years. It was a full package deal, from working with manufacturing for the approved date, to site selection, catering, engaging celebrities, publicity and the executive speech. The last task was the most challenging. I had to do the most rework. It was also the most gratifying for two reasons. First, I got to play a role in