Бесплатный фрагмент - Next Level Reality in HR, Marketing & Branding

Acknowledgments

For my children, who watch me typing away, awash in inspiration over another book, who hear me narrating into a voice recorder on walks, rain or shine, through it all…

Preface

“I have always divided humanity into two parts: the garden people and the house people. The house people carry their house with them everywhere. You feel suffocated within their four walls. You must speak to break the silence. Silence in a house weighs heavily. But in gardens, you can walk. There, you can be silent. You can breathe. You feel at ease. And happy discoveries just come to you. You aren’t looking for anything. Here is a butterfly, here is a beetle, here is a firefly. Nothing is known about the civilization of fireflies. One can reflect on that…” (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “From a letter to Madame François de Rose, Sardinia, May 1944”).

This book is definitely NOT a manual, an immediate action plan, or a description of a specific number of steps on how to properly implement a particular employer branding project (you can find that in my previous book Branding Your Way to Better Talent).

It is more of a deeper reflection on the flow and a look at HR processes and HR marketing from a different perspective.

For me, this is an opportunity to share my state of mind, including as a creator. So that everyone can perceive what I’ve written, if it resonates with them and prompts them to reflect on deeper matters.

If, while reading, you begin to feel active resistance to what’s written in this book, now is not the time, and that’s okay. There’s no internal debate here, nor is there a single correct answer or advice, and torturing yourself with something that’s obviously inappropriate contradicts its core message.

This book is a nonlinear narrative, and you can read it not in order, like 100 Steps or a historical novel, but rather start with the chapter that resonates with you at the moment, sparking your interest here and now. The choice of reading order is yours, and you may skip some chapters and come back to them later.

To whom might this be relevant, in terms of role and position in the labor market?

— First, for business owners, project leaders, community builders. For those acutely aware of the rapid changes unfolding lately, who often go against or through the tide, developing unconventional and new approaches in their lives and work. They truly — not just in words — love what they do and the team of like-minded people around them. They are creative, inventive, risk-takers, bold and courageous.

— For leaders who are the driving force and heart of the company, who support the owners’ ideas, generate creativity, and inspire the team. They want to understand why formal or classic approaches to both HR and branding may no longer work — and what, instead, truly brings results and serves as a working model or set of principles.

— For employees who want to understand why a particular company isn’t the right fit as an employer — and that it doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. How to choose your company so you don’t regret wasted time later. And if you want to move to a new level, achieve a more relaxed, open relationship with your employer — learn how that’s possible. Find your place in this world and, in the end, wonder: “Was that even possible?” Remembering my son’s frequent words: “Nobody said I couldn’t!”

— For HR professionals. Those who have “kept up with classical theories and approaches,” yet seek something more. They are interested in how to interact with the company, employees, and the employer brand in a new reality. Adhering to the concept of “Being, not seeming,” we must focus on depth and substance, not on pretty packaging or formalism. We must ensure HR plays a driving role in empathizing with people and creating connections — rather than trying to hide behind processes or artificial intelligence.

— And, of course, for everyone interested in what is happening in the world, in the labor market, and in the context of large-scale trends and changes. For freelance artists, freelancers, the self-employed, and gig workers — as further proof that you are not alone in this world, but are riding a wave that is sweeping across many spaces.

Background

“There is only one path in life: knowledge. It liberates man. And the freer he becomes, the greater his significance in the life of the entire universe, the greater his work for the common good, and the broader the impact of the atmosphere of peace he brings with him.” (Concordia Antarova, “Two Lives”)

Almost six years ago, my book Branding Your Way to Better Talent and the online course Employer Brand Builder were published — the culmination of more than a decade of work in this field. Since then, much has changed, both in my life and on a more global scale: in the labor market, and even on the planet.

You may ask: “Are you talking about those new tools that have flooded our world and reality?”

— Of course, but that’s not the only thing.

A multitude of tools, including those using automation and artificial intelligence, emerge every day. One replaces another, this continuity of existence and the flow of life is the natural order of things. Today, even a child knows how to navigate technological innovations and the world of information — often faster than adults.

The point is different.

A paradigm shift. A shift in social and public patterns. An invisibly moving transition from the old to the new world order. Such paradigms relate not only to the material foundations of life, but rather to a shift in consciousness and level of perception, including the energetic potential possessed by each individual. The changing of generations — from Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, and all the letters in between collectively known as Millennials — and their values is merely a reflection of these changes happening within individuals.

Observing only the external, we can notice, for example, that people used to gravitate toward lifelong employment at their city’s main employer, working in factories or government jobs, and could remain forever attached to the same companies — a value and advantage of the old world. Stability, certainty, an illusory sense of security, when everything was decided for you, assigned, allocated a job, a uniform, and instructions on what to do and think.

Now, flexibility, mobility, open relationships with employees and employers, and the ability to work remotely while living anywhere in the world are becoming increasingly important. The gig economy is already an integral part of life. People are becoming independent, pursuing entrepreneurship, self-employment, freelancing, or working under contract for multiple companies — including using tools that provide freedom of creative expression: channels on Telegram or other messaging apps, social media, streaming platforms, and self-publishing. But all of this is merely an external expression of what is happening within — the result of significant transformations in human consciousness, as well as a shift in collective consciousness.

There are many reasons, but they all relate to deeper layers of knowledge. The world has changed and is beginning to play by new rules. People seem to be slowly awakening from a forced image — like from a dream — to their own consciousness and perception of reality. Many talk about a transition, but it’s not always clear what that means in practice, while others find these terms uncomfortable and roll their eyes: “Well, this is definitely some kind of cult,” imagining an alien ship carrying its followers beyond the boundaries of current existence.

Even the planet’s vibrations are increasing every year. This is a scientifically documented fact, not the fantasy of esotericists. As the saying goes, just because we can’t see something with our own eyes doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist (recalling the famous line from The Little Prince: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly”). The so-called Schumann resonance, which measures electromagnetic waves between the Earth’s surface and the ionosphere, has recorded a trend of increasing average frequency to 40 Hz over 20 years. You can monitor changes in the Schumann resonance daily on an online dashboard, with noticeable changes occurring on important dates such as equinoxes, solstices, and other significant points. This is not coincidence, but synchronization with the unique rhythms of our living planet. Regular, powerful solar flares also affect the planet and its inhabitants on all levels, from the physical body to the mental state. People with highly developed sensitivity experience these sensations firsthand. And those who have not yet learned to track energies simply notice changes on the external plane, in the world — like a change of eras, as if one system is replacing another.

Periodically, what seem like “high-speed transition portals” open to new energies and worldviews, and we increasingly notice different realities and spaces on Earth, including those where we no longer need to suffer, survive, defend ourselves, and constantly work on ourselves, proving our worth to others. These new energies offer us the opportunity to live from the heart, not from societal constraints. One of the most visible external examples of such changes — affecting work and consumer culture — is the rise of the gig economy as a free market for hiring independent contractors and freelancers, as well as the sharing economy as a culture of collaborative consumption instead of individual property ownership. It turns out that owning a thing or being employed for life may not be mandatory, nor an indicator of happiness and inner freedom. Similarly, marriage — once the only means of survival and existence in society — is transforming, acquiring new formats, meanings, and values.

Or perhaps you are noticing a global restructuring taking place right now in your life or the lives of others, even to the point of destroying everything built over many years. This can be accompanied, for example, by financial difficulties, bankruptcy, layoffs, divorces, the collapse of hopes or plans, or the departure of friends and relatives. It feels like a crystal castle made of many parts is crumbling before your eyes. What worked perfectly before may now, sadly, malfunction. And for some, it seems as if the Universe and the environment have conspired to test your resilience by changing your usual pattern of life. Faced with this, people begin to delve deeper, uncovering the causes and exploring more subtle matters, including spiritual and even esoteric themes. And here the principle is: the more powerful the shock on the external plane, the faster the opportunity to see beyond what the objective picture of life shows us. You can pretend none of this exists, deny it, or argue about it as much as you like, while still actively creating the illusion of a normal life like most people. Everyone has their own time and path to understanding, their own resources, and their own way of drawing closer to their Soul.

Looking back at the paper I wrote in 2019, I see that despite the emergence of new tools in employer branding, the approach itself — as a systemic model for working with personnel and employer branding — remains the same if we perceive it within the traditional paradigm, within the old worldview. And it will continue to work as long as different worlds coexist, including the one we have become accustomed to, even if they never intersect.

But in this book, I want to reveal those invisible changes in the psyche, soul, and personality that in turn influence company operations, recruitment, and retention. And it is useful to simply begin thinking about this — noticing certain “warning signs” and symptoms of transformation — and then, once you have found your own wave and flow, build new relationships with yourself, your employees, your candidates, and your employer.

Reality Engine

“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings”. (Optimus Prime, Transformers).

It would seem that classics never go out of style, but does that mean traditional HR and marketing approaches do too? Conceptually, each approach and method caters to the level of consciousness people find themselves at, within the society and the rules of the game that currently exist.

Why am I talking about the game?

Imagine your life as a quest, a game. You’re on a computer platform, like Roblox, for example. You log in, choose a game already created, and play by its rules. You’re assigned an avatar (body, appearance, and costume), roles, functions, limitations, and abilities. Alternatively, you can create your own game (like in Roblox Studio), where you define all your parameters, objectives, roles, rules, and path.

It’s difficult to acknowledge and understand this if we want to continue playing a game with someone else’s rules and attitudes. We might simply be interested and comfortable in this game, or we might be afraid to try something different. There’s still “gunpowder in the flasks,” the strength and desire to continue playing the system’s established order of “kindergarten — school — college — work — retirement,” “marriage and three children as a mandatory program for living”. Or, for now, our focus is only on the external: material desires (a car, an apartment, a dacha, a yacht) or images of other people, glimpsed on social media, of successful success and repeating other people’s experiences. No one will judge. Everyone needs to experience their own place and level of play.

But when we realize that everything old doesn’t work, or is no longer interesting, then we want to dig deeper, understand how the world works and find our own place in it.

Over 20 years ago, the Wachowskis’ film “The Matrix” starring Keanu Reeves was released, and since then, the idea that our reality isn’t what it seems, but rather resembles software — software into which we’ve been downloaded and forced to see the world as real — has begun to gain currency. The terms “simulation,” “virtual reality,” and “parallel realities” are increasingly used in everyday speech. All of this was well demonstrated in “The Thirteenth Floor,” as well as in contemporary cinema such as “Don’t Worry, Darling” and “Ready Player One.” If we take the idea superficially, we might limit ourselves to the influence of computer technology on our lives or the role of artificial intelligence, even to the point of taking over our will. We might become terrified, stop using technology and neural networks, go to the other extreme, or even physically retreat into the forest, shutting ourselves off from everything.

Concepts and ideas are emerging in the information field, suggesting that there can be many different realities (or branches of realities), and that we control them through thought and intention (all of this is well reflected, for example, in the book and film “The Secret” or the works of Vadim Zeland). Various techniques related to creating wish maps and affirmations are becoming popular in society. It’s believed that before shaping reality, one must verbalize it, think about it, or create a collage from photographs and magazine clippings. The very idea that reality can be influenced is no longer new; it is carefully ingrained in people’s minds and is influencing the emergence of various philosophical movements.

And gradually, concepts like “matrix” (or even “matrix 3D”) are actively entering the mainstream worldview (especially in training schools or on YouTube). These concepts refer to a certain program, a systemic role-playing game, or a quest. In simple terms, it’s a kind of reality simulator, like in the aforementioned films. A complex quest with various levels and roles that can be assumed and played out within the context of one’s own life. And, of course, with rules of the game that cannot be broken, because any violation of the rules entails punishment from the matrix or system itself.

And so, appearing on Earth, the players — the souls themselves, initially free and with their own purpose — gradually connect to the matrix, perhaps with the help of their parents and others (and all this even without virtual reality headsets). They begin to play established roles, follow a routine, and with age, acquire knowledge of all the rules and regulations of this quest. The “guardians,” or rather the structures that ensure order and functioning of this game, are numerous egregors. Each egregor also creates its own rules, for example, in an institute, school, state, factory, family, bank, store, and so on. These organizations, like honeycombs in a shared hive, shape the rights and responsibilities of players and contribute to the overall game’s control.

While a person plays this game, unaware that they are within it, as if existing by inertia, in a dormant state, they are completely under its control. They experience a captivating dream, observing a reality that has been shaped for them, like in the movie “Don’t Worry, Darling.” The Matrix controls and binds participants with powerful emotional hooks — fear, guilt, shame, resentment — and thus prevents most from becoming conscious and awakening. Even random glitches or system errors don’t bother the participants until the Soul within them is ready to go beyond the “rabbit hole”. Perhaps some of us, as children or even as adults, experienced a sense of unreality during difficult, strange, or incomprehensible events, as if we were watching a bad movie and just needed to wake up. In psychology, this phenomenon is attributed to the psyche’s defense mechanisms, such as walling off and repression. But I believe that cognitive mechanisms are not the only factor here, as these sensations don’t occur on a mental level; the peculiarity lies specifically in the memories of our Soul. We all possess this memory in one way or another, differing in our ability and willingness to penetrate the layers of accumulated programming.

More often than not, unlike the pretty picture of a Californian town from a 1950s fashion magazine, typical life within the Matrix game can resemble an endless, joyless slog from work to home and back again. Note that while the Matrix is strong, corresponding value systems are instilled into society, such as “build a house, plant a tree, have a son,” along with recommendations on what to do and what not to do while you’re alive. People’s lives are built on an approach and principle that is reflected in the famous line from the film “Pokrovskie Vorota” by Savva: “They live not for joy, but for conscience.” The Matrix can punish and take everything away. For example, it can rage against those who actively and openly fight it, like revolutionaries. It can also powerfully reward those who perform best, the so-called “excellent workers” of certain political and corporate structures, with special perks, power, and money. At the same time, the freedom of the Soul can be taken away, since any contract requires adherence to the rules and a sacrifice to the system. No one simply receives power and vast sums of money from the system. The structures themselves (egregors) also change over time; some become obsolete and disappear into oblivion (for example, the Komsomol or the Communist Party), while others simply transform (the institution of marriage, for example, is completely different today than it was 20 years ago).

When the standard path of “finish school, go to college, find a job, buy an apartment… and so on, repeating the same cycle all the way to reserving a cemetery plot,” questions arise, and a sense of something amiss emerges. A realization dawns that this scenario is artificial or limiting. A person begins to question their own purpose, trying to break free from established patterns and find their own. This process is often called awakening. But more often, a person is simply pushed out of their usual circle by extreme and difficult events, a series of resets, when matter and the entire surrounding space collapses. These painful events seem to signal and begin to scream: “Look deeper, go BEYOND, think about meaning!” We know examples of such events — from natural or man-made disasters to the bankruptcies of previously functioning businesses, difficult divorces, deaths, separations, and military actions. From the outside, it seems as if a person is simply pushed out of their usual environment, urging them to become more aware.

The task is not easy, even for the brave, because the system actively resists the exit of its players, imposing numerous temptations and capturing the mental and emotional airwaves (news like “we’re all going to die”). It diverts attention from the truth to the matrix scenario. It continues to feed on people’s negative emotions and sway them toward a reaction of fear or guilt (conspiracy theories, for example). It pulls strings, pressing on those pain points — triggers — that distract attention for a long time. Or it tests and tempts, offering ever new needs, desires, and ambitions (you definitely need a new phone, or another mortgage at 30%).

There’s nothing good or bad about the matrix or egregors themselves — they’re simply a system and its structures. One can only marvel at its complexity and be amazed by the incredible visuals of this game (and how seriously we all play it). But when you recognize yourself as a Soul, and not the scenario the matrix demands of you, you gradually free yourself from its grip, even to the point of exiting its core structures and beginning to live your own captivating life. Approach any interaction consciously, understanding how the system works and the rules by which its structures operate. And now, instead of being subject to its actions and laws, you use it for your own benefit when needed. As long as we don’t live in a remote forest or alone in the mountains of Tibet, where interaction with the matrix and its structures is necessary (after all, sometimes we need to go to the MFC, use banking products, renew our passports, and so on), we simply calmly follow its rules in the present moment, without resisting it or internally criticizing it. We shouldn’t prioritize the functioning of alien systems and structures, devoting energy, effort, and time to them. We should ask ourselves, “Who am I in this?”

We learn from quests from childhood, deeply immersing ourselves in them

Oddly enough, playing other people’s games is very exciting and interesting, but only up to a certain point, until you get bored or you’ve “outgrown” the game, knowing all its tricks, levels, and prizes at the end. This can be clearly observed in children, as well as in anyone involved in various computer games.

Let me give you an example. Just recently, I participated in a Poppy Playtime horror walkthrough with my son. He couldn’t get past the final stage of the first season, where the main character, with multicolored arms, runs through the ventilation system from the scary Huggy Waggi, trying to reach the right door, navigating every nook and cranny and labyrinth. You run left and right, following the signs on the wall, and at any moment, Huggy Waggi can jump on you with a creepy sound and a sharp animation. This makes you jump in surprise every time, reacting to the jumpscare. My son became so frustrated with each failure that he started getting angry. His anger and irritation grew with each attempt and eventually spilled onto the surrounding objects, chairs, and, of course, me, as the cause of all the problems. I tried to explain to him that this game wasn’t worth such negative emotions, but it was useless, since he was already 100% involved and explained that his body reacted this way automatically.

Eventually, we found the instructions and suggested the correct route: where to run and what to do. We sketched the arrows in a notebook and started verbally reciting them to him: “Right, left, down, bend, don’t look back…” It didn’t work, the beast was catching up. A brilliant idea struck: we needed to somehow speed up while running. We learned about the coveted Shift key, which allows you to run fast rather than just walk. By pressing this key, my son navigated the ventilation labyrinth on his first try, reached the right spot, slammed Huggy Waggy with a giant box, and completed the first season of the game. Delight, happiness, euphoria, and… an increased number of gray hairs on my mother, along with frayed nerves.

How much does this reflect our entire life, which is essentially the same quest, a wandering game with many tasks, difficulties, and horror. The more we let’s get involved the more we play this game, the more we experience emotions of all kinds and magnitudes: from disappointment, anxiety, anger, fear, to positive, yet still temporary, ones. In fact, it’s all just a game, and not our own, one we’ve immersed ourselves in. You can’t quit until your interest in the game wanes. And until you’ve had enough of these games, you’ll play them over and over again. House, loans, cars, mortgages, problems, jobs, expenses, everyday issues, the constant hustle and bustle of achieving, and we get angry, afraid, anxious, and so on. As soon as your interest fades, you quit the game, or rather, you simply realize what’s happening and can breathe a sigh of relief…

The Rules of the Game are Changing

“What defines a transformer is not the cog in his chest but the spark that resides in their core. A spark that gives you the will to make your world better”. (Alpha Trion in Transformers One)

Gradually we observe that Global tectonic shifts are occurring on the planet, affecting not only the Earth’s plates but also social formations and paradigms. The rigid systemic programming we’re accustomed to is gradually giving way. People are increasingly beginning to wake up, realizing that there’s no point in following any particular scenario established by someone else.

And the more shocking news and events happen on the planet (and the degree of “shock” is growing every day), the more often we think about the fact that only we determine our own life and purpose. Although the external reality from television and public news tries to dispute this fact and “sell” us a different picture, filled with fears and anxieties. More and more people disconnect from the system’s “radio broadcasts”, imposed principles and policies of the party, beginning to listen to what is inside.

Some people go to nature, choosing more eco-friendly living formats, those who remain in the urban environment find opportunities to be closer to nature and silence, even during working hours.

It’s obvious media transformation as a transition from a centralized delivery system (one topic, one channel, we show it so that everyone thinks the same way, the way we want) to a decentralized one, where YouTube and other streaming platforms are the new “TV,” and anyone can create content and express their point of view. As in any business, there are distortions and shortcomings in the form of information overload and, in the absence of critical thinking, the difficulty of understanding the endless stream. But the fact is clear. Everyone can exist in their own microcosm within the multiverse, listening to what resonates with them, choosing what suits them. The entire environment, reality, people, and information are drawn in as a reflection of this microcosm. Often, these microworlds may not even intersect, and people are unaware that some, for example, live in a world of abundance and joy, and everything is fine for them, while others are in constant fear and anxiety for their lives, living in the same neighborhood or even street. And one person could ask the one in constant anxiety and fear, “Why did you make this particular choice?” — but this won’t happen, since everyone lives their own path of experience and knowledge.

Freedom of choice comes from the level of one’s own consciousness. The more flexible one’s inner reality and consciousness become — when conservative, dead, outdated attitudes that hinder one’s life gradually dissolve — the more easily and flexibly external reality forms and responds. Tools for expanding consciousness, working with one’s own psyche, attitudes, and programs are becoming more numerous — the number of training, psychologists, movements, and retreats is growing every day. And each seeker can choose their own way to clear out internal blockages and attitudes, achieving a more free relationship with themselves and their lives.

More and more often we admit to ourselves that life may not be eternal suffering, but joy. We weren’t taught to rejoice as children, but we know everything about how to suffer properly. Film and literature are geared toward this, vividly depicting the suffering, pain, passions, and horrors of this world. But after being fed up with imposed narratives about success — for example, running around in survival races and quests like “The Squid Game” — you come to the realization that you can simply live without fuss and the constant need to meet other people’s expectations. Even a simple, peaceful stroll through the forest becomes a greater value and blessing than running around the office or shopping at the mall. As a friend of mine recently shared: a real-life example of a Zoom meeting of department directors, some of whom strolled through their nature reserve during the meeting, punctuating their discussion with phrases like, “That’s the waterfall making noise, I’m going to go a few meters away now… Don’t pay attention, that’s my dog barking, Rex, come here!”

Freedom of choice entails freedom of expression and all kinds of creative options. And the creator doesn’t simply do their work, shyly, showing off their results while living in a semi-starved state and becoming in demand only after their death. Rather, they choose the options that allow them to express themselves and live in abundance. This entails enormous responsibility and a broader level of consciousness, regularly working through fears and survival programs, but the world gradually comes to this, including through external support and assistance.

It begins to play an important role of energy, as such. We are all given certain energetic resources that we can invest in creativity and creation, or to “feed” parasitic structures, support negative emotions, idle talk, and spread gossip. Terms and phrases such as toxic relationships, vampirism, “energy drain,” and so on are increasingly used in everyday life. This doesn’t mean such phenomena didn’t exist before; it’s just that the topic has become especially relevant, as previously we could live automatically, without even thinking. Now we notice how we drain energy, leaving an empty vessel within ourselves, when it’s impossible to get out of bed, like “I woke up in the morning and I’m already tired,” or, conversely, we can raise and maintain resources through energizing conversations, inspiration, travel to places of power, and even daily yoga practices. The sheer number of tools and practices is numerous, and it’s not difficult to find your own way to restore spiritual and mental strength, as well as energy capacity. Some companies, for example, even offer nail-stands as a separate practice for powerfully pumping energy and realizing one’s potential. This isn’t a panacea, but rather individual tools that, in the hands of an understanding and aware person, can be beneficial or simply pass for hype. They won’t cause any particular harm, but they’re a good massage. It’s like in the movie “Avatar,” where Neytiri tells the protagonist that each of us is given a certain amount of energy, no more and no less; you can work with it and then you have to give it back. And since this amount is limited, it’s the most valuable thing we have, and we really don’t want to waste it. First and foremost, think about how NOT to engage in unnecessary fussy actions, NOT to invest your resources in other people’s systems, NOT to give your emotions to TV or YouTube, NOT to get involved in obviously useless conversations about politics or social injustice in the kitchen. How NOT to waste your energy, but to conserve it.

Analyzing these changes as a whole, we can conclude that there is a growing trend that people are gradually returning to their Soul, they begin to listen to its voice, discover their own resources, and reclaim their potential and wasted energy. External reality gradually approaches the level of light and purity of their own hearts, which opens up over time. And while this isn’t yet a ubiquitous picture (after all, the matrix won’t give up its position so easily), it’s only the direction we’re heading. But all of this is very exciting, and certainly much richer and more vibrant than the tired, familiar model of game space. The times we live in are unique! Although to each their own freedom of choice of the Soul. It also means the freedom to choose a game or stay within the confines of the old one. To gain all the necessary experiences and move on…

What’s Wrong with Employer Branding?

“To be, not to seem!” (Cicero, treatise “On Friendship”).

By accepting the old rules of the game in the matrix world, we rely on classical, and sometimes even inverted, distorted, and purely utilitarian approaches to hiring and managing personnel. What worked perfectly well before in the rigid system of walking over heads, total deception, and even “slave labor” and attachments:

— Pretend we really, really need an employer branding project, involve all the agencies and departments in the discussion, then dismiss proposals or even the completed project.

— Disappear from view when it turns out there’s no budget. Or, at the end of the year, when it’s crucial to spend the allocated funds on HR, rush to invest them in some super-expensive and unnecessary tool. Which will essentially be nothing more than a fireworks display — beautiful, but very short-lived and useless.

— An employer brand is like a wrapper or a candy wrapper, meant only to shine on stage during the awards ceremony, to display the tag online wherever possible. And then you can quit to “implement” a similar project and win another prize at a different company.

— Get as many people as possible, we’ll figure it out later, or we’ll fire half of them, who cares? The main thing for us is to make it in time for the season, the rest is irrelevant.

— Spruce up the job postings and company information a bit, make it more appealing, like a red flag, to be seen everywhere. The key is to use yellow here and black there; it will be as eye-catching as the subway signs, and no one will miss it.

— Missing the reality that the company is, internally, a “typical juicer or meat grinder for draining souls.” We’ll just talk about stability and money, which are always in demand among our audience, and candidates won’t even think about the rest.

— We retain staff with numerous perks, exerting as much control as possible over each employee’s life, from their food choices to their hobbies and free time. If we decide to go on a cleanup day, everyone will go; otherwise, we’ll cut them off.

— If employees are feeling unwell, we’ll talk about burnout and send them to stress relief and psychological support rooms. But we won’t delve into the root causes and the underlying issues, otherwise they might inadvertently feel free and leave; it’s better to keep them on a leash.

— It’s fashionable, prestigious, and trendy to talk about employee happiness, the human face of the company, and so on. We, too, say that we’re missing the fact that no one cares about employees.

— We’ll draw the masses to the corporate event, throwing a vanity fair with awards for a select few. We’ll pump the rest up with alcohol, so people take a long time to recover, taking the weekend with them, and then shamefacedly recounting what they saw in the smoking room. Outside, we’ll show a captivating YouTube video, where fun, love, and happiness are evident, and family values flourish.

— We’ll make the office feel like home, so employees can live there day and night, forgetting about the rest of their lives. The main thing is it’s comfortable, convenient, and you can eat and sleep. We’ll tell the whole world that we have excellent infrastructure and a microcosm; everyone will be proud and want to come work for us. More hooks and go for it. We could even make a movie or TV series about it.

— Have we exhausted our target audience? Let’s pretend we didn’t notice and start pumping a new audience with our values. We’ll quickly adapt to them and their needs, drawing them into our net, so that the gap between different categories of staff and the audience becomes increasingly visible, competition will grow, along with a sense of injustice and inequality, which will further spur employees to seek a place in the sun.

— We’re creative people, so we’ll create a project that’s as creative as possible, one that will engage as many people as possible with their interest, curiosity, and creativity. We’ll make a video that will make the Oscars and Cannes jealous, we’ll come up with an interactive experience that will have our entire social-media audience scurrying over to us, solving yet another quiz, and we’ll pretend our work is the same — with jokes, banter, a red carpet dress code, and admiring spectators with cameras — not in a field, a factory, or an open-plan office under a pile of papers and a steaming printer.

— In all communication channels with employees or candidates, we will close ourselves off from reality as much as possible, not admitting our own mistakes, hiding behind formal scripts, or installing an impossible-to-bypass bot, and let it issue standard phrases so that those who need a solution to a problem, after struggling with the dialogue, simply move to another level of zen — in other words, “forgive and forget.”

— We’ll show off as such handsome men so that we can then shine on stage, somewhere at a best-of-the-best competition, wearing an evening gown, because in general there’s no other goal, what actually happens in the company — no one cares.

I could go on and on. Each of you has noticed this, felt it literally at your fingertips, and can formulate your own example of the distortions and contradictions that permeate the entire world of HR. These are things people are afraid to say, but constantly think about, seeing a perpetual gap between words and reality, facts and feelings. This gap may manifest itself only in the number of antidepressants purchased or an unexpected year-long vacation taken because the psyche can’t cope.

And there’s no one to blame here; that’s how the system works, and therefore, it’s supported by all its participants and players. But there’s a growing need for a new perspective on business, projects, employment, and relationships within companies. And when this need arises, new approaches and options are found. It might be scary at first, because you might be a loner or an upstart, but the worst thing is that you’ll be caught up in uncertainty and can no longer rely on external metrics like KPIs, profits, or conversions. You’ll have to choose: either inner freedom and happiness, or a number on another board or a social rating like something out of a “Black Mirror” episode.

What is Synchronicity?

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift”. (Albert Einstein).

We can check any information coming from outside, and even thoughts arising in the head, communications and interactions for truth, consonance with our own inner nature, the so-called synchronicity.

Synchronicity as a correspondence to the current state, level of consciousness, psychotype, stage of life you are at and all the inner layers of your personality, including the deepest ones as the movement of your Soul.

This applies to everything: a YouTube video you watch, a job posting on a job site, information you gather from people, sources, books, and even what you’re currently reading. Everything they try to feed us on news channels. This applies to any type of advertising, text, posts in the feed, job descriptions, and so on.

You ask: “How to do this?” It’s very simple.

An inner sense, intuition, the so-called instinct at your fingertips. Most importantly, it’s an inner feeling that can’t be confused with anything else; it comes from the heart and bodily sensations. Much is hidden within us, something we uncover and unpack throughout life, as if remembering what we already knew or suspected.

When we encounter any new information that impacts our lives, we should examine it not with logical conclusions like “prove it to me or demonstrate it right now, then I’ll believe it”, but with our inner vision, as if filtering it through our own prism. Everything we can’t touch or feel, including knowledge and information, exists as a possibility to understand it only through our own experience, through ourselves. If active resistance doesn’t arise in your mind, and you feel calm and acceptance within, this is a signal that you can perceive this or that information, or are currently ready for it. Over time, something may become outdated and no longer relevant, and this is completely normal; you are evolving, following the path of discovering something new. Any information that is synchronous with you in the present moment will bring something useful and important for understanding, new insights. And if then it no longer resonates with you, then you have moved to another level and there is no need to be afraid of it.

You can process all information and knowledge in this way — processing it internally, determining what resonates with you and what doesn’t. The more often we access our inner vision, the stronger our connection with ourselves becomes.

But let’s work from the opposite direction. To avoid falling into traps, it’s worth remembering typical catchy programs that can surface in your consciousness and at the sensory level while reading or viewing any type of information or in communications. These are the cases when a situation becomes a source of manipulative influence on you:

— Pride and arrogance, caused by the feeling of “you are exceptional, above everyone else,” or “exclusivity and exclusiveness of information.” Which immediately evokes feelings and thoughts: “Well, now I definitely know better than anyone, now we’ll live, I won’t tell anyone and I won’t share,” as in Grigory Oster: “Attention! Everyone’s a fool! Except me.” Or, on the contrary, a rise in fears, anxieties, and tension from a sense of one’s own inadequacy: “You’re not what you need to be, you lack this and that.” All this is part of the sameprograms of comparison, devaluation or self-exaltation.The same thing arises when comparing theories and teachers, criticizing others, and assigning blame. It’s not very pleasant to observe such comparisons when one expert, master, or teacher actively elevates themselves at the expense of others by producing exposés or videos. And although such formats are usually enthusiastically received by the audience, significantly increasing views, they serve no practical purpose. This is a manifestation of the comparison scenario and the appeal to fear or pride. Various mental concepts of chosenness based on certain group or national principles (deepening into the theory of resentment) usually like to “make a living” in this way, for example, and the explanation for this is everything around).

— Focus on the delay, the future, waiting state: “You need to wait a little longer, try harder, it’s not time yet, you’re not ready, and so on, in all sorts of other forms and meanings.” This is also a common program, both expecting the best and the worst. hope is sometimes worse than any poison, fear of the future or the saving phrase: “Tomorrow will be better, you just have to be patient.” The program itself is destructive precisely because it takes a person’s consciousness and focus away from the here and now. Many concepts and movements are aimed at this future, which will never come. For example, “we’ll wait until the Age of Aquarius, and then we’ll live happily ever after.” Any news feed hooks its viewers in anticipation: “Just wait, just a little longer and the castle will collapse.” Shifting from the here and now to the future has practical survival value only in extreme situations, bordering on life and death (for example, in a concentration camp), when this forward focus becomes the sole meaning of existence. In our everyday lives, however, such a delay will be nothing more than a constant phantom goal, a mirage that is impossible to reach. After all, life can only be lived now.

— Well, of course, any direct intimidation, manipulation of fear, anxiety and feelings of guilt or shame — a sure sign that something is wrong. This could be a story about the concept of “we’ll all be enslaved by aliens,” “if you eat meat, you’re dirty, constantly in a low vibration,” “if you didn’t manage to achieve something by February 2027, you’re already too late,” or the principle of “it’s your own fault because you got divorced/wore a short skirt/attracted such people to yourself.” There are many ways to formulate such messages that evoke these feelings, and you should monitor your reactions when you receive information and carefully filter it. This is often exploited by true manipulators, for example, by government officials with “janitor syndrome,” and sometimes even by janitors themselves. In the same way, typical manipulative hooks and reactions are sometimes instilled in parent-child relationships, when parents hook the child on feelings of guilt: “I gave birth to you, I devoted my whole life to…”, comparison and feelings of shame: “Well, who are you so useless, everyone is like other people, and you…”.

So what are the indicators that synchronicity is occurring, meaning it’s in alignment with your current truth? You’ll immediately sense if information, an event, or any contact with people:

— fulfill with love and light. You read, communicate, or watch something, and your soul rejoices, as if a connection with something higher within you is awakening,

— creates feeling of integrity, unity “everything with everything”, and not division (we are better, they are worse),

— reinforces the feeling of lightness and joy here and now, and not expectations of a phantom future (we are not ready yet, tomorrow will be better).

Every time you read any part of this book or other sources, or interact with people, ask yourself: “What do you feel right now as you read or watch this information?” By observing and tracking what a particular message or text evokes within you, you can make decisions internally, based on the principle of consonance and synchronicity. This applies to all types of decisions, even food and drink choices. Assessing what your body truly craves, intuitively choosing one option or another based on your own feelings, not on accepted norms or beliefs (eating three times a day, drinking two liters of water, following a diet, and so on).

This is the right and freedom of every reader, viewer, listener, and participant in communication. By the right of freedom of the Soul, the right to think and act belongs only to you, no one can take it away from you. Although many would like to do this, including the entire system — society, organization, employer, or cult — force you to think a certain way, cutting off your connection to your Soul and your own intuition.

Your body never lies to you

Note that most of the information we receive and evaluate as true or false for us (as we’ve been accustomed to doing since childhood) is all mental. I’m talking about synchronicity as a comprehensive approach that includes thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. That’s why critical thinking, disconnected from bodily sensations, emotions, and intuition, has its limitations and doesn’t fully resolve problems. Moreover, it won’t tell you what’s true for you.

In the age of information and significant overload, the rapid emergence of new communications, including online, it is important to begin to listen to the sensations of your own body.

Yoga and qigong practices, for example, include special exercises for “grounding” when the mind has become particularly disengaged, drifting off into the vastness of mental noise and ether. Such exercises provide the opportunity to reconnect with the body, its sensations, and nature (which is the most powerful “grounding” factor). A walk in the forest, walking barefoot on the grass, any physical activity, and slowing down our active mind — all of this allows us to reconnect and connect with our body as part of nature. Synchronicity isn’t about mental overthinking, but rather attentively listening to the body’s signals at the sensory level. Does it cringe at something someone said to you, did you feel an incredible heaviness from being part of a particular group, or, conversely, did you feel a sense of lightness, joyful excitement, or a surge of energy after interacting with certain people.

Since we’re talking about work and hiring, you can try a simple experiment: take any job site and start browsing through company postings. Then, read the job posting text, the message itself, and its context, and start asking yourself: “What do I feel when I read this?” Don’t just think about it through logic and reason, but ask your body. You’ll be surprised, but the results aren’t always obvious. In some cases, you’ll feel, for example, disgust (not from the text, but from the message behind it), and you’ll feel the heaviness of the company and the job being offered. In others, you’ll immediately distinguish between lies and reality, or you’ll read between the lines, uncovering the key hooks and strategies the company uses to entice and entice candidates (we’ll discuss these below). With experience, especially if you know real-life situations and stories involving companies and entrepreneurs, you’ll begin to notice how these ostentatious images contradict reality. For example, a company is on the brink of bankruptcy, but continues to advertise leadership positions and seeks a development director. Or the entrepreneur has a shady reputation, having been implicated in numerous frauds with clients, while the job posting portrays them as a successful professional in all areas.

By the way, the practice of returning your focus to your body is very useful when you’re caught up in a deluge of mental noise and anxiety is skyrocketing. Simply shift your attention to your body, to what you feel here and now, in the moment. Usually, everything our mind creates, bombarding us with scary, disturbing images and horrors, has no basis in reality. It prompts you to react quickly with “freeze, fight, or flight,” but by returning to your body, the mind gradually calms down. And ultimately, everything turns out to be less scary.

Synchronicity in the Labor Market

“A stable salary and a friendly team”. (An example from almost any job posting.)

Returning to synchronicity, you might ask: “What does the labor market, employer branding, and recruitment have to do with this? That only applies to the media and spiritual literature.” Any interaction, no matter what it is, is always a source of synchronicity or desynchronization when it doesn’t align with your inner nature. People, systems, companies, television — everything around us — either support our inner essence or distract us from it. The more we become aware of our characteristics and desires, the more clearly we see what resonates with us and what doesn’t.

In the job market, we absorb information from job sites and everything the company broadcasts externally, comparing it with what’s present internally. When we arrive at the office or a meeting with colleagues, we can sense the same signals. We experience either active resistance, leading to deteriorating health, if we don’t resonate with the company and the team, or, conversely, a surge of energy, vigor, joy, and inspiration from energizing communication and work-related interactions.

How many times have we encountered examples of employees in a clearly toxic, unhealthy company environment falling ill with all sorts of unexplained illnesses at once, even to the point of calling an ambulance? Their bodies were so resistant to what was happening in the office. Such examples are extreme consequences of someone who has endured and suffered for too long, accepting the unnatural nature of the company and its activities. Any of us can learn to recognize synchronicity immediately, not after 10 years of steadfast patience and self-harm, with fatal consequences.

Synchronicity in employer branding is when the state of consciousness, psychotype, and values of an employee, management, and owners resonate and are read externally by potential candidates.

You can sense this simply by reading the job posting, interacting with HR during an interview, or calling reception. When a candidate clearly understands that a particular company is a good fit — not just based on formal criteria, but deeply. HR communicates to the job market the very image that truly represents the company, without any bells and whistles or attempts to “put on someone else’s clothes.” When an employee is comfortable with the environment, the current level of interaction and communication within the company. They are on the same wavelength with everyone, although this is no guarantee that this will always be the case. Everything changes; working through one program can lead to other levels, choosing different types of companies, teams, and interactions.

The state “reads” the state.

This is the cornerstone of the entire HR and branding process. Not words, texts, branded vacancies, or a Telegram post, but state, which is behind all the company’s tools and actions, both internally and externally. Even the candidate’s state when they access the job site and the internal location from which they view job openings influences their search and application results.

What is primary is not the tools, knowledge or technology, but the state that lies behind them.

Let the company be the most advanced in terms of internal processes and business, for example, by introducing innovative approaches with a human face, well-being as a trend in HR, but if it’s rooted in a sense of survival, fear for one’s life, or perpetual competition, the labor market and current employees will perceive it precisely. And then you’re faced with a disconnect, with tearful employees running to the break room to catch their breath and regroup, only to return with renewed vigor to this “Squid Game.”

An example of how the system did not let me into corporations

Having lived a fairly long professional career, I have often asked myself why I have never encountered large corporations or international giants on my path, because this is everyone’s lifelong dream, as it seems in TV series or books?

I remember, from my youth, getting involved in the GRP topic, internship programs and offering them to large corporations, I wondered if I should try participating myself. I made a few tentative attempts to fill out applications and pass the selection process, but something always got in the way and stopped me: either they weren’t filled, or I changed my mind because I was “pressing deadlines” for a current project, or the corporation agreed to hire me as a marketing intern, but by then I was already managing a magazine and had no time for an internship.

And each time, miraculously, it didn’t work. “Well, next time!” — I thought.

Only later, analyzing my personality profile and character traits, did the answers become clear: the system simply didn’t allow me into corporations due to my overly independent nature, love of freedom, and desire to influence my own life and projects. I didn’t want to be a small cog in the machine — and no matter how wonderful a corporation was, that’s largely how it operates. Hence my love for startups, young projects, and anything new within a climate of uncertainty.

The corporation immediately “read” me as a candidate who was not suitable for this parameter and even an alien element, and I, in turn, “read” this option of the company and work as not suitable for me.

And we’re not talking about objective things here, since working conditions are often the same, whether it’s hybrid or remote work, business processes, or collaboration. But at a more subtle level of state and synchronicity, the difference is palpable. We can talk about corporate culture, the organization’s stage of operation, or any other typology; all of this essentially describes the same thing: the difference in systems and companies based on rigidity or a greater degree of freedom and ease.

Desync: what is it and is it always scary?

Desynchronization as a discrepancy or contradictionIt can occur in everything — between different messages or within a single text, between people and companies, between the tools used, and between the audiences they’re aimed at. For example, during a presentation, when the speaker and audience are on completely different wavelengths, or between employees.

Under the Matrix Life program, we’ve been conditioned to forget about our own inner selves and focus on anyone outside ourselves: the customer, the audience, the market, other people. And so, we spend our entire lives adapting to the needs, desires, and expectations of others, no matter our role or position.

But in this new world of change, unlike traditional marketing approaches, it’s important to track your own flow and energy, and follow it. And if you’re out of sync, that’s okay. It’s an indicator that this isn’t your audience or your circle. Someone who matches you will find one. Following this is scary at first, but that’s the essence of being honest with yourself. This is the number one global goal: not to appear like some mythical hero, but, above all, to be… understand your own identity and differences, and share them. It doesn’t matter who you are, an individual creator, a company, a group or a community.

Let me give you an example from my own experience. A long time ago, I was invited to speak at an event for a large company with HR staff from numerous offices and branches. The topic, as always, was employer branding. I spoke, discussing classic and modern approaches to branding. I practically preached about how “spaceships furrow the cosmos,” but intuitively I sensed that what I was saying wasn’t registering with the audience, as their current goals were different. Everyone had their own worries and anxieties: filling a vacancy, quickly ending the workday, firing an employee, and generally wondering why we were all gathered here for this forced exercise. I interpreted my feelings precisely this way. We were clearly out of sync with the audience — not the organizers, who were actively trying to instill something reasonable and kind among the masses, but the listeners themselves. And here we can say that the speaker is to blame for failing to reach their hearts, or the audience for being too sleepy and inactive. In fact, this isn’t a matter of good or bad, it’s simply a clear example of desynchronization.

At a different level of consciousness your message may not be read by others because they are in a different information field and mental space. And this is normal, we all live in microworlds within the vast Universe.

But if we’re talking about HR and new approaches, then the main task of a professional is to first assess the level of consciousness, the wave, and the values of people (for example, current employees, managers), and then convey this externally in order to attract the appropriate audience, matching their level and worldview. And this skill is more powerful than other soft skills because it is more complex, deep and associated with the development of intuition, feeling, vision and empathy. By the way, this is what many neurodivergent people value, who, despite their hypersensitive nervous system, possess a keen sense of vision and understanding of the feelings and states of others. They may appear outwardly otherworldly and seem more inward-looking, with an introverted bent, yet they read and understand others better than anyone else.

More example of a misalignment is when job postings for sales associates at a store or for future Metropolitan employees feature photos of polished models with pearl veneers, clearly not matching the profile of the actual employees working there. And this happens all the time. The company’s good intentions to appear better than they actually are are understandable, but nevertheless, it’s a misalignment and will remain so.

I’m not even talking about those curious cases when an international company takes the source material from a diversity-style advertising campaign and places them, for example, in a country with a different appearance. This process often involves many participants, from advertising agencies to photographers or production companies responsible for the shoot. If there’s a vague understanding of who the client is looking for, and if the client is slow to communicate this information to all the performers, the results can be awkward, like obvious desynchronization. Those creating the ads think that the more attractive they create a model’s image, the better it will be for targeting the right audience and the overall advertising campaign in terms of conversion, clicks, and virality. In fact, this only widens and expands the gap between real candidates and those who, out of habit, click on a pretty picture of a gorgeous woman with white teeth in a bright blouse, but ultimately don’t respond or aren’t a good fit for the company.

Various creative campaigns aimed at young audiences are also guilty of this. By creating numerous fun content, quizzes, memes, puzzles, riddles, tests, and so on, while attracting a general youth audience, they fail to connect with the right target candidates. It’s clear that no one would be solving crossword puzzles or sharing viral memes on social media at work. And judging by such creative solutions, it seems as if the employer’s activities are built solely on this. Moreover, the cost of such creatives is often prohibitively high due to interactivity, complex visual solutions, the work of programmers, and an entire team of interface designers. The end result is a waste of money and a waste of money. But everyone had a good time: HR and the creatives who conceived such projects.

Different Types of Egregors

“Everything is theater, and nothing is theater. We are certain figures, here and there. Sometimes against the backdrop of the stage, sometimes against a transcendental backdrop. But in any case, it is a game.” (Viktor Frankl, “Synchronization in Birkenwald”)

Let me dive deeper into a topic related to any large systems, which is what any corporation is. Sometimes, working with them, you really feel like you’re caught in the grindstones of a huge machine that gradually grinds you down if you don’t resonate with it and are out of sync with its approaches and principles. Such large structures, on the one hand, allow you to enjoy the benefits and perks they offer, but on the other, they drain a great deal of attention, emotion, energy, and other resources, including money.