WILL SOMEBODY STAND BY ME?

“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”  Mahatma Gandhi

I remember being bullied up to the age of 12 in different schools and no matter where I went I carried this fear around with me all the time and because I held that belief I attracted that fear. I hated it and it still haunts me to this day. I could tell you the whole story of how Bruce Lee inspired me when Enter the Dragon came out and I took up Karate and became a black belt and that fear left me but it would be a lie. After a quick time in Karate where I learnt the skills to hurt people and I realised that I now had power and became a bully myself. It was only after many years hanging around with the honourable Japanese Instructors I realised I’d turned into the thing I hated and decided to change my ways.

After seeing a trailer for ‘Bully’ I remembered a night out with a good friend.  Just before meeting me he had witnessed a girl in a packed train being abused. A stranger went to help the girl and the abuser attacked this friendly rescuer and nobody else did anything. We were both moved and I sympathised with him about him feeling scared and cowardly. I asked my friend “Is there another way?”

What if the person being attacked shouted “Will somebody stand by me?”

I’m not talking about jumping in and getting involved with the fight or argument, but just to stand next to them. Would others then just stand quietly next to them showing their support? If enough people quietly stand next to the victim wouldn’t the bully, no matter how drunk he was, realise that either he was acting inappropriately or simply laugh at a situation he was no longer in control of and walk away because of the passive vigilantes?

On that night with our enthusiasm (and to be honest our Dutch courage we had gained from a great lunch) we spent the night asking train passengers their opinion of our idea.  We were met with a total agreement but the question was “Who would be the first to do this?”

Again with our new found passion we thought if we saw someone in trouble we would ask “Would you like me to stand by you?”

We didn’t come across anyone in trouble that night, and if we had, I don’t know to this day if our plan would have worked or not, but like any idea that is not followed through it remains just an idea.

At least if I write it down it may be the first step.

CONTEXT

“Look after the pounds and the pennies will look after themselves” – Someone

“You have to find a way of working that manages your business not in content but in context. Context is that which brings meaning. It provides a common language within the business process. It gives clarity to all the content and allows a business conversation to unfold, resulting in aligned decision making and understanding.” – John Rosling

CONTEXT stops you wasting time and keeps everyone involved in a process, discussion or decision-making process aligned.

I run a Context in every meeting I have. I try to find out what Context every situation you get involved in has and to quickly see if I should be in that situation or not. It applies equally well to meetings, entertainments- even relationships.

I suppose because I’m getting older and my time is increasingly valuable, I want to get to the point of any situation quickly. I’ve never been a great conversationalist; I’m not very eloquent but get me excited about you and I get animated, energised and focussed. I’ll try and find a Context that will make you focussed and more importantly happy.

If you’re struggling, I’ll work with you. I’ll nurture you, not rescue you.

Finding the Context is like a magic trick. When you show someone a fantastic trick, they’re really impressed. When you try teaching them how to do it themselves, they either feel disappointed (“Oh, I knew how that was done.”) It’s now that they realise how much effort it would take to do the trick and are not willing, or- and these are the people I love- they realise how easy it is and start developing it straight away.

I'm slipping out of CONTEXT now... but I will leave you with one thought.

It doesn’t matter what Context you have in life-but wouldn’t it be nice if your CONTEXT was good for you and good for others, meaning you’re working for the benefit of your fellow man?

END

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