The people we meet and the company we keep

Life is made richer by the people we meet and the experiences that we create.

A popular series on the CN&CO blog is title “The Company We Keep”. Featured in the series are various people and their stories, and how they are connected to the broader CN&CO network – friends, family, contacts, celebrities, friends of friends and many others. In the standard intro for the series there is a line that says “people truly are at the heart of everything that we do”.

Recently, I have spent some time thinking and reflecting about my journey through life so far, who I have met along the way, and the opportunities that I have been fortunate enough to have. As I write this, I am sitting on a farm in the Karoo surrounded by wide open spaces and the sound of the wind, a sharp contrast to the city sounds that many of us have become accustomed to.

Some of the greatest lessons that I have learnt have been as a result of putting myself “out there” and “taking what you do seriously, not yourself”. It’s not always easy to do and I still remember the first time Kurt forced me to dress up in a purple Speedo and tutu to hand out chocolates and roses for Valentine’s Day at a company we both worked for a while back. It’s an example that I often use, because it illustrates the point around how we can gain so much from stepping outside of our comfort zone. Often our biggest learnings are when we challenge ourselves to take a step outside of the known and into the unknown.

In taking that step we also acknowledge that we don’t have the answer to every question we are asked, and that is alright. Experience and knowledge are developed by putting ourselves in a position to learn. Sometimes this means throwing yourself into the deep end, evolving with feedback and riding the waves of life.

Experience is also gained from meeting people with diverse and differing perspectives to the ones you hold. Meeting people from different backgrounds, industries and cultures opens your eyes to alternative ways of thinking and gives you an appreciation for trying to understand things from their perspectives. Often, I think that as individuals we can get drawn into the trap of just staying in the “known” as change at the best of times requires conscious effort.

By having an open mind when you meet people along your journey through life, you open new doors when there are others that are closing around you. The space that the internet has created has made it easy to share your story and to learn from people that you may never meet in person. Whether you spin up a social media page, run a blog, or a YouTube channel – the tools are at your fingertips. Seth Godin is an advocate for everyone having a blog; it doesn’t necessarily need to be one that is widely read, but the habit it creates allows one to practice and hone one’s writing skills.

Listening and connecting are two practices that, in the digital age we live in, can at times be rather challenging when we have many platforms vying for our attention. Working in the digital and data space I have recently discovered some thinking around how we need to develop digital spaces to be more like the physical spaces we have created in the built environment. There is much we can learn from these models to create better areas for connection and engagement. Will a digital connection ever fully replace a face to face one? Who knows?! One thing I do know is that the people we surround ourselves with, both online and in real life, influence who we are and who we can become.

On a recent podcast I was asked about how I think we can grow an entrepreneurial culture with an organisation. As part of my response I included the importance of people in helping to establish culture, something that a good friend and mentor taught me early on in my career. If you have read any of Jim Collins’ work, you will also be familiar with the importance he places on the “who” when building teams and organisations.

I am deeply grateful for the people that I have come to know through my journey thus far. Each and every one of you has shaped my life and influenced who I am today. So, as we spend more time on our digital screens and feed the algorithms more data, let’s not forget the pivotal role that people play in our lives.