Life is f**king tough right now, and we’re all so over it. In this op-ed, Sherilyn Shackell, Founder and Global CEO of The Marketing Academy unpacks the downward vortex of ridiculously long hours, toxic cultures, control & command leadership, financial hardship and uncertain futures that is sucking the energy from even the most optimistic people.
Everyone is feeling it. Which isn’t helpful – because this means that bosses are feeling it too. And when bosses start behaving like everything is turning to shit – well, everything turns to shit.
But it can be easy to blame those around us for making us feel hopeless, helpless, pissed off, and depleted. Too easy to absolve responsibility for how we feel by placing the blame solely on the shoulders of those who we perceive should know better.
Here’s the thing: everyone has the potential to be a great leader. Regardless of seniority, job title, or position of authority – everyone can choose to be a great mentor, champion, role model, force for good, change-maker, supporter, or guide. You don’t have to be managing people to positively influence the thoughts and feelings of everyone around you. Starting with yourself.
So, if everyone in our industry committed to ‘be better’ then everything around us would become…better, right?
It’s time to start a rebellion then.
Each year, around the world, our Scholarship cohorts celebrate their graduation by creating a ‘Showcase’ event, attended by the community of people who have supported them throughout the Scholarship Program. The theme, the content, the venue and the execution is all down to the individual cohort. You might have been to one in Australia. They’re all different and they’re all epic.
A few weeks ago our graduating UK class hosted theirs at the British Design Museum in London. It was everything we’d asked for in the brief, but they went one step further and encouraged the industry to join a Rebellion for Better.
This is their ‘Manifesto’ from the night;
‘Can you feel that? Because we can. The movement’s been building. But now it’s time. For a Rebellion. A new era of leadership. We know ‘what got us here won’t get us to where we want to be’.
And we need you. All of you.
We’re here today to shape the leaders of tomorrow. This is our rally cry filled with hope. It’s our promise to you as we stand before you.
Ready to challenge old leadership norms, the toxic traits the ones who speak more than they listen, the ones who accept the status quo just because it’s always been so.
Our mission is to redefine the course of leadership in our industry and beyond leaving an indelible mark on those we meet along the way.
Our pledge is to build up those around us. YOU, yes you. The ones with the fire in their belly, that burns when you know things need to change.
Leadership, REAL leadership starts with humanity. It basks in the success of others.
We will stand boldly for what is right. We will stand strong for what we believe in… even when we’re the only ones standing.
We will collaborate before we critique or compete.
We will bravely step into our vulnerability and always use our authenticity as a lighthouse to show others the way.
We won’t just tell you to ‘be the change you want to see’. WE will BE that change FOR you to see. For you, future leaders.
We are the rebels. But we have a cause.
To change the course of leadership and pave a new path for those who will follow us. To be better. Because you deserve better.
And our Rebellion for Better starts NOW’
It’s a commitment to stop confusing ‘power’ with ‘leadership,’ which is mainly the reason for the poisonous blend of despair and helplessness in the workplace. It’s a promise to start listening more and end aggressive and harmfully competitive behaviours. It’s a call to collaborate and nurture, to stop assuming the worst, to celebrate instead of judge, and to start leading in the way we want to be led.
This rebellion is not a complicated thing, it’s simply an invitation to everyone to make better choices about how you show up, to stop being a dick and to be kinder.
A favourite Boot Camp speaker told our Scholars, ‘Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing’. So, if you’re sick of feeling frustrated about your life, your job, your team, your clients, your boss – join the rebellion to be better. And watch the change around you begin.
