By Catherine Austin Fitts
There is no more powerful commitment than the personal decision to take action. I once had a friend who ran for governor in the state in which I live. When people told him that we did not have the power to change things, he would quietly explain that a snowflake seemed like a fragile thing, however, get enough of them together and they could shut down New York City.
On our planet today there is a great competition between the people who make their living by contributing to things that do harm and people who make their living serving others and doing their best to contribute to both a better present and future.
You have the power to choose on which team you play.
One of the most powerful recruiting techniques for the team that does great harm is the myth that making money requires such behaviour. Another is that we do not have the power to invent our own world – merely go along with the world as we find it. These myths are, of course, not true. They create, however, a seductive song. And the more people believe them, the greater the drain on all aspects of our culture, our economy and out environment.
Indeed, the most explosive wealth-creating opportunity on Earth is spiritual and cultural change. If we all woke up tomorrow with a commitment to ‘do no harm’, ending poverty, environmental degradation and a great deal of suffering is well within our reach – not to mention creating explosive wealth as well.
if such a revolution were to emerge, those who would centralize political and economic power in destrutive ways would be left helpless with insufficient politicians, employees, lawyers, lobbyists, mercenaries, public relations spinners, criminals and assassins to do their bidding.
One of the best ways to bust through the myths is to hear the stories of those among us who are successful as a result of caring for others. The story that you are about to read is one such story.
Jason Bawden-Smith built a successful Australian environmental consultancy that grew from his passion to care for the life around him – to care for children being harmed by lead, to care for surfers being harmed by sewage, to care for the land being harmed by mining and pollution and to do it in a way that would generate the resources he needed to care for his siblings and his mother as she aged.
Jason’s story underscores three critical points.
First, a successful business is a complex living system. Building a business that truly serves people and addresses the challenges before us from scratch is no simple task. To build a company that creates significant value you must go about something that you have a passion to do. It is your deepest desires that sustain you through the hard work and persistence required to build the necessary skills, infrastructure and market and to keep things going through thick and thin. Building in your passion helps you ignore the myths and siren songs that it can’t be done when the going gets tough.
Second, a successful entrepreneur must have a clear picture that it is possible to create wealth for all constituents of an enterprise – customers, employees, investors and community. He or she must have faith to hold to that picture as indeed our intentions have great power. From that emerges the integrity that creates enduring businesses. In the thousand of daily decisions designed to compromise the leader into ‘either/or’ thinking or to debase the quality of product or service, he or she must know that oppportunities emerge from an ‘and-and-and-get-to-yes’ mindset.
Third, a business that holds to a clear sense of purpose and ongoing value creation builds a culture that attracts employees and partners that align with its purpose. A deeply shared mission and ongoing value creation become part of a culture that gives a company strength and resilience through the business cycles It is part of creating a ‘deep bench’ a critical component of building long-term financial equity.
Jason’s story takes you through the rough and tumble world of building a business while grappling with the challenges life throws our way. From it emerges a message – yes it can be done. Your passion and service can translate to wealth-creating entrepreneurship – whether for you or those you serve.
In Jason’s words, “Your complaint is your call to action.”
So stop thinking that you have to go along. You don’t. You can reinvent the world – one person, one family, one business at a time.
Imagine the possibility if the majority of us decide to do so. It could happen.