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‘The Shift’ is a global event that has impacts on you, your career, your business and your brand. Are you ready for it?
I’m sure you’ve noticed it – there’s a shift in the way people are thinking and behaving. Most people put it down to the pandemic, but in reality, things have been shifting for over 10 years now.
Some refer to it as the Akashic Age, others as the Conscious Era – either way, this is a time when we are starting to view the world in a more holistic and interconnected way.
Less linear, more nuanced.
Brexit, Trump, anti-vaxers – people seemed to be deviating from what would previously have been classed as predictable, rational behaviour.
What’s driving this? Along with the move to a more holistic way of thinking, I would argue that there has an accompanying shift from a rational to an intuitive and emotional way of thinking. In some ways this should actually be referred to as the ‘Subconscious Age,’ because we are now allowing older intuitions to surface, and to guide our decisions.
How is this ‘Shift’ affecting business?
Customers and consumers are asking different questions than before. In the past, their main concern was quality, performance and service. Now these attributes are assumed – as a minimum point of entry into the market. Now they are asking deeper, more conscious questions such as:
What’s the Purpose of your business?
What does your brand stand for?
What does your organisation believe in?
What are you contributing to society?
Put in the context of how business used to be done, these questions look outlandish, to say the least.
The CEO or business owner of old might reply:
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
Well today, it has a LOT to do with you as the business leader, start-up entrepreneur, and employee of the company you represent.
The rise of empathy.
In its broadest sense, The Shift is about putting humanity back into business – bringing in greater empathy, compassion, and kindness into a world that used to be almost completely dominated by performance and profitability. But of course, there’s a balance: in our current capitalist model, businesses can’t survive without being profitable.
The good news is that, with the rise in demand for a more conscious business approach, organisations and brands are rewarded for being Purpose-led – and this delivers greater profitability.
How do you embrace The Shift?
If you are a business or brand owner, embracing The Shift is about aligning your actions and communications with your Purpose, culture and values. As long as these elements are genuine, you can’t really go wrong. These actions include employing people, creating products and services, and delivering brands and communications which align with your Purpose, values and culture.
If you are an employee or freelancer, embracing The Shift is about finding a company to work for / with that aligns with your own Purpose and values.
We clearly have a long way to go down this path, but the early stages of this new era are exciting, challenging and ultimately more rewarding than the old era – because they lead us out of a dog-eat-dog competitive world, into a more collaborative and elevated world, where greater happiness, fulfilment and expansion are possible.
If you need help embracing The Shift, please get in touch with me to arrange a chat.
About
Justin Cooper is the founder of Brand Purpose .Co, which helps employees, start ups, business owners and business leaders to define their Purpose and leverage it through their work, business or brand in a way that inspires, unites and connects the people they work with.