Reinvention is one important “skill” you need to have in today's world. It is said to be vital to business growth, health and happiness. There are of course steps and an attitude you can take to facilitate the reinvention process and create the change you want. Alex Andrakis, Managing Director & Founder, Andrakis Strategy & Management Consultancy shares his take on the imperative of reinvention and how it should be undertaken to ensure maximum impact and ultimately success.
The process of reinvention lies at the heart of a continuous cycle of maintaining relevance and impact as a individual, brand or corporation and starts with the premise that change is inevitable and surrounds us in our personal and professional lives.
This philosophy has been the mantra of my personal and professional life for nearly four decades, throughout the transitions from a long-term career in senior C Level FMCG roles to Real Estate and onwards to a start – up venture in a boutique hybrid Management Consultancy & Creative Services Agency at Andarakis in 2010.
Along this journey, these professional reinvention interventions have also included side by side transitions of personal and mental wellbeing elements, management style and approach, relationships and networking skills, to find the magic formula for a balanced approach to the work and life platform.
Creating a proactive approach at ‘Change Management’ or Reinvention as the title states is an art form in its own right.
Understanding the fundamentals of ‘The Why’ reinvention is required, ‘The What’ elements and pillars that underpin the drivers of change and then a detailed set of tacticsas to ‘The How’ reinvention will manifest itself across a personal and professional landscape needs careful consideration and craftmanship to ensure maximum impact and ultimately success.
Over a decade ago, I was asked by a keen business jounalist to list the greatest challenge during the transition from senior C Level Executive (client side) to my start-up Consultancy at Andarakis, and without hesitation, my answer was ‘managing my ego’ instead of the normal issues, which plague a start-up of seed capital, business development, working capital, recruitment or even minor issues like administrative set up challenges.
The fine balance of being confident in your talent and abilities needs management as to not come across as arrogance, as I also believe great achievers-- in the other sectors ranging from sports, academia, arts & culture, and the financial world-- require a sense of narcissism to propel their success, an adrenaline filled pursuit of greatness and to reach the maximum of their potential. Anything less is a failure, as passion drives us as people in what we do, how we do it and what the journey of life really means.
Reinvention is never an easy journey, the shift from what we feel comfortable doing to an exploration of new frontiers across every dimension of one’s life is challeging and definitely worth the time and effort to pursue.
My advice to everyone is to embrace, engage and enjoy the journey, become curious at finding your alter-ego, and truly explore the pinnacle of who and what you can become as an individual, brand or corporation.
