How to thrive in uncertain times
Working, living, and laughing in unpredictable times
Dad sank heavily into his armchair, tie loosen but with his work clothes still on, sighs and says, “what would you girls do if daddy died”? My younger sister pipes up, “well, mommy will have to buy a new one”. The entire exchange hit my stomach so hard that I was speechless.
Wild thoughts were running through my head. Being 10 years older at 13, I recognize the weariness and worry in dad’s voice. Something’s seriously wrong. Is it his health, work, something else or a combination of them? Did we do something bad?
Honestly, I don’t remember the rest of the conversation, and somehow that pivotal moment passed. It took years before I sorted out what triggered our father to wonder out loud about his demise with his young children, seemingly out of the blue. He was straining in his business to provide for his six children, wife and other relatives, while his wife, our mother was in England settling our sister into her school.
Just then, a dramatic increase in the use of technology in financial services was forcing companies who wanted to survive the transformation to invest enormous amount of resources to upgrade. Being an entrepreneur in a sector that is growingly taken over by large corporations with deep pockets, he struggled…
