Thirty years ago, I was running recruitment at a burgeoning merchant bank in downtown Johannesburg that was about to move to its prime new premises in Sandton. I was about to set out on my own but hadn’t quite realised it yet.
The plan was to invest two to three more years in the corporation, deliver noteworthy value, cement my career, and then take the leap or make the gradual transition into the dream. Timing, though, had other plans.
While with my previous employer, in human resources at a large commercial bank, I had spent my last year figuring out my future, during which I found my purpose in response to where the world was heading. Such alignment is where vision germinates.
Then I had changed jobs and gone in the right direction but found that I could compromise no longer and had to trust my truth without delay. Plus, there were so many exciting things to do at that turning point in history. Sometimes circumstances push you to hear your heart and take the leap of faith.
In a narrative of mythic proportions, I announced my decision, was asked by two directors to stay, reconsidered even more rigorously, then confirmed conclusively, wrapped up my responsibilities and stepped into my new life. Your story might test your resolve before true readiness reveals itself.
My message became my byline — being yourself for a living — which had been an inner knowing my whole life.
With the joys of freedom and the drive of surging significance, I started my consultancy, explored my talents, expressed my emerging message and, with the new millennium on the horizon, began to make a name for myself.
My message became my byline — being yourself for a living — which had been an inner knowing my whole life. I intuited it as a child, saw it personified by my pop star heroes in my teens, and fleshed it out while studying psychology, backpacking in Europe, and soaking up the world of work.
It was clearly my calling, as elemental as the earth yet as ambitious as the stars. Frankly, nothing less would do, and I have stuck to it relentlessly ever since, often with all odds stacked against me. I have found and forged the way forward, taught and tightened it religiously, and established the blueprint.
Holistic prosperity
It’s the essence of the emerging world, where personal purpose meets business strategy, and people do what they love while being of service, all orchestrated into organisational alignment onto a new level of holistic prosperity.
It means moving from an employee mentality to an empowered one, and no longer giving up who you are to fit in but expressing it to innovate and stand out. It includes taking accountability, being a leader wherever you are, and transforming from an industrial to a human model of work.
It’s a shift to higher consciousness, creativity and enterprise, as much for free-market entrepreneurs as for people in corporate careers, and an overall vision for humanity. As simple and as self-evident as it is, it is equally profound and compelling. It’s the business model that keeps on giving.
It speaks to strategy, culture, marketing and customer experience, and forms the heart of what has become popular as the purpose-driven organisation. It is also the root of authenticity, which is still emerging with the world evolving.
Next level
Thirty years in, it’s fascinating to see how the journey has brought me full circle and primed me for the next era. I have enjoyed, endured and worked with almost every experience, which positions me to help all industries. Everything is a lesson on the path of realising vision.
Being yourself for a living is getting more prevalent by the day, with companies shifting, AI empowering us to be more human and staff and customers insisting on a more genuine and meaningful connection. We are driven to awaken and actualise in real time.
More than any of the elements, it is about integration and dwelling meaningfully where life is forever taking you up, however challenging that may be at times. As diverse as the journey can be, a sincere vision keeps getting clearer and stronger. Stick with it!
For three decades I said that we were in the most exciting time in history, but my timing was off. The most exciting time is now.
• Wheeler helps people around the world be themselves for a living through talks, consulting projects and books
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