The world has been horrified by the unprovoked and unwarranted invasion of Ukraine by forces under the command of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Assurances that civilians would not be targeted have proved to be completely false as civilians – especially children – have indeed come under fire.
Residential areas, schools and a maternity hospital have been struck by Russian shells and/or missiles, leaving large numbers dead and dying. With weapons that can be aimed fairly precisely at targets, these attacks are certainly not accidents. They’re deliberate.
How cynical, callous and cruel must you be to order an attack on a maternity hospital? You’re attacking women who are at their most vulnerable – giving birth – and you’re attacking soon-to-be-born babies or new born babies, the most vulnerable human beings on the planet.
Apart from the increasing loss of life as a result of this invasion, there is also the death of “life as they knew it” for millions of Ukraine citizens, who are fleeing and have fled to neighbouring countries. Our television screens are full of images of young mothers carrying babies or firmly gripping the hands of terrified children whose lives have been totally disrupted. Their family lives have died, their school careers have died and many of their future opportunities have died.
The very familiar saying that, “In war, truth is the first casualty,” has once again proved its validity as the truth is in fact now another death in this war. Putin’s demented justifications of his actions take one’s breath away.
It has been heart breaking to see young and well established families torn apart by the requirement of Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 to remain in the country to enlist in the army in order to attempt to repel the invading force. Many have expressed the readiness to die for their country in order to protect it from the invading forces.
In a matter of weeks, Russian forces have sewn a trail of death in a nation that will never be the same again.
For what, one may ask.
This would be simply to serve the selfish and perverted interests of a man who has no business being in a position of power over other people.
Death is final and irreversible. Death brings misery, pain, heartache and suffering.
But death can be a good thing.
When we allow old, outdated ideas and habits to die and we embrace new ones, that’s a good thing. When we allow abusive, destructive relationships to die, that’s a good thing.
Take a look at your life and your career. What things could and should you allow to die? There may be habits, relationships or a job that you’ve been hanging on to and keeping alive that might be better left to die.
Sometimes we keep abusive relationships or jobs alive because we fear the unknown. We fear the possible alternatives because we assume those alternatives will be just as bad as or worse than the current challenges we’re facing, little realising that we could be setting ourselves free if we allowed those to die.
In the case of a job that is not the right fit for you, I’m not suggesting you should throw caution to the wind and walk away from your job in an irresponsible way. But maybe you could start looking around for better opportunities. It might not even require you to leave your company. Maybe there’s another role you could embrace in your current company.
If you’re in a senior position and responsible for strategy in your company, maybe you need to allow some old, irrelevant ideas to die so they can be replaced by fresh ones to help you create a more prosperous future for your company.
As you find the courage to allow the bad, the destructive and the unhelpful in your life to die, you will set yourself free to live the life and build the career you really want!
Alan Hosking is the Publisher of HR Future magazine, www.hrfuture.net and @HRFuturemag. He is an internationally recognised authority on leadership competencies for the future and teaches experienced and younger business leaders how to lead with empathy, compassion, integrity, purpose and agility. In 2018, he was named by US-based web site Disruptordaily.com as one of the “Top 25 Future of Work Influencers to Follow on Twitter“. In 2020, he was named one of the “Top 200 Global Power Thought Leaders to watch in 2021” by peopleHum in India. In 2022, he has been named on the Power List of the “Top 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership in 2022” by LeaderHum.
