My friend and publisher is a certified Global Nomad. He's travelling now for two years all over Europe and apparently now in Mongolia with his partner while working on his businesses. He writes for Medium and will get his book published soon on the same topic.

He's not rootless as what it seems like. Global nomadism is not place-centric but lifestyle and values-aligned life design. Designing this kind of life requires an intentional and deep way of honoring your truest desires and bringing them to life in a way that  supports yourself and your needs, the environment, for long term.

Who is this for? For those who are not adhering into  'living and dying in one place' where there are choices that lie open wide and are taking it. Cyber work propels and invigorates this culture shift. Globalization in ICT power charges it. Culture shift in this area is taking place. The exodus has just begun. More and more people are moving not just for greener pastures but to elect a different life. 

For sure this is not for everyone. But some people are not troubled by lack of security, lack of social ties in one place, or lack of family supports and other familial things when they're life is in flux. Some people flourish in that kind of mobility and dislocation. They take the road as their offices and cubicles and learn the ways of the people they meet and share coffee with on a train, bus, tuk-tuk, or tourist tram. 

My friend is living the life that he desires and not flinching about it. We can be nomads in your town as well. We can exist in one area but totally isolated from the rest of its current realities. This is not about travelling and moving but deciding to not participate with life in all of its dynamism. 

Nomadism is a choice, by far a choice that creates its own limits as well as possibilities. If you elect to be so, where would you go and what would you like to learn in the process. 

We know for a fact that not everyone will like what you do and will believe what you say and stand for. That's very obvious.

But there's a class of people who will never believe and will not be persuaded even in the face of great supporting evidence or contrarian evidence.

We call these people unpersuadable. They will dig on their heels but will never capitulate maybe because of ego, apathy, lack of trust with the other person or their leaders, or merely because they want to play that way.

What is insidious is the fact that this attitude is totally annoying and a barrier to engagement. Organizations dealing with these kinds of people are reluctant to confront the unpersuadable for fear that they could be more entrenched with an extreme position or lack thereof.

Change management analytics will determine that a different strategy should be employed for the unpersuadable such as keeping them at arm's length and providing information that they need without the urge to win them over.

Realistically, let them know that it's not okay to be unpersuadable. It's a character flaw and by acting that way, shows you their real worth. If it's someone you have no relations or context with, walk away. 

 


​When I immigrated to Canada on 13 July 2010, I had two suitcases and a big Balikbayan box (used to send goods home for families who stayed behind). At the immigration desk, I was asked about my show money- a money you guarantee that you have with you at the time of landing that you will survive in the next few days or weeks, or maybe if you have a lot, a few months to stave away destitution.


Where is your show money? To prove you can survive in Canada on a shoe-string budget and still feel happy with your decision to uproot yourself, your career, and your life for no apparent life-threatening reason but to improve your chances of greater success- whatever that is, a house mortgage, better education, fresher air and food, elevated status-The Great Canadian Dream.


Us, immigrants we all had it. The grim determination that we will no matter what it takes, overcome and will get that coveted Canadian passport, identity, language, and social ties under our belts at last. The folks back home will be super proud of what we have done and will say, better in Canada struggling than back home. 

As I eased into the new Canadian living, the show money transformed in a different way. 

Where is your Canadian experience? It's like saying that you will never make it here as a landed immigrant if you don't have the Canadian experience which is synonymous to "killing the immigrants softly." How exactly will you get the Canadian experience if nobody will take the risk of hiring you?  In order to survive, they have to take survival jobs which is like a penance of choosing Canada as their home.


In my last successful job interview, I told them, " I am fresh off the boat and with no Canadian work experience at all yet but I have travelled the world-world-weary and worldly enough to be flexible and adaptable." I got the job! They sure can't believe that I have just arrived and now competing against 500 work applicants in that city. The rest is history. 


The next show money question is different. It is all about in their heads, "what are your credentials that will allow us to respect you and believe that you can help?" This one is tough to crack. But, there's always a way around it. 

​Of all these questions, one thing is for sure, not all will be pleased and will accept who you are and what you're here for in this country, this city, this small town, and neighborhood. There will also be people like that. But as immigrants who discovered a new home, a new identity that could fuse with the old, and new relations on top of the discarded ones, suggest that we can completely write our own stories with ourselves as the main protagonists, despite the odds. I guess, striving to win every time. 

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​When was the last time you made some spring cleaning in your organization?

Have you tried to look at your Bylaws and Letters of Incorporation lately?

Have you done some reviews of your Policies and Guidance Documents?
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Have you considered reviewing your Terms of References, Procurements, and Vendor processes? 

​Have you made progress in your volunteer growth and advancement recently? 

Are staff and Board evaluations and reviews in the pipeline? 

Sometimes, the best spring cleaning begins at your desk.

What work are you trying to put off in the last few weeks and months now? 

What difficult conversation must take place sooner than later? 
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Who needs to be informed, consulted, and engaged in your process? 

The rigmarole of paper pushing in many offices is  seldom questioned. 

It's time to figure out what is work and what's non-work. 

Spring cleaning is all about tackling the most essential and dropping the non-work.

A few months ago, a CEO told me that it seemed, 'everything is in order.' They are moving into a new building, operations have been reconfigured to accommodate an enlarged mandate, expanded personnel, and with secured funding, it is looking promising.

When everything is in order, is it not the best opportune time to plan your next steps? 

Here are eight issues that CEOs of social purpose organizations spend their time on: 

-Board Leadership and Governance
-Staff/Personnel Issues
-Financial Sustainability
-Stakeholder Concerns
-Communications and Reputational Issues
-Operations/Programming 
-Strategic Questions 
-Innovations, Adaptation and Resilience

Which of these eight issues are focused on putting out fires and which are for innovation and building capacity for the future?  

They are all areas to look for innovation, adaptation, and resilience. Let your managers and staff know that they can lead to innovate in their departments. These are systems and they all overlap for the organization. Wherever you are in the chart, change happens when people and systems change. 

Anticipate that something will come up when you're putting things in order as a cause and consequences of those actions. Growth requires vigilance to outcomes and the resoluteness to continue in the direction of change. Ultimate, it's about minds, hearts, and systems in complete synergy and harmony. 
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Provocation, as I heard from a Rotary Club member after my presentation, was something very negative to him. He was fed up by the polarization in our politics and culture, those that always demanding something and always looking for ways to tell someone should reform or else global destruction is at hand, instead of just aiming for common good. 

While I recognize the current woke and cancel culture climate which we operate, I digress that positive provocation is more about not pushing, but encouraging, not forcing someone to change their views even with the word Provocateur or Provocation. Provocation means you're not settled with the status quo, however long it has served your purpose. It's always for positive growth, more relevance for the upliftment of all. It's about challenging norms that are no longer useful, thus, we can take some lessons learned from others, and adapt accordingly.

The woke culture of today denigrates everyone who is not in conformity, kills dissension and creative expression, and polices everyone's thoughts and feelings, making one feel ashamed and guilty of one's roots and privileges. Hitler's campaign was successful because it tackled the identity of German culture and ascribed a higher sense of importance over other races, ethnicities, and identities and loyalties of the German people. 

Positive provocation is an antidote to the complacency in many organized systems around the world. Innovation, as Schumpeter defined is about 'creative destruction.' Taken in extreme literal way robs it of its substance. Innovation is doing and making things differently, whether it's a product, service, system, network, or process. 

Positive provocation in the world of charity, development, humanitarian, and philanthropy requires a healthy dose of passion,  purpose, provision, practice, and the right paradigm  (5Ps). That to me is the philosophy of being a provocateur or a positive instigator. 

As the year winds down, you can finish strong even in matters of few weeks. 

2022 is full of challenges and opportunities. But these challenges shouldn't define your organization. 

Your organization should be defined by what you have done in spite/despite the challenge and pressures facing every on-purpose organization

Are you ready .....

To think about what could be in 2023, in terms of restructuring and governance changes?
To think about a strategy that you could use in the next 2-3 years?
To set aside time for reflexivity within your team and Board?
To integrate lessons learned to new practices? 
To improve your leadership and resiliency so you can model what it takes to lead without having all the answers?
​To innovate next year as opposed to putting out fires and reacting? 

You can finish well and in advance. Life is a series of starts and stops. Of continuities and discontinuities. Whether you believe this or not, next year starts now.

The vast majority of the population is sleep walking through opportunities. 

The rest is hustling without ceasing. They can't simply be bothered. 

While this is the case, you can begin to do WOW!

Working while waiting for the right opportunity to come along.

WOW assumes that you're open-minded and adaptive to changes.

You can quickly pivot and adjust your course without incurring so much time and effort.

Your system should be ruthlessly aware. It should tell you when and where to go next and when to slow down and breathe new air.

Opportunities should not be chased. Be still. Learn to read the times and see that everywhere there are many micro-opportunities waiting to be revealed.

Are you working while waiting (WOW)? Are you opportunity-ready? 

Since the death of the Queen Elizabeth the Second, people from all over the world felt a profound sadness for her passing. Some people had a visceral, unexpected feeling of grief, not in a way expected.

This seemingly unexplained feeling is not something that I currently hold.  Although I recognized that for some people, the Queen and the British Monarchy and its colonial legacies are very hard to erase in the memory of individuals, nations, and institutions. The Queen is very much loved. Imperialist expansions were not. 

I sincerely think that the world should celebrate that Queen Elizabeth had the fullest life as a reigning monarch. It is now the end of her era. A new era and hopefully a monarchy should be established.

The old is gone and the new dispensation heralds new ideas, thinking, and actions. 

As Canada is part of the Commonwealth, I can only sincerely hope that a 'slimmed down' monarchy will contribute to a more vibrant commonwealth of nations where legacies of colonialism and imperialism are addressed and that new ties based on equality are tried. These issues are not going to go away soon. 

It's hard to predict how the institution of monarchy unfolds, it could very well be the last. We should continue to question its relevancy today, tomorrow, and in the next decade. Only in questioning, we can find real answers. 

I have always tried to champion taking a closer look at many definitions we find our ourselves and our organizations in constant encounter. As a rule, as a leader, define this very well internally, because the danger lies in the unexamined, ill-suited paradigms like oversized coats that do not fit well with perceived reality.


Disruption- what does disruption mean to your social business, on-purpose organization, or cause-based advocacy? 
Innovation- what does innovation look like, feel like at your level of operation? 
Effectiveness- what drives effectiveness? is this a long-term purposive aim or an operational value?
Impact- whose impact are we talking about here? do they know that you're contributing to that pie? is this measured across the organization? 
Sustainability- what sustainability lens do you subscribe to? are your actions guided by global, local, and community goals?
Success- what success brings about? is this a desirable path or a mini-breakthroughs would be enough? 


Seek out clarity and intentional discussion on these issues on a regular basis. Meanings change as people change and institutions grow.  Your past reviews may not hold more weight now than 5 years ago. It could look very different as you move forward with your short-term plans.