12 Feb 2022 · 10 min
Thomas Anglero resigned as chair of Norway's largest dance institution after honest conversations with the Ministry of Culture. He got an advisory invitation from a Norwegian university and now talks about why telling the truth opens doors and builds self-respect.
Welcome to the Soul of Innovation podcast. I am Thomas Anglero, recording from an electrical charger station, charging up my car somewhere in the middle of nowhere, nowhere in Norway, as always. But I'm, I'm reflecting on a meeting I had this week. I was reflecting on this meeting. You know, you have a meeting where you wonder whether or not you're going to say the full truth because you're afraid you may hurt someone's feelings, you may insult someone. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. That decision-making, you know, should I, should I modify my story? I can't lie, but maybe I just say this version of it and hold back that story. Let me tell you something. Never hold back. Tell the whole damn truth and just stick to the facts.
The outcome, the outcome of you being you, the outcome of you speaking your mind, the outcome of you being authentic and actually telling them exactly what you feel, exactly why you did it, will be the best outcome possible because that is exactly what I experienced this week. I am shocked. I am surprised at that, that the fact that I knew that would happen, but I wasn't 100% sure. And it reminded me that stick to who you are.
My short story, what happened, and I'll keep it very short, is that I was the chairman of the board of Norway's largest dance institution. I was hand-selected by the Minister of Culture of Norway. And after 2 years, I resigned.
It wasn't working out.
The ministry asked for a phone call to discuss why I'm leaving, and they accepted it. That was fine. But they want to know the details. I was as honest as I could be. I stuck to the facts. I didn't add any extra thing to any stories, and I gave examples, professional with examples. At the end of that call, the 3 people from the ministry, they thanked me. They held me in higher status than prior to the call had begun. They understood my reasoning. I was reminded that who we are, who you are, what you believe, your gut feeling, you're here to make yourself happy and to give love. If you're in an environment where there's no love coming back, where you're not feeling the love, where you feel that you're not being seen, whether I've talked about that God knows how many times, but you're not being respected, it is time to move on. My assistant chairman of the board, I told her of my decision and she stood on. She wants to be the chairman. She wants to run the whole thing. She put her ego ahead of everything else. She saw what I saw, but she decided to say— and I think that's interesting too, because in my situation I decided it is not worth me being there because I'm compromising who I am. She saw an opportunity to be the chairman of board of this big, famous, powerful institution, yet she sees the problems that we said that I saw because we're both experiencing the same thing, and she put her ego in front of the value of herself.
Is that worth it?
Would you do the same? Would you tell the truth? I think a lot of you would say, yeah, of course I would tell the truth. Do you know how much it costs to tell the truth? Do you know how difficult it is to tell the truth? To say that the institution you've built is rotten, to the institution that is in place, and the people there are not who they're supposed to be and acting the way accordingly and represented the country, this great country of Norway. That's a hard-ass message. You might think that you, the people, look down upon you. You may think that all doors will close. Do you know at the end of that call I have more doors open to me.
Matter of fact, fact, that call was around 12 o'clock in the afternoon. 4 o'clock in the afternoon, 4 hours later, I got an email.
You ever heard the expression, one door closes, another one opens? I got an email, and now I got email from one of Norway's most prestigious universities. They want to open up a whole new school, a technology school. And they asked me to be on their advisory board.
When one door closes, another one opens.
And I believe that all that came about because the test that was in front of me, the test that we're all tested with all the time, is: are you willing to be you? Are you willing to sacrifice what you think others are going to think of you? Are you willing to just ignore fear?
And remember, fear doesn't exist. It's you worrying about something that hasn't happened and probably will not happen., right, creating all this anxiety. And the reward for you being you, the reward for you speaking your mind against all odds, against everyone in society, against the rules that people put in place, that you stick to who you are, you create your path, is opportunities that you can never dream of. I'm reminding you that it's worth being you. Is worth speaking your voice, is worth your voice and your opinion that may go against everyone, including your family, including your friends, including your husband, including your wife, including your kids, including your boss, including everyone. You will stand alone, and it's worth you standing alone because it is that moment that we need you.
To create that entirely new thread in society and culture, in the world that we've never understood before. If you don't do it, no one will. If I didn't do it, I would be at the same place I was before. No more opportunities, no nothing, and just as unhappy. And I stand here in this parking lot happy and proud that I stood up for what I believe, for what a way I see the world, for the level of respect that I demand, not based on anyone else. And not only am I a better person for it, but my life became richer and I have even greater opportunities than I had moments before, hours before, on the same day it happened. It is worth being you. It is worth speaking your thoughts into existence. Don't keep your thoughts just in your head. Speak them out loud. Speak them into existence. Give them life. And let us hear you roar. Go forth and spread beauty and light. Please, please speak your peace. You may have a meeting with your boss and you think you have to be politically correct. You have to be on your guard. You don't have to be. You have to be you. You have to be you. This is Thomas Anglero from an electric car charge stop. Thinking that life is beautiful when you live life according to the way you want to live life. Be respectful of others, love others, and most importantly, follow the love. If you're in a situation and there's no love, it's time for you to leave. If you see love in a certain place, follow that love. Life is about love. You deserve all the love you receive, and you haven't received any, but there's some coming some way. Follow that love. If there's a place where you can get more love, follow the love. And everyone else and everything else, the hell with it. Get it out of your life. Take care of yourself.
And I love you.
Until next time.
Thank you for listening to that episode. If you want to contact me, you can contact me on my website at anglero.com, and you can also subscribe to the newsletter. Or you can find me anywhere on social media with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from you very soon.
