“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5

The leadership charged with the authority to govern a country or organization (policy, actions, outcomes) is responsible for introducing best practices to achieve sustainable success.

In the 21st century, leaders have the resources of people (body, mind, soul), machines and businesses at their disposal.

If these resources are nourished well, the synergistic impact of their added value will lead to very positive outcomes; otherwise, the achievement of sustainable success will be frustrated.

Let us address the nutrition of these resources in turn.

Human beings are our most important resource. A balanced diet of good food, sleep, exercise, peace of mind and hugs is the recommended menu to give us the energy to achieve our full potential.

Recently, I found that my energy levels were lower than I had experienced a year ago when I comfortably passed an executive medical checkup. What is the matter? Is it the COVID-19 shut-in environment, am I mentally stressed, is it a diabetic, prostate, cardiac or other problem?

I went for my biannual preventive medical checkup with my general practitioner. The assessment – ageing, cabin fever, dehydration, belly fat, weakening leg veins, interrupted sleep, irregular pulse rate. The advice – pace yourself, positive thinking, drink more water, regular outdoor aqua and walking exercise, reduce sugar laden snacking, semiannual blood tests, regular blood sugar and blood pressure monitoring, compressed stockings, sleep regulation, ECG. We must all feed and monitor our physical bodies and contribute proportionately to the national pool of energy.

The human mind needs to be stimulated so that it too can achieve its full potential. It must be continually fed with knowledge on the journey in search of wisdom. My partner and I have just resuscitated a daily practice of reading inspirational books together. This has been very stimulating and a foil against the impact of cabin fever. Let us continually feed our minds and contribute to the national pool of wisdom.

The challenge of life is about finding solutions for a continuing wave of problems. Some problems may be solved in the five sensory space (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch) but for others we need to shift to the soul in a multisensory spiritual space. May I remind you of renowned author Wayne Dyer’s book “There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem” and the biblical verse “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;  lean not unto thine own understanding”. God is Love and love is the food of the soul. Let us feed our souls with love and become naturally empowered to expedite the national problem-solving process.

The industrial (machines) and information (computers and internet) revolutions have increased the productivity of the human being. Let us continue to feed energy (preferably the renewable variety) to these devices and contribute to the national pool of efficiency.

Lastly, there are businesses with diverse value propositions which invest money, create jobs, market/deliver their products and services, and generate profits from which they pay taxes to governments. Governments in turn deliver regulatory and service functions to the populace. This demonstrates the circular flow of money in a society. Let us continue to feed a diet of sound management to businesses and governments, to generate profits and inspire user-friendly enabling environments, respectively.

As we navigate out of the pandemic, it is important to feed our efforts with a sensible diet, which produces good health, good governance, and lasting sustainability.

(Dr. Basil Springer GCM is a Change-Engine Consultant. His email address is basilgf@marketplaceexcellence.com. His columns may be found at www.nothingbeatsbusiness.com/basil-springer-column/, www.stluciasimplybeautiful.com on www.facebook.com/basilgf and Barbados Today online newspaper).