by 
About Business
Once, after training, I heard the question, “Olga, you help others develop their business, but why don’t you develop your business ?”
The question itself was not new to me, but the young man asked with such absolute confidence that business was Mr. Business
“In the sense in which you understand it, this is probably not my business,” I said.
“What do you mean?”, he said in surprise.
“What I mean is that if you love what you do, and know how to honestly answer the question, “Why do you need this?”, then essentially the answer is your business.”
“Well… if I thought like that,” my interlocutor chuckled.
“And also I write fairy tales…” I added…
From the practice
I’m returning home from training and coaching sessions. A week in winter when the temperatures were -55 Celsius.
Because of the fog, the small plane was only able to take off at night using the lights on the runway.
I settled into my seat with one thought – to take off, and somehow we’ll get there. I wanted to bury my nose in my notebook, but that was not the case…
A neighbor, an energetic woman, refuses my help and continues to enthusiastically push a huge salted fish into the overhead bin. The fish’s tail is clearly of an unusual size and swings from side to side.
A businessman walks down the aisle of the plane – well, he looks like a “Mr. Business”: a travel case with a suit and a suitcase with keys and locks. Well, clearly not the northern type. He started to help but she frowned, gestured him off, and continued pushing.
The businessman ducked from the next flip of the fish’s tail asked me for the seat number and settled down next to me. I looked at his red, chapped hands and asked, “Work?”
“Business!” my interlocutor answered briefly and smiled.
We talked the whole trip. Family business for 4 generations. Family with two daughters. He spoke with pride and joy about how he developed new contacts, about his daughter’s talents, and how they skied.
My first business success was when I sold all the early potatoes at the market in a couple of hours. Growing early potatoes in a northern country is still a task… Behind every potato, there is work and so much joy!
But… when I have in my life something like a huge salted fish or I feel like this fish, I stop and ask one question: Why do I need this? 🙂
About “Why” questions
I had a farm, I worked as a teacher in a small village school 8 km from home, and studied at a second university together with my three children. Then again study, teach, and work.
What is the difference between work and business?
I think all that we do is work.
When we work without joy and inspiration we are slaves even if it is our own company.
When we have an owner attitude to work: I take responsibility for what and why I create it is business and I am always the owner of my company – my Life.
When I talk about the balance of the spheres of life, I always add: that we determine the spheres, as well as the boundaries, ourselves… The question “Why” helped me then and is helping me now.
If you do something, first ask this question, and then do it well and grow in it! In order not to lose focus, and choose what is and isn’t important for your life, ask yourself the question “Why?”
Sometimes finding the answer is not so easy but if you are honest with yourself and realize, that I create and I am always the owner of my company – my Life, you will find the answer.
I didn’t count successes and failures, I just got up and continued forward over and over again. What helped? The ability to ask and honestly answer the same question: Why do I need this?
And when I support business activity, I always ask: “How many people in your team know the answer to the question Why?”
And it makes sense to always keep the focus on all that we create we create for people, and with people. Why? Because we are People…
About Fairy Tales
I knocked on the doors of many publishing houses, and everywhere I heard essentially the same answer: “No, later, not interested” or “Better to write a book about business, or bout training! There you have something to say!”
Today we publish fairy tale books in 10 languages. Today our website only has a small part of what we have and that will soon appear in print. Is this a business? Yes!
This is the business that harmoniously combines what, for whom, and with whom I create these books. This is what I like to do, forgetting about time. This is my answer to the question “Why?”…
My lovely husband Joff and I believe that a good story can spread its wings and help our World be a better Home. We also believe that everything we create with love for people, and with people, helps our World to be happier.
Here are some wonderful films that the Erste Group created 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/@ErsteGroupBank
There are developing businesses and good stories about values that we People have.
And
Why do I need Wings?
The first fairy tale from the new book “Adventure with Little Bird Why” for you
In our big world, there lives a little bird named “Why.” She has a yellow fuzz for feathers because she is still small.
Little Bird Why wants to grow up and become a big bird, just like her Mother Bird and Father Bird.
Mother Bird and Father Bird tell her that if she eats well and runs fast, she will grow up to be a big, beautiful bird.
Little Bird Why can run fast, but sometimes she forgets to eat because she is always trying to find answers to her many questions…
“Why do trees grow?”
“Why do ants need a big house?”
“Why does it get cold in the winter?”
“Why do frogs croak?”
She asked so many questions that Mother Bird and Father Bird called her “Why.”
One morning, Little Bird Why woke up and looked very closely at her tiny fuzzy wings and asked Mother Bird: “Why do I need these?”
“Those are your wings,” smiled Mother Bird.
Little Bird looked attentively at her Mother Bird’s and Father Bird’s wings, thought a while, and then, asked again, “Yes, but why do we need wings?”
“To fly,” replied Mother Bird.
“Why do we need to fly?” Little Bird Why asked and again looked at her small tiny wings.
“What do you mean why?” Mother Bird smiled and added happily. “There is nothing more wonderful than to rise into the big blue sky and fly!”
But Little Bird Why kept on.
“And why do we need to fly into the big blue sky?” she asked in interest.
“Because we are birds!” smiled Father Bird.
Little Bird Why flapped her wings quickly and hopped in one place. She tried to rise into the big blue sky and fly away, but she couldn’t.
“So why do I have wings, if I can’t fly?” Little Bird Why asked again.
“Because you are still young!” explained Mother Bird.
“You will be able to fly when you grow up! Because you are a bird!” added Father Bird.
“O-oo!” exclaimed Little Bird Why. She was so happy that she ran into the forest as fast as she could to tell everybody she knew about how she would be able to fly.
Little Bird Why first met Green Frog sitting next to the lake, and she yelled to her: “Hey there! Hello! Guess what? When I grow up, I’ll be able to fly!”
“Great, but we frogs can swim!” laughed Green Frog and jumped into the lake.
Little Bird Why ran a little farther. She caught sight of Ant in the forest glade.
“When I grow up, I’ll be able to fly!” she told Ant.
“Ok, but we ants can build!” Ant said and smiled at her as rolled a big pine cone to add to the anthill.
Little Bird Why ran even further into the forest woods. By a big green leaf, she
spotted Long Earthworm.
“When I grow up, I will be able to fly!” she told him proudly.
“Yes, but I can crawl away!” said Long Earthworm and quickly slithered away and hid behind a big green leaf.
“Nobody cares that I have wings!” sighed Little Bird Why sadly.
and plodded home.
“Why are you sad?” Mother Bird asked her.
“I’m sad because I’m upset with everyone! I told Green Frog, Ant, and Long Earthworm that when I grow up, I would be able to fly, but they weren’t interested!” sighed Little Bird Why.
“There’s no need to be upset with them!” smiled Mother Bird.
“Why?” asked Little Bird Why.
“Because not everyone wants to fly,” Father Bird said.
“Why? Why doesn’t everyone want to fly?” Little Bird Why asked in surprise.
“Because not everyone needs to,” explained Father Bird.
“And not everyone has wings,” added Mother Bird.
“But you know that you are a bird and you do have wings,” said Father Bird.
“And soon you will be able to rise high into the beautiful blue sky and fly,” smiled Mother Bird.
Mother Bird and Father Bird gently hugged Little Bird Why with their big warm wings. They all looked into the big blue sky where they would soon spread their wonderful wings and fly high above the land together.
Little Bird Why looked down at her little fuzzy yellow wings and smiled. Now she knew exactly why she needed them. …
With love, Olga Verasen
P.S. “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again” C.S. Lewis
Leave a Reply