Dreaming in Technicolour

I have a dream too. Truth be told, I have quite a few. And while not all of them are appropriate for this forum, there are a couple I would like to tell you about.

One of my dreams began two and a half years ago when I plucked up the courage to resign from the consulting firm where I had spent 10 largely happy, full and stimulating years. I had grown into someone that needed something different from the environment in which I worked, and that needed my environment to engage more fully with the new and different parts of me that had emerged along the way. So I resigned and a whole new period of my life began. And my dream at that point? It was by no means perfectly formed. It was more of a sense that there was more to life than this; a desire for greater freedom and autonomy in my life and work; a longing for a greater sense of purpose and impact in my life and work; a dream of more colour and less grey.

And so I found myself setting up Neon — a name that for me represents many of things I believe in passionately, both in life and in work. Neon is colour. Colour is all about energy and vitality. It means living, not existing. It means walking towards, not away from. It means creating, not fearing. It means being at your best, not a fraction of what and who you could be. And so this has developed into another dream I have — which is that this metaphorical world of colour be experienced by others, millions of others, in their individual lives, in the communities in which they live and in the organisations in which they work.

Why, I wonder, does so much of corporate culture have to be so grey? What if there were a way for corporate culture to be a source of, rather than a drain of energy? What if more businesses could create climates where people thrive? What would happen to business performance and impact if people felt truly connected to a clearer sense of purpose in their work, and one that extended beyond their immediate work boundaries, into the wider community? What if they felt more of a sense of community in their organisations and shared with them a relationship of mutual trust and respect? What would more human and caring organisational cultures look like? What would their impact be and what if I could contribute to this becoming a reality?

It turns out there is a thriving community of people who share my dream. I’m excited to be part of that community now. This week I am launching my website that tells you about my vision of Neon business and Neon leadership and how I intend to play my part.

I’m looking for more of you to join me, as partners, as collaborators, as co-creators. Let’s brighten things up around here!