What if I showed you how to take your time to notice, value and enjoy THE ORDINARY in the extraordinary?
When words are too difficult to describe how we feel, we share music in motion. High notes, low vibrations, deep lyrics or quick moves that seem to flow in the same rhythm with our state of mind and heart. We simply connect to this breaking calmness and sudden upbeat of the song the way we jump into water: bravely and blind-sidedly. Taking a deep breath before the jump, just to fight back the water pressure on our way up to the surface. Surrendering to this feeling of uncertainty is so overwhelmingly beautiful that being scared of it becomes no longer an option.
I imagine this must have felt Maxi Jazz from Faithless when he said that “you don’t need eyes to see the world, you need vision”. A song always starts with the destination. That one situation that crushed your world as you knew it so you can start a new life, richer than before. A moment in life when it seems you have lost everything, so you can realise that the best thing in hitting the rock bottom is that the only way for you is up! Surrendering to the moment becomes your only option to thrive.
– So, what are you saying? Fly to Cluj just to give a 5 minute speech?
– Yes!
A few days later he told me he accepted to be a speaker at DisruptHR Cluj. Could it be madness, curiosity, intrigue? I must have felt the same when I booked my flight too. Luckily enough, by enjoying the destination so much, I did not have the time to notice anything absurd about it! Corina later told me I was the first one to buy a ticket for the event. What can I say? I like DisruptHR and the people who so carefully plan it! I am definitely a groupie! And obviously I like speed too! But… speed was anything but close to what I would discover that night!
So, why would you fly to another city for a few hours event, let alone for a 5 minute speech? Well… why do we do anything at all?
It’s not the where it’s the who and the what. It’s that feeling of being yourself and doing what you love with people you love. And that can be done everywhere!
Places are often confused with spaces. One can offer someone space while being in the same place with the other. A place can be found in a crowded square or a chaotic mind as well as in a troubled heart or on a crinkled map. Places have many shapes, colours and textures, just like water. A place evolves together with the people and the ideas that fill it. Places need space to extend. Places keep changing and growing with us. So the more places we go visit and discover, the better lives and stories those places get. So the places thrive too!
Cluj is one of those places that now have a new story to tell. More than 15 actually! The stories that each of the 15 speakers had only 5 minutes to share on stage. The stories of over 200 attendants who lived, liked and shared them forward.
When you are up on stage, five minutes seem like forever! Einstein called it relativity, Proust called it subjective time. I call it a moment of clarity. A moment when you are all alone with the silence. The dark. The darker the night, the brighter you shine! It’s that moment when you lose track of time and just dive into the moment with no worries about what others think, what your inner voices say or what you look like to the others. It’s just you and the energy of the crowd that spend the same amount of time with you listening. Like when I play my role on the theatre stage. Time flows and stays still at the same time.
As a speaker you know those 5 minutes will change their worlds forever! The people in the room will no longer be the same after that. And so will you. Those 5 minutes of real connection from one heart to another, from one mind to another. From one intention to another. The intention to listen. Freely. And carefully. Without hesitation or criticism. Just listen and wonder. Listen and vibe. Listen with your eyes wide shut and hearts wide open.
Time was of the essence at DisruptHR in Cluj. I took my time to feel the words, enjoy the silence in between, notice the low tones, the high notes, the trembling, the shimmering, the small hesitations, the kindness, the love and the gratitude that each speaker on the stage made their own. I took the time to breathe and understand without looking, but really watching. Into words, meanings and emotions of those around me.
There’s something about the topic of time that keeps you lingering in your imagination and wanting more. Sharing these ideas, you slowly understand why DisruptHR is not about the industry of HR, the human resources in itself, but it’s about resilience and pushing ourselves further or… How to Rise!
- when hiring, look for people who lose track of time while doing a task
- if you are a software engineer and you don’t like coding, your skill is not a talent anymore
- exercising talents is something that is done effortless
- look for natural inclinations rather that trained skills
- the future of HR is skills & capabilities (flowing) vs role & position (static)
- smiles are catchy, your smile can turn around someone’s day and even save their life
- in moments of crisis, all our senses grow stronger, so we immediately perceive other people’s lies; what keeps us connected to each other is being authentic, dropping down the masks
- our motivation in doing anything could be either to do something better or to win
- the secret of motivation is desire – learn how to ignite/ arouse and manage the desire in yourself
- be aware that desire can be ignited by managing the neurochemicals of happiness: Adrenaline -“The Energy Molecule”, Serotonin – “The Confidence Molecule”, Endorphin – “The Pain-Killing Molecule”, Oxytocin – “The Bonding Molecule”, Dopamine: “The Reward Molecule”.
- there is a new approach to people management – patriarchy vs. partnership – which means that top managers should be the first to get involved in the process of personal development
- the 3 professional scenarios: 1. have a job, 2. build a career, 3. discover your vocation and create
- being discontent with who you are or what you do can turn you into a disruptor/ forward thinker/ innovator
- ask yourself how much time you spend on serving yourself and other people you love
- “i am not the hero mindset” helps you grow from how to make a living into how to make a life for myself
- being a leader starts with mastering the art of clarification – ask questions, it’s a sign of intelligence!
Time together was also of the essence at DisruptHR. There’s a new kind of energy in town with each disruptive event I attend. I felt it at the first edition in Bucharest, now I expanded it to Cluj.
That night, Corina asked me what I thought of the event and how I saw it differently than the one before. I realised that seeing was the last thing I did while watching the whole thing. It was a time to feel, hear and taste everything! One of those disruptive experiences that made me write this article in English, this lip-licking language that widens our perspectives and makes concepts and ideas so easy to understand, use and develop.
I guess I’ve just had the most amazing blind date ever! 🙂