By: Gustav Juul
CEO
AIM GROUP
How I found Adizes Institute
I was extremely flattered when I was approached by the Adizes Institute. The romance lasted almost a year before all fell into place and we finally made the merger official, but it was “love at first sight”.
I still remember my first meeting with Dr. Ichak Adizes, the founder of the institute. When I came to the hotel, the two directors that had been invited to the dinner told me that he was not feeling well and could not join our dinner, but that he would try to join for a few minutes during the desert. This all seemed very strange to me, but I went along. After dinner we retired to a reserved living-room type setting where Ichak finally did join us.
I have met incredible men and women in my life, but he is an incredible man with whom I had one of the more captivating conversation we can remember. We sat talking about anything and everything until 2 or 3 am. Finally one of the directors said that he really needed to call it the day and I decided to take my cue and thank for splendid talk. Something very special had begun.
I had a very successful business in my Executive Search firm where we were growing in double digit numbers every year, but I found something special in the Adizes Institute. It sounds crazy to say this about a company, but really a place where I could fully leverage my deep passion for guiding companies through their leaders achieve their full potential. I found a place I want to retire many years from now.
Why I love going to work
That’s easy. It’s the people. In my role at the Adizes Institute, I get to work closely with colleagues and clients alike, and help them solve problems so as a team we drive business growth with some of the largest and most complex organizations in the world! It’s very fulfilling to know that I can and have made a difference here.
How I spend my free time
I’m married, but I am a dad that works, which can be challenging but mostly awesome. I say it that way because I am a father that is very present in my children’s lives and spend most of my free time with them. The few times a year I get a chance to hit a few golf balls I feel happy. On the professional side the Adizes Institute doesn’t cease to amaze me. It has brought me a whole new way of looking at live both at work and at home.
One of my Out of the Office passions
Since 2016 I have been coordinating the yearly publishing of this incredible book you are reading now. After 5 years where it was strictly a local book, we are now planning to bring it to Russia, Brazil and the USA. I’m truly passionate about seeing this non-profit project replicated into other countries. It is one of our founding ideas that the profits are given to scholarships.
Why this is important to me
The opportunity to bring together extraordinary leaders in a book that focuses on their experiences is wonderful. I don’t do it only because I like reading about it and get inspired from their articles, but because I feel that it is a fantastic platform through which we can share ideas with our peers and even young people wanting to make a career. I wish I had had something like this to learn from when I was starting out.
Furthermore I like that the profit is given in scholarships. Someone very close to me would not have been able to study and become the person he came to be, if not for someone helping him out many years ago. This is my way of giving back and helping out someone else. I believe that we were put on this earth to give more than we take.
How, what I do, changed my life
When I finished University and started working I had no clear idea what I wanted to do, or become. Now that I think about it I don’t think becoming something even crossed my mind. I guess that we who studied Business Law are not people that dream of changing anything. Like most of my classmates, I wanted to make money working and have fun spending it.
Things change when you get older. I started thinking about what I would have to look back upon when I got old, if I kept doing the same. I began to get scared of not achieving anything in my life, not becoming anyone and knowing that I might not even have tried to do something that I could be proud of.
I feel that I am a humble man, but I must admit that I am proud of what I have done. I have built a couple of successful companies that have lead me to the Adizes institute and created a philanthropical project through this book that enriches the world, although maybe only by a hair. This crazy, fantastic and difficult adventure, is something that given me confidence in myself and courage to reach for my dreams.
What is your reason for being?
I guess most people go through life without ever taking the time to discover their reason for being. Typically we are taught to divided our adult life up into three sections. First we study, then we work and late in life one day it is over and “boom”, we retire. Interestingly enough, in Uchināguchi, the Okinawan language, there is no word for retirement. Instead there is one word that imbues your entire life, and that word is ‘ikigai.’ And refers to having a direction or purpose in life, providing a sense of fulfillment and towards which they the person may take actions, giving them satisfaction and a sense of meaning in life.
A lot has been said and written on the importance of organizations impacting the community. Impact is becoming huge, there’s no denying that, and the Adizes Institute has been one of the voices stressing the need for organizations to impact the community on a greater level. One of the reasons we value impact so much is because it aligns with our vision. It aligns with our passion as a company. It’s part of the Adizes Institute’s ikigai and where I feel I can align my passion, my mission, my profession, and my vocation. It is my ikigai.
Why do you get up in the morning
I wake up every morning because I am here to change the world. I know that sounds a bit ambitious, and that might be true, but no dream is too big, right? I wake up every morning because I am motivated by my passion to help others; because I am surrounded by amazing friends and family; because the life is a wonderful thing! I wake up in the morning because every single day is a fresh start and I’m always excited for whatever the day may bring. Finally, every day is an opportunity for me to change the world, even in the smallest of ways.
Life is so much more than the usual day-to-day routine. It’s not just about getting up, going to work or school, coming home, eating dinner, and going to bed. To me when I have a day like that, because of course I have days like that, is a wasted day. Life is about living. There are so many surprises, adventures and experiences awaiting us just after we wake up the morning. Find what drives you. Be yourself.
Do what you love. And most importantly, enjoy it.
So, what motivates you to get up every morning?
