Today, new entrepreneurs require a number of skills that have more to do with the creative and holistic hemisphere than with the rational and logical.
These qualities (meta-skills) reveal a human being who is concerned about his environment, about the community in which he interacts and always respecting the ecology of the systems.
These people are the true leaders of the world.
I remember that on one occasion, a few years ago (during the six-year term of Miguel De la Madrid), one of my cousins told me about his family's businesses and that at that time they were run by his father (my uncle Ricardo -qepd -). Among other businesses they had (and still have) a gas distribution company in an important city in the interior of the Mexican Republic.
It turns out that my uncle and my cousin were at a meeting of gas company owners in that area of the country and were discussing the prevailing situation derived from the price control established by the government and what they could do to protect their union interests, and above all, its profits increasingly diminished by the economic decisions implemented in those days.
Some of the gas station owners proposed that each gas cylinder carry fewer kilos of fuel than it should carry, in such a way that, for example, they would sell a 20 kilogram tank or cylinder weighing only 18 or less kilos.
This would serve to compensate a little for the diminished profit margin, since in any case they would charge the same controlled price established by the authorities. Virtually everyone but one at the meeting supported the initiative. That "one" was my uncle.
He argued that, as entrepreneurs, they should face up to their social responsibility, regardless of the economic sacrifice that this represented. They could not disappoint the customers who came to them to buy the product. At the end of the meeting, the consensus was to sell 20 kilos cylinders with 20 kilos of gas.
This brief anecdote serves to illustrate that there are mystical entrepreneurs in the world. Mystics? You may wonder, are not mystics found in churches or temples? The answer is a clear no! Now it turns out that it is easier to find mystical people in a company or organization than in a monastery or church.
And to answer your question, dear friend (a) reader, what do the words mystic or mysticism mean? According to the dictionary, "mysticism" is a philosophical and theological doctrine, for which perfection is a kind of contemplative ecstasy in which the union of the soul with God is achieved, whatever your concept of HIM.
So, a mystic is a person who, in some way, through his actions, through his doing, dedicates a large part of his life to God, to that great whole.
And this way of acting or behaving is not necessarily conscious. In many cases it is intuitive.
Entering into this topic is not easy since each of us has our own beliefs about it. Suffice it to say that, according to the above, mystical people have a series of exceptional qualities, as well as a series of principles that govern them in their lives.
These people will be (in fact they already are) the force that will lead companies at the beginning of the century and the millennium. These types of mystical entrepreneurs (men and women alike), even though they are, physiologically speaking, just like any other person, there is something that distinguishes them from others.
That something is intangible, we cannot touch it. And that something lies in the type of thoughts they have. It lies in their conceptions about the world, in their "maps" or beliefs about reality, or what they believe to be reality, "their" reality.
These people are distinguished from others because they are self-motivated, self-directed, and self-taught.
In many cases they do not have a university degree. They are people who instead of going through an informative stage (work that schools and universities are in charge of carrying out), live in a permanent formative stage (work that life itself is in charge of carrying out).
Mystical entrepreneurs somehow recognize and practice a series of presuppositions or principles that, even when they are not necessarily true, by acting as if they are, cause their actions to result in situations very different from what would normally be expected in any other person. In the first place, they think that they are part of something greater than themselves.
That "something higher" can be the family, society, country, planet, universe, cosmos. That is the main sustenance of their thought, because at no time do they feel the "navel of the world."
In Alcoholics Anonymous groups this works perfectly, because people affected by the disease of alcohol, to overcome it, recognize the existence of something superior to them. And that belief allows them to recover.
Second, they recognize that everything forms an ecology of systems, where everything is connected. They think "systemically." They know that the kinds of thoughts they have will have an effect on their physical world, in such a way that if they think life is hard, they will find just that. Therefore, your mental attitude is always positive.
They always think in positive terms. Even in times of crisis is when they know they have the best chance of success.
They also know that nothing stays in one place forever, everything is in constant movement and change. Even in those situations in which it seems that everything is immobile, with no possibility of change, they know that there is also movement and there is precisely the seed of change.
Therefore, they do not remain static, because if they do, they know that they will be carried away by the current, instead of being the ones who take advantage of the flow in their favor. They are "proactive" rather than "reactive." They make things happen.
They recognize the bipolarity of life. They know that just as there is scarcity there is also wealth; just as there is evil, there is good; Just as there are "bosses," there are also "leaders," just as there are "employees," there are also "collaborators." just as there are losses, there are gains; just as there is financial "security", there is financial "freedom"; Just as there are times of "skinny cows", there are also times of "fat cows."
Derived from the above, they recognize that within this bipolarity there are certain "rhythms" that invariably occur. "After the storm comes calm" is a popular saying that can make this principle clear.
It is like the pendulum of those great old clocks, which goes from one side to the other. Therefore, for mystical entrepreneurs, they are not surprised to observe that from time to time there are great impulses in the economies of the countries, and then they live through times of "recession."
And when they know that, it is when they take the opportunity to do many of their best business. "A river uprooted, gain of fishermen".
Likewise, it is very important for mystical entrepreneurs to know that every cause has a certain effect, whether in the short, medium or long term.
Sometimes very long. The life that each individual is living at this very moment is but the consequence of many choices, of many decisions made in the past.
Decisions that could have been made a few days ago, a few months ago, or even a few years ago.
Recognizing this can make a huge difference in making our decisions. Therefore, a mystical entrepreneur has a highly developed skill called "vision," which enables him to foresee the consequences of certain acts.
That is why many of us call them "visionaries." They are people who act wisely, that is, they learn from their experiences, they try to learn from their mistakes. They know that the best learning is that which comes from what most of us would call "failures."
They are not afraid of being wrong. Failure does not exist for them, it is just learning.
I remember that story that tells that Thomas Alba Edison tried to create what we know today as a focus around two thousand times.
On one occasion a person asked him how he had endured so many failures without being discouraged in the attempt, to which he replied: “I did not fail even once. I only discovered 1,999 ways how not to focus and once how to do it. A battle motto for them would be: "He who does not risk, does not win."
And when this becomes a habit, even those choices that in the eyes of others would represent a great risk, for them making them is only part of the "game of life."
For them luck does not exist. Rather, luck manifests itself when preparation and opportunity intersect. However, many of us do not realize the opportunities that life constantly offers us, precisely because we are not yet prepared.
Mystical entrepreneurs are great generators of ideas, which are responsible for turning them into reality. They recognize that everything that has been created by man, anything, whether tangible (some product, service) or intangible (for example music), has been created twice.
First in someone's mind and then in the real world. They have "heads in the stars" and also "feet firmly on the ground."
And to end this article, dear reader, I want to tell you that becoming a mystical entrepreneur, if that is your wish, is possible as long as you are willing to pay the price.
That price is not in money but in effort and sacrifice.
In dedicating the time necessary to read, read and read to prepare yourself, to develop new skills and abilities, to review your beliefs and discover which ones limit you and which ones drive you.To recognize what your value system is, to know which of them support each one Through your actions, and through the power of will and conscious choice, you can focus on those that you know can make you a more complete human being.
In knowing what role you had to play in this life (personal mission) and through your vision, act accordingly. The choice is yours, yours alone… and good luck on your journey because we may meet on the way…
Bibliography:
Cruz Ramírez, José, Chemistry of Thought, Orión, New Science collection, Mexico, 1998.
Hendricks, Gay and Ludeman, Kate, The New Business Mystique, Urano, Empresa XXI collection, Barcelona, 1999.
Hunter, James C., La Paradoja, Urano, Empresa XXI collection, Barcelona, 1999.
Ribeiro, Lair., Business Success, Urano, Barcelona, 1997.
