The 'Driver' of Change. Lance Brown
a bomb in a car which was parked in central London, which they managed to defuse. Fearing another terrorist attack, security was heightened all over, especially at the airport.
So I was sitting in this restaurant, watching these heavily armed military police walking around with dogs, and you get that insecure feeling, especially if you have dark hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion.
We also needed to go through three major security checks. Now I am not just talking about walking through a metal detector, no, you have to take off half your clothes, you have to take off your watch, your belt, and even your shoes.
But isn't it amazing how certain past experiences can actually help you with current situations? You see, I grew up in Mitchells Plain, a Cape Town suburb that has a reputation for gangsterism, drugs and violence.
At the age of 14, we would sit at my friend's house, which was directly opposite an open field. On many Saturdays at 5pm two rival gangs use to confront each other in a violent clash, and we witnessed these brutal gang fights.
During my first year of high school (1988) I often witnessed police brutality on students: police coming into the school, shooting teargas and rubber bullets, and beating kids for standing up for equal opportunity. Outside school there were many times when I walked along the streets and got mugged, even had a knife put to my throat, so I was exposed to life threatening circumstances.
So these major airport checks were nothing in comparison to what I had experienced growing up, and went through them with ease. Then I boarded the plane for a long, uncomfortable flight back home. Uncomfortable, because my seat was broken and it couldn't be fixed. I was about to embark on a twelve hour journey sitting in a very awkward position.
Then I heard someone say “Seat 34a” and that instantly rang a bell, because it was my seat number. As I looked up I saw three military policemen walking towards me, and my heart started to beat faster and faster...
'Mr Brown, please take your luggage and come with us!' He said in a commanding tone. What was I supposed to do, say no? I got such a fright, but still wanted to maintain my cool. So I looked into their eyes, gave them a gentle smile, and said: 'Sure, thanks for getting me out of this seat'.
I was then taken off the plane and escorted to a small room. They checked my passport and asked me all sorts of questions: 'Mr Brown, how long have you been in London? What are you doing here? And who are you travelling with?’
At that point, the beers that I had earlier vanished instantaneously out of my system because of shock. Then the plane started to move, and I said to myself: 'Lance you are not going home tonight.'
Now if this happened to you, how will you feel about it? What would your response be? Would you be angry, upset, or will you ask yourself the question that's so familiar to many of us:
“Why does this happen to me?”
I then met another guy who they took off the plane. He also had black hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion, and it was so funny because we were dressed in a similar way, with the same colour jacket and jeans. His hobby was taking pictures of people in motion. So when a paranoid passenger saw us standing close together, dressed in a similar way and one of us taking photographs, he decided to notify the airport security.
Much later, after lots of questioning, we were taken to a five star hotel, and really treated like royalty for one day. I remember sitting in this breathtaking room, enjoying the ambiance, fine furniture and.... the open bar.
Then I put my head on this king sized bed, closed my eyes and said: “Lance, this is the life. Use this as an opportunity to live like a VIP in London for one night.”
Each and every one of us is going to face challenges in our personal lives and at work, but it is how you respond to those challenges that is going to make the difference. How you respond to any situation generally reveals a bit about your attitude.
You see, your attitude affects many others, from your friends to your family to colleagues. A positive attitude is vitally important to creating opportunities for yourself at work. People want to support you and give you a helping hand when you have a winning attitude.” A week after the TEDx talk, an article was placed in our company's internal newsletter which read:
“On Saturday 16 November Senior Tax Consultant Lance Brown, together with 19 other speakers from across the country, took the stage at TEDx Table Mountain to share his idea which could influence the world.”
A few months later I was part of the Employment Equity committee and we were hosting an event to bring awareness to the staff on Employment Equity matters. The question came up: how are we going to keep the staff entertained? My suggestion was to watch some TEDx talks, so I was able to share my talk with more than 100 employees at the office.
Then one morning I received an e-mail from a Director in Atlanta, USA which read:
“I watched your video; it was very authentic and truly inspiring. The belief in yourself and the need for perseverance despite setbacks really came through. I know your purpose was personal and not on behalf of Deloitte, but you made me proud to be part of this organization and to be surrounded by people like you.”
To create opportunities, you want to demonstrate your value to a large number of people at your organization. You want to build a body of work that showcases how you think, that goes beyond project specific knowledge, because this type of thinking is going to make the difference.
Stephen Covey said:
“I am not a product of my circumstances, I am a product of my decisions.”
Having a winning attitude is vitally important when creating opportunities.
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