Making a difference matters

If we look further ahead, employment relationships have slowly diminished. We find more and more people moving around much more frequently between assignments as freelancers. Spending time in different situations and organisations enhances your status as a contractor and benefits both you and the client, but this requires certain disciplines which have to be acquired and are best obtained working for somebody else in a bigger organisation. You always have to remember that by being self-employed you have compliance regulations to deal with and require business understanding. You will find working for yourself is a very hard taskmaster, and sometimes it can be more demanding than to work for somebody else. At the end of the day every client is essentially your boss in one way or another, and unless you maintain this relationship to mutual satisfaction it is not likely to persist for too long. You always have to bear in mind that if you don’t render the service in a prescribed and expected manner, you have got no position to fall back on. Moreover increasingly prospective clients look for references from established satisfied sources before they commit themselves to you. You will also be in competition with similarly inclined and qualified contractors for clients, who are price conscious and use it to their advantage. You have to resist the temptation to out-bid your competitors bearing in mind that anybody on the outset of their careers, and particularly those who are saddled with student loans, must make provision for their later years. Adding the housing cost in most major cities, there is a lot of financial planning required for the present and to have some security in later life.

You have to be movable, not only within the country, but also internationally. Many of these opportunities that arise are not necessarily home country based. There is an advantage in moving into other countries that have a reputation for technological advancement. You can gain an advance by having exposure to this higher intellectual capacity. The other caution is not to be too IT reliant. There are many examples of instant whiz kids, who have come up with a new app and sold it on for great profit and advantage to themselves. If you really look at it across the board, they are the exceptions rather than the rule. We all have pretentions to be living in the future and not so much in the present. The old saying holds true: ‘Aim for the stars, but keep your feet firmly on the ground’. You have to think early enough in your life first of all where you want to go and secondly the commitments you want to undertake to get there.

When it comes to relationship building, having a partner, and also perhaps providing for the next generation, calls for good role models. There is a natural inclination to over load ourselves. We want to travel, acquire too many things at the same time, and take on responsibilities for which we are not quite ready. As a result we disappoint ourselves and possibly other people, who are relying on us. That is certainly an issue that cropped up from time to time in my life and affects many career builders. We also want to socialise under tremendous peer pressure. We are no longer the egalitarian society that I grew up in. There is quite a lot of juggling for position and people trying to show the world how successful they are. It is always tempting to overreach ourselves in aspiring to and to acquire these early vestiges by making financial commitments with potentially disastrous effects if our income source should decline or evaporate under adverse economic circumstances. I have always been a firm adherent to ethical practices in everything I do. There are some bad examples out there, and I can say the temptation to stray from the path of righteousness is a real possibility. It is easy to be sucked in due to mistaken relationships. I would always say keep your nose clean, and remain conscious of the way in which you conduct your affairs.

A legacy can come in various forms; one of course is in the form of financial accumulated assets. One can enjoy them during the closing stages of life, preserve them for those who succeed us or to endow a charity of our choosing. But money itself is not always a sufficient reward. I have encountered high achievers, who in their later years, in spite of being asset rich, are lacking something. They are missing the mark in what they have achieved, apart from success in their respective occupations, professions or business ventures. There is nothing that will carry them forward on the basis of really having made this world a better place.

When I look at my legacy - what I am leaving behind can be summed up as having made a difference. Money certainly plays a role here; we all want to be comfortable throughout our lifetime and particularly in our later years. It would be satisfying to know that we leave a world behind that is essentially better in some regards due to our contribution. There are many benefits arising from being public spirited including a sense of personal satisfaction. This has been achieved in my case, and probably should be on everybody’s agenda, an objective you should acquire very early in life with a realisation that there are people who are disadvantaged and impaired, but in many regards can still be a role model for us. My father used to say that every other person is your better in at least one ability.

Getting close to the Cause

My extension into the charities sector came about by my accepting an executive position with the international organisation, United Way Community Chest, which previously only operated in Auckland and now has a national focus. Its beneficiaries are public benefit agencies with a low profile that provide meaningful measurable services. The United Way started off by organising voluntary payroll giving, which was a very practical way of introducing the organisation to employing companies. By encouraging their staff to make a commitment to a charity of their choice they gave a regular amount of money, which was deducted from their pay packet. The United Way in New Zealand can take some credit for bringing about the scheme that we now have where we can make direct claims for tax rebates on our charitable giving. The United Way also enabled their contributors to visit (at that time) the 150 plus recipient organisations to see how they operate. The few that I selected to visit, and wanted to know more about, were real eye openers for me. They gave me a very different perception of the reality of the social problems and need that exist in our community. One of them included a prison visit, where we spent half a day learning first hand of how the correctional institution was run and talking to officers and prisoners. This visit changed my whole perception and attitude to our penal system, having gained a better insight and understanding. The same can be said when I visited the Otara Spinal Unit and met patients, who were receiving treatment and rehabilitation. It had an immense impact on me to speak to a young person, who was eighteen years old and fully paralysed from the neck down as the result of a diving accident. He looked up at me and said “Mate, there is only one favour you can do me, and that is to help me to die, because I have got nothing to live for.”

Giving money is a wonderful thing, but I would encourage everybody to experience the benefits of their giving at the point of service delivery. Seeing is believing and it pays to be generous, but be selective, because there are many organisations who don’t really achieve the outcome that they promise. You have to be conscious of such shortcomings in acknowledging that we have an oversupply of charitable delivery agencies, who set out to change the world, but fail to deliver.

The other realisation in this is that they don’t only need money. What is more important in many instances, is that they need capable governance and management. They require people at the upper end of the organisation, who can provide leadership and use their faculties and experience for the betterment of the organisation to enable it to function more effectively and in a more business-like manner.

So this is my call to everybody wanting to do good and it is where I found my greatest sense of purpose and fulfilment. Yes, I have always given money, but at the same time I have worked in these needy environments almost from the outset of my career. Working as a facilitator and volunteer I assume that I have been instrumental, in combination with many inspiring people, to make a difference for the betterment of humanity all around me. There are a whole host of organisations that would be delighted to have younger emerging talent add value to their organisations and, in following my example, will find enriching experiences that assist in their career development. On the way they will meet some outstanding individuals, who are setting splendid examples and will have a massive influence on them in the way in which they have conducted themselves and have contributed to the welfare and betterment of mankind.

That is essentially my final call and I would like to say to anybody who reads this, that the Third Sector can provide creative outlets for your acquired learning and qualifications when other career options are in decline. The same applies, and I mentioned this before, by being active in your own professional or industry organisation. There are also a multitude of special purpose groups in existence that cater for a wide range of interests and hobbies, as well as providing fellowship in communal activities.

Know who you are

Identity is very important. It pays to look at the example of the people, who went before us, to know where we come from. With the merging of cultures one finds that this assumes greater importance, because people want to know where their roots are. To me it was very encouraging to have this interest and then to follow in the footsteps of my forebears. It involved returning to where my father originally came from in East Frisia with a family tree that goes back to the seventeenth century to guide me. Visiting the places that they inhabited, to follow their careers and also to be absorbed in the ethnicity, culture and the customs of that particular region made me more aware of my identity. It convinced me that ethnicity is not a matter of skin colour and that similar customs prevail in far removed places. Undertaking the pilgrimage I saw how some Frisian practices aligned with Maori custom. On my return I was able to proclaim that I had also been accepted into my iwi. I also acknowledge my Jewish roots through my mother’s family and the benefits of this awareness. My digital voyage of discovery took me to Lithuania, Poland and Germany. I recommend this awareness test, which can lead to opportunities in foreign lands supported by extended family and ethnic links. It can be expanded to other areas of personal interest, leading to skill enhancement, working collectively in diverse communities with other people, who are similarly inclined and sharing each other’s capabilities and experiences. It also has the additional advantage that you can carry this forward into your retirement.

Regrettably, I have encountered individuals, who have been extremely successful in their careers and were always too busy concentrating on their work that they were never able to develop other skills and interests. At the conclusion of their working lives they have few past-time activities to fall back on and, besides family, suddenly feel themselves completely cut off. This is a great tragedy and totally avoidable. They are my prime prospects for third sector governance appointment. Some of my friends and my son have worked hard to achieve early retirement with the ability to devote time and resources to chosen good causes. Theirs is another way to making a difference. Combining career and voluntary service can be more demanding, but I do not regret the greater effort required on my part. In many respects the one complements the other by opening windows of opportunity to exceptional experiences. It has enabled me to visit significant places, participate in memorable events and meet wonderful people

In conclusion it is fitting to mention the following influencers, who served as my examples or mentors:

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  Johan Pretorius, senior public servant and my early career facilitator;
  
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  Trevor Roberts, ethical retailer, business leader and social entrepreneur;
  
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  Jack Atkins, lawyer, whose wisdom and guidance inspired me;
  
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  Jack Christie MBE, entrepreneur, company director and SME advocate;
  
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  Peter Crellin, master mariner, business strategist and public benefactor;
  
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  Barry Parker, business consultant and my role model in accident rehabilitation;
  
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  David Hansen, consulting engineer, do-gooder and emergency relief worker;
  
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  Alf Taylor, clergyman, chaplain, psycho-therapist and wise counsellor
  
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  Rinny Westra, educator, activist and my mentor in matters Frisian:
  
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  Vernon Levy, guiding example, trusted adviser and friend
  

Without the support of the North Shore Hospice Trust and in particular Judy Ganley, ‘my scribe’, I would not have committed these words to paper – thank you.

Ralph Ubbo Penning

Auckland, New Zealand