A dive leader

United we sail, divided we snorkel...

If you are running any kind of business (even if you are just a CEO at insurance company, doing nothing all day long), you are considered to be the boss of the certain outfit.
And you are supposed to receive:

a) all the glory your subordinates deserve
b) admiration of your clients because your staff work their asses off
c) worshiping of your employees
d) a lollipop every morning

If you are not able to take credit also for occasional blunder your people do, well, then even lollipop is in question...

As one of my Chinese students nicely put: “Business is like war, you need solid strategy, you need flexible tactical solutions...”. And if we want to lead our “warriors” successfully we have to educate them and train and train and train them.
Their adequacy is our responsibility. If you are a role model just for greediness and stupidity, and you offer poor education and shitty training – what will you expect from them?
As slightly megalomaniac French diver (or was he just an emperor?) on a rare bright moment said: “There are no shitty troops, there are only shitty commanders.”

My brave brothers in arms in the holy war of good leadership, simply give your best to your troops and you will receive the best from them.
You may demand a lot from them. Sometimes even more. But when push comes to shove – then you, yes you, will stand between them and pissed off client.
You fucked up either with organization of work, preparation of your guys – whatever, you take the heat and prevent shit from happening again.
When they praise you from here to next galaxy, never, ever forget to share praises with your team.

If your people take you as a strict but fair boss (if you have genes of Genghis Kan and Mother Teresa it helps), if they rely on you, if they respect you for your knowledge and experience (and not your bitching) you will always achieve your goals with their support.
If you allow some humor to brighten dull working chores, well, this is like a cherry on a delicious cake.

In a nutshell, we are again back to “You reap what you sow...”

We live only once

Learn from us.

As each and every life we live, we live only once, we should make a good use of it. What would be the key-points leading to full, happy life?

a) surfing on the net for the essence of life
b) attending crash courses “How to live”
c) bitching about the jobs
d) passionately enjoying in the boredom of everyday life

If you are a representative of a group “What most people do, I'll do”, you'll probably find most (if not all) of the answers above accurate.

However, if you find yourself a little left from the field declared by herd as “Bordering to normal”, you'll try to find some different answers.
Minor problem with these answers is, more you look, search for them, more elusive they are.
Rather similar to chasing love, cat, happiness... More wild is your chase, less chances to catch it.
Stop chasing the cat and she will come into your lap.
Answers, success, happiness, love..., they tend to behave very much the same.

Allow good things to happen to you.

And there is some difference in waiting and expecting for good things to happen and allowing them to happen.
First principle is from the category “searching, hunting, chasing” with all the consequences.
Second one simply happens.

If your mind is still impatiently uttering words as When?! Where?!, well, maybe you do not want to encounter things that make our lives a stardust covered rainbow...

Bali businesses going bananas

Abandon hope all ye enter here...

As our village is turning from a rather poor, remote settlement into economically blooming paradise, number of smiling, happy people is proportionally going down.
What is going wrong?

a) as in most places in the world – many things
b) creativity and fresh minds are gone with the wind
c) business ideas and solutions are becoming slightly weird
d) number of bankrupt businesses is heading towards stratosphere

Through the years some change in mindsets started.
Old idea of doing what you are good at, what you like to do, what you are nicely paid for – this is passe!
Doing a business, even if you don't know what the word means, is the thing!

How this started and what is going on?
Probably they collectively attended a workshop “Stop working – do business”.
Guidelines from this workshop are simple:

"Having a good job with a nice salary is for losers. For success you must have your own business. If you don't have funds to start it and not a slightest clue how to do it is not an issue. Look at it as a challenge and your advantage.
You take a look what business your neighbor has. Then borrow heavily. As you have to stand out, you don't copy blindly from your neighbor – you have to use your creativity. If neighbor is offering fried noodles, you put on your menu fried noodles special... And after a short while you have dozens of same rundown businesses all struggling to survive and from time to time going belly up...
As (just in order to keep your business above the water) you desperately and unscrupulously try to steal staff and guests from your neighbors your relationship with neighbors becomes a touch sour..."

Before you start laughing at simplicity (some bad characters would say stupidity) of Pemuteran people, just take a look at the newest international enterprise in Pemuteran.
After intensive fact finding mission great business minds gathered information that six hotel restaurants in Pemuteran offer also pizza. All together they manage to sell 12 to 16 pizzas per month.
Voila!
After a heavy brain-storm they rented land, and a bunch of locals from the neighboring village, some French and Swiss “blue sky thinkers” and one Pemuteran businessman are preparing to open a striving business.
Yeah, a pizzeria...

A living, walking proof of a combined Western - Balinese business superiority...

 

Decisions

Decide.

In time spent between the cradle and the grave (in some circles known as a lifetime), we have to cope with zillions of decisions. As time spent deciding and weighing the options can be hardly described as our quality time, what can we do to lessen the waste of the time?

a) hire a gypsy fortune-teller to decide for us
b) flip a coin for dilemmas
c) spend life undecided and frustrated
d) immerse into scuba diving and learn from it

Deciding can be really a pain in the ass. To listen to our ratio? Heart? Intuition? Gut feeling? Wrong? Right?
Maybe it's better not to decide at all. Hmm, not deciding is already a decision itself. Right or wrong...
Or just a brief glance at options and decide. Well, if you decide wrong, sometimes it's difficult to undecide. Jump or not jump? When you jump it's hard to unjump.

Scuba diving requires decisions very often. For some we have ample time, for some seconds. Some not so important, some crucial. More than half of the wrong decisions in diving are result of no deciding at all.
And if I want to continue writing these posts and you reading them, our decisions better be good.

If you approach scuba diving as your passion in which you want to immensely and very safely enjoy, good decision making process becomes your second skin.
Integrating this into teaching scuba is part of any level of diving courses.
Correction. Not “is”, but better “should be”.

If your teacher leads you properly, you will not just master some theoretical and practical things about scuba diving; also your amazing tool; installed somewhere in your subconsciousness, making decisions for you; will become more sharp and more effective.
Major weakness for proper decision making is too much focusing on pure gathering of a multitude of facts (especially in information overburdened society we live), instead of teaching the way how to use relevant, even if scarce, facts properly.

Being capable of installing a fantastic light in your room, connecting all the wires properly, scientifically determining adequate wattage will not make your room any brighter.
Unless you decide to switch the light on.
Decide.
A lifetime spend gathering facts on the meaning of life or some eternal moments devouring the taste of stardust on her lips...