10 years of freedom

Freedom to Grow

The company employs people and together with Raoul, I own the company, but that does not make me their boss. It does make me feel responsible and proud and anxious and elated and desperate and the whole range of emotions in between. What I want to feel more than anything else is free. I want to feel free to enjoy what I do and I want each and every person in the company to enjoy what they do.

With respect for Carl R. Rogers, psychologist, who wrote Freedom to Learn published in 1969, here are my 10 (!) points to freedom to grow:

1. I cannot make anybody do anything they don’t want to do. I am only interested in cooperation between people that results in a positive change.
2. The only actions that result in positive change come from within. It is my aim to elicit that behavior which is within each person that will result in a positive change. Often the person is not aware of the qualities within until they are urged to come to the fore, surprising the person.
3. I don’t want to boss anyone around.
4. I want my team to get up in the morning with a smile on their face, because they are looking forward to their work! That might sound outrageous, but it is true. I want to create an environment where everyone feels free to cultivate their unique talents, be the person they truly are and to become what they aspire for themselves.
5. I want to feel free to express my personality, to be creative and to keep growing.
6. Together we can create such an atmosphere. And I think we have.
7. Please don’t mistake my tolerance for weakness. It is far easier to boss people around than it is to support them in a certain direction.
8. It seems to mean letting go of the control, which is a bit scary, but it isn’t really. I think it brings us closer to a point where we can trust each other and we all know what is required in order to maintain what we have and to grow this business in which we are allowed to grow.
9. We have to think about money as a means to an end. It simply means that we can stay in business and that we can keep on doing what we enjoy, and spread this culture of freedom to grow!