My grandmother used to say, ‘He who lives in secret, lives well.’ I have thought about that a lot during this time.
Living covertly in order to live well may be due to the perspective of a child of two world wars like my grandmother, but the saying continues to be lived and has living conditions in environments where oppression takes place.
I even lived by this motto in a previous job as a recent graduate where it required extra courage to be honest because it was easier to live hidden like the majority.
There were many rounds of firing, which were called ‘waves’, and people were unsure whether they were part of the next wave and thus grouped what was legally called ‘redundant’. If you were ‘redundant’, you had to leave the company.
An interesting aspect here, in all the legally correct, is, what does it mean for a human being who has done his very best to be stigmatized ‘redundant’?
‘Redundant’ means that you are part of a group that is too many – a group of people who are in the majority – and who must be saved away.
What does it mean for one’s self-understanding to be in the majority?
Another legal concept is the so-called ‘bad leaver’ or ‘good leaver’. You become a ‘bad leaver’ when you resign your position and thus legally lose the opportunity for a later potential upside as a co-owner. Unless you are terminated or negotiate a severance agreement as a ‘good leaver’.
The terms here illustrate an outdated view of man and should therefore be revisited.
For talents who have performed their best, will not be grouped ‘redundant’. Talents who have done their best but get another job will not be grouped as ‘bad leavers’ either.
I have seen several examples of talents who have shown their talent by not living hidden. They have paved the way for others by leading, in discomfort, while others around them have lived in hiding. Politically correct. Unenlightened comfortable.
I have seen several examples of these politically correct talents beeing promoted. Promoted based on their tactical behaviors.
I have also seen several examples of these talents, which in practice hamper a company’s scalability, being given deals in the event of resignations or dismissals as ‘good leavers’, while others who have chosen not to live in hiding having either become ‘redundant’ or having chosen to leave as ‘bad leavers’.
In my first job, I learned that living in secret was living well, and I remembered my grandmother’s wise words. As I gained more work experience, I found that living in secret was not a comfort, because it is clear what the consequences are of a life in secret. Severe human consequences.
We own our voice. We have the copyright. Our voices do not become ‘redundant’, and if we have created results based on a healthy inner compass, we are remembered as a ‘good leaver’. Even if we legally leave as ‘bad’, while colleagues who have hampered the scaling of a nurturing corporate culture leave as legally ‘good’.
Every day we wake up to increased consciousness. Hence, the balance of power is about to turn. This means that the one who lives freely, enlightened, and no longer hidden will be the one who lives well in the future.
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