We’re all looking for answers to life’s big questions… and of course life’s little questions too. And so often, in our search for the answers, we tend to be very attached to the idea that there are a list of “right” answers, which can be applied in every situation - what to do to become successful, how to talk to your teenager, what to do to resolve a conflict, how leaders should behave, 7 steps to being happy, and much, much more. Wouldn’t it be great if it really was that simple, if all we had to do is just learn a list of rules and apply the rules to every situation, to become happy and successful?! Wouldn’t it be great if we only had to develop a marketing plan once, and we could then just roll it out from there, never having to come back and review our marketing strategy?

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Anybody linked to me on Facebook will know that I’m about as active and engaged in the Facebook world as a teenager on holiday with their family. I have filtered my emails so I no longer get notifications of everyone’s “Status updates” and invitations to do a “who’s my hottest friend” quiz or buy someone a picture of a drink. But a few weeks ago, in a rare moment of tiredness, boredom and restlessness following a few months of overwork, I logged-in to Facebook, and found a very surprising and serendipitous gift waiting for me.

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I definitely won’t be missing the opportunity to experience one of Benjamin Zander’s workshops in Cape Town next month. Zander is a world-famous musician, conductor and inspirational speaker on the topic of leadership. Zander and his wife, Rosamund Zander, have co-authored a book, The Art of Possibility, based on Zander’s leadership philosophy.

Check out this video of his presentation on TEDtalksZander will be running a Leadership Workshop at Artscape in Cape Town on 21 and 22 Aug 2008. Here’s what you can expect:

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There are 3 types of goals: “to have” goals, “to do” goals, and “to be” goals. Since you’re reading this blog, I know you’re the sort of person who’s not just interested in achieving goals that relate to having (money and all the stuff you can buy with it) and doing (skills, experiences and achievements), you’re interested in goals that are about being as well.“To be” goals are about who you are, your character development, your attitudes, and becoming more of the person you want to be - regardless of your tangible material circumstances or your skills and achievements. Most of society uses indicators such as material wealth and achievements to judge how successful people are. Society says, “The more you have and do, the more successful you are.” If we accept this definition of success, there’s the likelihood that we’ll become greedy, busy and stressed out, always feeling that we never have enough or do enough.

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“If I didn’t care what people thought, I’d quit my job and open up a shoe shop” said Cindy, with a brief sparkle in her eyes that I hadn’t seen before. As an intelligent and hard-working young woman, Cindy swiftly made her way up the corporate ladder. She comes from a long line of successful and wealthy doctors, lawyers and businessmen, and her family are very proud of her recent promotion to join her company’s Board of Directors at the young age of 34. But she’s never been particularly passionate about her work, and since her recent promotion, she’s really struggling to motivate herself at work, suffering from daily migraines, and finding herself fantasizing about quitting, and starting her own business.

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Michael is young, intelligent, attractive, and highly successful in his work as a financial advisor. He has the ever-expanding property portfolio, the beautiful home on a golf estate, the expensive German car, the yacht, and the gorgeous wife and 2.5 perfect little kids. Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? “So what do you want to use coaching for?” I asked. Michael explained that what he’d really like to focus on was the creation of a 5yr financial plan that would enable him to be financially secure enough to quit his stressful job, start spending more time with his wife and kids, improve his golf, maybe even write a book.” “And what will that do for you?” I asked. “I won’t be stressed out anymore. I’ll be content. I’ll be happy when I’m financially secure enough to be able to start doing those things I’d love to do.”

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