Freedom – what is our definition?

“Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” (Benjamin Franklin)

Freedom is such a general term that most every one of us has a different definition of it. Freedom could mean making your own schedule, building the strategy to your own accord or just simply deciding to sleep one more hour in the morning. We all have our set of inner rules, principles or beliefs that also define our vision about freedom.

            For me freedom doesn’t imply not being told what to do, it is about not being told how to do it. I appreciate my freedom and I fight for it. When I do something I want to know that when is all said and done I will only be responsible for my own actions and decisions. You can get this kind of freedom in almost every organization, as long as you have proven yourself able and indispensable. Freedom might be a birth right, written in all the countries constitutions, but it must also be earned sometimes.

            The interesting thing is that when you work on your own, building your company or just working as a freelancer, you have absolute freedom. But absolute freedom exists only inside your world. The world where you decide what goes and doesn’t; when it comes to your business and personal future no one tells you what and how to do. But as soon as you interact with customers, clients and other entities, the desired freedom must be earned. I am at a point in my life when I am re-learning to deserve my freedom; I have new partners and sometimes is hard for me to prove I have the right solution. At the same time I know that when my methods will bring the expected results my freedom inside their organization will rise exponentially.

            Freedom in business is actually tricky to achieve. Most of the time, the thing stopping you to reach the freedom is really your business. You become slave to your responsibilities and promises. You cannot see the trees because of the forest and you don’t act true to your beliefs because of the decisions you made in the past.

            There are two types of freedom required in order to really become free in your business or your organization. You need to follow both ‘freedom from’ and ‘freedom to’. The first one is there to provide general guidelines; it is a necessary requirement for a stable base in social, business or personal life. You need freedom from oppressive governments, corporate top-down management or double standard rules in your industry. The increasing power of ‘freedom from’ comes from uprisings in the middle east, the generation of young people refusing offers from big corporation in order to keep their creative freedom and control over their ideas and rebel minds that prove capable of great success.

What is left behind? We have a vacuum of resources, of traditional power structures and problem for the business itself. Your solution in this case is to offer “freedom to”, thus creating competitive advantage. You give this way the option of choosing their projects or level of involvement to your partners and even greater rewards. This way you can offer inside your organizations, to employees and partners you require to stay on your side of the fight, the advantages they will get if they start their own business. You offer them the freedom to work for you as if they would work for them. Get them engaged and motivated to succeed.

Businesses that ignore freedom of their partners and employees will also lose their own freedom. When you don’t respect the freedom of the people around you will lose the freedom of choosing your partners and you will be left with people that sacrifice freedom for security and bring nothing innovative in your organization. If you try and control everything around you the risk is to alienate your customers as well as your partners, they will try and find other companies to search freedom with.

On the other hand, embracing the new trend of freedom to will ensure your company a place at the table in the future and might even transform you into a role model company of the new wave.

Elebrt Hubbard said “Responsibility is the price of freedom” and I do believe one of the key factors in building a successful business is responsibility. You are responsible for everything your company puts out there, no matter who from your organization actually realized that. But being responsible for your actions and accountable for every step you take gives you the freedom you require in order to build an independent business, based on your beliefs and vision.