But the issue that seems to be the biggest challenge and growing is the “challenge of Human energy”and that is where I also see the biggest opportunity. As the digital age sets in and the world around us starts to change at an ever faster pace, there is an overload of information without the corresponding possibility for selection, assimilation and self reflection. The rate of obsolescence is getting faster every day. There are very few tools available to us for slowing down and finding a balance & focusing on the real purpose of our lives and many of us see ourselves being carried away by the strong current.

That is compounded by a lot of sensational negative news brought to us by our media (I don’t blame them because this is what sells and they are bound by their quarterly profits too ) and over a period of time the negative energy seems to be snowballing through the political and business leadership. We start to believe that the world we live in is actually full of more negative energy than it actually is and in the process start to create a more negative future.

Leadership is about vision but also about creating human energy and raising it to higher levels.  It could be the biggest energy challenge that we will ever face.  The big question is “How do we go about tapping the huge energy resource that is within us and our teams, raising this energy to new levels of possibility?“

This seemed to be a theoretical issue of world leadership in politics and business till recently when the reality actually hit home & after 24 years of record low turnover, we started to lose some good talents at Zátiší & I realized that if not tackled at the micro level, this challenge may never be tackled at the macro level. For the first time, we feel the pressure to change to not become obsolete on one hand and the loyalty of some of our long-term employees who we have not led through the change process over the years on the other. Employees who must change to not become obsolete and meet the ever changing needs of our customers and leadership that must change to bring about the constant changes needed by the market place.

How can we as leaders, not just be visionaries but also help our team to change in a safe environment ?

What got us here from 1991 will most likely not get us to where we want to go in 2025 let alone in 2040. Change must become the constant for us in this fast changing world. How to master this change? How to create the next competition for ourselves? How to modify our business models to incorporate change before the downturn? How to keep team members happy and changing at the same time? Those are some of the challenges we are facing at Zátiší today.

I have always strongly believed in the value of company culture and a company culture of values. So  we have decided to go back to our core values and our Zátiší compass for guidance with a commitment to spend the next 12-18 months intensively ensuring that each single member of our team is on a self development journey actually living the core values we have committed ourselves to.

In this fast changing environment , the ability to constantly change has become the biggest competitive advantage. How do we then go about creating leaders that constantly not only change themselves but also raise and keep the energy levels high in the whole team, innovating & delivering cutting edge service at all times? How do we systematically raise business leaders that bring out the best in the team while the team constantly undergoes change to stay relevant ? Team leaders with the right attitude have always served for us as a key  but the battle with the rapidly changing environment may have just begun.

This obviously cannot be done without an ongoing intense process of self reflection and self change based on feedback. Once the leadership is able to let go, adopt servant leadership and constantly change, then and only then I think we will be able to lead teams creating high levels of energy...one company, one city, one country at a time, keeping all team members engaged & overcoming the challenge of keeping the energy levels high. Overcoming what could become the biggest energy challenge we will ever face. The challenge of engagement and of the energy level of Human resources.

As the team changes from generation X to generation Y to generation Z, we feel the need also to embark ourselves with the whole management team, on a path of change that will enable us to always empower and energize these new teams in a safe environment. It is a process of introspection and change for us. We see a huge opportunity in  potential team leaders that will create the rise in Human energy levels  to be able to bring about the changes necessary in ourselves through introspection and inner engineering to meet this “Human energy challenge“.

When I went to school, the emphasis was on acquiring knowledge but more and more I find the skill sets shifting and as education becomes a life long process, the most important skill we can teach our children is the ability to change. The present schooling system created for the industrial age has become obsolete and inputs in the areas of ethics and morals seems to be missing from it and from our lives completely. While technology and the digital age enhances our capabilities by leaps and bounds, the ability to constantly learn, unlearn and learn new things keeping the Human energy levels high is becoming the key.

We cannot but look at the present situation as an opportunity to revaluate our present structures and sharpen them, retain as well as attract the talents that will  lead us from here to 2025 and beyond.

What an opportunity to face the “biggest energy challenge” ever and responsibly lead the way for generations to come.

Sanjiv Suri 
suri@zatisigroup.cz