Why I Decided To Leave The Rat Race
A reflection about leadership in the world today
I have a question to ask you:
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes”, she said!
Don’t believe me? Well, I have photographic proof, hard evidence captured by a surprised waitress outside a restaurant in Rome, Italy.
Check it out below.
The poor unsuspecting waitress kindly agreed to take a snap of us when I asked her:
“Can you take a photo in front of the doorway across the street?” I asked
Michelle (my wife now) loved the fabulous doors scattered around Rome.
In fairness to the kind waitress, her timing was absolutely perfect.
Although the image above may look staged, I assure you it was not.
Actually, let me reword that statement for clarity.
It was kind of staged, by me, but neither Michelle nor the friendly waitress had a clue about what was about to happen at that moment in time.
I took a chance folks … and nailed it I reckon … if I do say so myself!
As you can see Michelle’s reaction speaks volumes, she was stunned, which was my plan from the outset.
Why am I telling you this, and what has it got to do with me “leaving the rat race”, read on to learn more.
Vegas Vanished in a Virus
2020 shone a light on global resilience, the collective-power of humanity as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold.
The world stood together to fight an invisible foe.
We played our part and cancelled our Vegas wedding. Not that we had much of a choice in any event, but we were committed to the cause.
But during Covid-19 many nations empowered Pharma-Goliaths to line their coffers with Billions from unproven vaccines.
Money flowed.
Riches followed.
A select few at the top amassed huge wealth during Covid, whereas the majority of people suffered. Sh…i…ite certainly does flow downhill.
Ukraine
A new foe was unmasked this year, a visible one.
Will the world stand together to fight this foe?
The indicators were debatable initially, impotent even, but scaled of late:
- Oil and Gas — Early adopters like BP and Equinor were soon followed by an apologetic Shell
- Finance — Mastercard and Visa suspended operations
- Auto— Many of the world’s biggest carmakers like Ford, GM, Toyota and Volkswagen announced they would suspend shipments to Russia. Followed by Daimler and Volvo, truck-makers that halted business activities
- Consumer Goods — Apple, Netflix, Samsung, Microsoft, Danone, Nike, HP, and other brands have arrested trade
Obviously, the aforementioned brands were under huge pressure from home nations to take action.
Talking about home nations, the Police service in Ireland, An Garda Siochana, recently parked a vehicle at the entrance of the Russian Embassy in Dublin after a truck smashed through the gates — Ironically, Gardai vehicle colours are Gold and Blue.
Then last week the Russian Ambassador to Ireland said:
“It is probably hardly possible to talk now about any relations between Russia and Ireland. We are mainly supporting a channel of communication with the Irish.” — Yury Filatov
Really Yury? So why are you planning to build a goliath embassy?
Disparity
Russia has the second largest number of embassy staff in Ireland, with 30 people. The US embassy has more, with 37 staff. The top 6 are:
- USA — 37
- Russia — 30
- China — 25
- Saudi Arabia — 24
- UK — 23
- French — 20
In contrast, there are only 4 Irish embassy staff in Russia. With a population of 5 million, Ireland is dwarfed by Russia’s 145 million people, so the ratios don’t add up:
- Population — Russia 29:1 Ireland
- Embassy Staff — Russia 7.5:1 Ireland
This unbalance is magnified by the fact that there are only a few thousand of Russians residing in Ireland, not much more than Irish people in Russia.
What’s more, a few years ago Ireland quietly overturned a planning application sought by the Russian embassy.
Why?
Simple. The basement plan alone was for the following:
- 10 plant rooms
- 20 storage rooms
- 13 toilets
- 4 non-descript rooms
Given that a building is required to have 5 toilets for every 80–100 people, 13 toilets in a basement (proposed as a storage space) is excessive, as 13 bogs can cater for 250 people.
Something stank — but it wasn’t the plumbing.
Let me remind you what the Russian Ambassador to Ireland said:
“It is probably hardly possible to talk now about any relations between Russia and Ireland. We are mainly supporting a channel of communication with the Irish.” — Yury Filatov
Second opinion
Cathal Berry, a former Army Ranger officer said: “The Russians wanted to build a compound with a major underground subterranean complex” on a 5.5-acre site in Dublin that has “plenty of room” to build above ground.
The basement, labeled as storage, resembled the Führerbunker, an operational “nerve centre”, rather than storage space.
“Trade links between Ireland and Russia are very small. We actually do more trade with the state of New Jersey in the United States than we do with all of Russia. So it’s completely out of kilter.” — Cathal Berry
Okay, I’ve gone off on a tangent here, so let me refocus.
Filatov and Thatcher
Filatov is one of two leaders to diss Ireland in modern times. Margaret Thatcher being the other, who said:
You can’t trust the Irish, they’re all liars.
History has shown that Prime Minister Thatcher lied too, to her own people, but that’s a story for another day. For now, allow me to suggest a letter to Margaret, befitting of one to Vladimir:
Dear Margaret (Vladimir),
If you attack or occupy another country, her citizens see you as an enemy, due to the fact that you are.
So naturally they will lie to you, because they want you out.
Warm regards,
Democracy
My point is this — if the Russians forecast that their staff will excrete 10 times more in Ireland (remember the 13 toilets above), the bowels of leadership in Russia are clutching at straws, stools rather, to spin such BS.
Poisoned Chalice
In 2018, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia both survived Novichok poisoning in Salisbury (UK), resulting in a global firestorm.
In the aftermath Putin attacked the credibility, with Skripal and the West in his verbal cross-hairs, echoing the “Night of the Long Knives” in 1934.
I see that some of your colleagues are pushing the theory that Mr Skripal was almost some kind of human rights activist. He was simply a spy. A traitor to the motherland. There is such a concept — a traitor to the motherland. He was one of those.— Vladimir Putin
Such a brazen attack at Government level filters through, it always does, intoxicating leadership downstream. This, coupled with my 20-plus years working in the commercial world, led me to the following conclusion:
Without drastic change, this is not for me.
But before I bow out, allow me to share my motive to exile my leadership expertise, which has been shelled of late from three fronts:
- Global Leadership
- Leadership Lost
- The Aftermath
Brace yourself.
№1 — Global Leadership
I regularly read articles by George J. Ziogas. Well, I do more than just read George’s pieces, I take them to heart because he always strikes a nerve.
George, any chance you could sit-down with Vladimir to sort out a cease-fire?
Joe Luca raised my eyebrow a few times too.
Also, Desiree Driesenaar reminded me, us, of our obligation to the planet.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz is not one to shy away from sharing his leadership thoughts either. Many of his recent articles focus on “Self-care” and “wellbeing”, which are core to effective leadership.
The words of Joe, George, Mehmet, and Desiree, among other writers, reinforced a fact that I knew a long time ago:
Leadership is broken, almost beyond repair.
Consider this:
- Putin — The Russian leader is worth $200 billion. He’s now bombing his neighbour that he committed to protect 10 years ago.
- Trump — Just before he was voted out of office, incited a mob to raid Capitol Hill, need I say more?
- Jong Un — As North Koreans suffer, Kim flexes his ego by playing war games, launching rockets over Japanese airspace at will while playing ball with Rodman.
I’m using the tabloid-fodder leaders above to convey the brazen level of dysfunctional leadership in the world today. Toxic power-fanatics who make Stalin and Hitler look like saints.
№2 — Leadership Lost
But it’s much worse than the three stooges mentioned above. Especially if we throw the following trifecta of cancerous-leaders into the mix, a trio of despots that the world produced of late:
- Adam Neumann — WeWork founder and ex-CEO received $445 million for building a charade, an insolvent brand.
- Elizabeth Holmes — In 2016 the former Theranos CEO was valued a $3.6 billion by simply creating a wall-street illusion. Her penalty is something like 9 months in prison.
- The Sackler Family — The Purdue Pharma clan are simply drug-dealers who flogged opioids to unsuspecting American consumers. It’s estimated that “42,000 people died from opioid overdoses” as the Sackler’s amassed $13 billion in wealth. Two oxycontin-laced decades, that lined the Sacklers pockets, may only cost them an incredible $6 Billion, but they get to walk away with $7 Billion.
Now get a load of this.
№3 — The Aftermath
Leaders shine during a crisis. Ukrainian Leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said:
I need ammunition, not a ride.
Zelenskyy’s courage is inspiring. His words convey an unbreakable integrity. His resilience has encouraged a nation. His self-sacrifice has drawn others to the cause, to stand alongside him, shoulder to shoulder, no matter what.
Right now we are witnessing history.
Right now we are witnessing the most powerful expression of leadership in modern times, as one Man puts his life on the line to redefine a generation.
I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat — Elon Musk
We live in a world where Elon Musk’s Starlink can connect Compton with Kyiv, Zelenskyy and Dre, who captured the state of Global leadership:
“This is the millennium of Aftermath It ain’t gon’ be nothin’ after that So give me one more platinum plaque And fuck rap, you can have it back So where’s all the Mad Rappers at? It’s like a jungle in this habitat”
Like Dre, “I ain’t havin’ that”, it will be “a jungle in this habitat” if we allow Kyiv fall to a Madhat, so to hell with leadership “you can have it back”!
Here’s my lyrical-spat:
Will the World deny Ukraine its righteous path The same freedom we all hath I don’t know what to do with that It’s more than tit-for-tat As thousands of expat Return to cull invading brat History will show us that Blue and gold is no door mat Who’s prepared to stand up for that?
So where’s all the great leaders at ?— The Ukraine.
A Blue and Gold Paddy’s Day
The world is Blue and Gold this month. Even on St. Patrick’s Day.
And rightly so.
Recently Dublin (Ireland) City Council lit up the Samuel Beckett bridge in solidarity with Ukraine.
Dublin and Sydney were not alone as almost every major Capital made their allegiances known — Glory Ukraine!
Mother of all Viruses
You, me and everyone on planet Earth are simply tenants.
That’s all we are.
Our duty is to leave planet Earth in a better state than we found it, for the next next generation.
But we can’t seem to deliver that one simple task.
Why not?
Because of our leaders.
Leadership is not a virus.
The problem is that too many people in leadership roles are toxic.
We give these people permission to exist. We empower them. So we can take it away if we so choose.
I’m leaving the rat-race because my allegiance is to the Human-race. My duty, your duty, indeed our collective duty is to leave the world in a better state than we found it.
“Even when I was close to defeat I rose to my feet” — Dr. Dre
The time to stand up is now.
