Hello from the Edge of the World! (Edition 6)

Hi Friends,

The 1st of July will represent the spiritual beginning of “Concept 2”, which will be under the overall banner of "MC2 Life" or "MC2" for short. Put simply, it's the second version of me, hence the "2". It can also be turned into "squared". If, as MC, I were to multiply my impact, it would result in MC squared or "MC²”, and I think of this as my network effect. More soon.

Essentially, what I consider to be my life's work and purpose is to share a cross-section of ideas and possibilities around "wellbeing" (my definition of wellbeing is "sustained happiness"). To some, my concepts will be abstract, and to others, they will be familiar. Our life journey is both perfect and imperfect. I have always believed we should be comfortable sharing the unfinished version of ourselves and concepts.

The Return to My Passion: Search

The 1st of July also represents the official date that I move beyond a three-year restraint after selling ChapmanCG, the global HR search firm I co-founded in 2008 and fully sold in 2022. The significance of this date is that I can return to the search world, my true passion. I have tried my best over this three-year period to leave the professional world I inhabited and take a break. I could always have done it better, but it's also been a good period to get my life together. That will be an ongoing process and metamorphosis, and again I am comfortable with being imperfect!

I have always thrived on talent identification, matching, and problem-solving. To get back to my search and talent craft will not only intellectually satisfy me but will help me focus on growing the "whole human" (work and life) capabilities of a vast network. Hence, MC2 Search will be born, my successor to ChapmanCG. This time, rather than focusing on HR search, I will focus on wellbeing search.

The MC2 Network and Its Mission

The network will be identified as the MC², simply correlating with being connected with me and vice versa. I'll use my initials and a "2" to denote the second life version of myself, but the 2 has the real meaning of "²" or squared. I think of "life 1" as everything before us and "life 2" as everything ahead. The joining point between the past and the future is the present. This is the "metamorphosis" and what I describe as ongoing transformation in the present and the now.

I think of the Network (MC²) as being one of "good energy," and if I were to describe it in a more conventional way, it will be as a "wellbeing collective". It will have a life 2 theme where we act and aim to be the best version of ourselves. I call this our "higher self". You'll hear these terms a lot, and I won't go deep for now.

Through growing the wellbeing talent intelligence of this Network, this will synthesise an inner collection of wellbeing experts at the centre. These will be the Chiefs of Wellbeing and Chief Wellbeing Officers (CWOs). I'll explain the difference in the future, but for now, think of them as one.

My and the MC2 Search mission will be to connect the CWOs to wellbeing-oriented leaders/founders/entrepreneurs. This will create a wellbeing seat at the c-suite, particularly when new concepts (or life 2 companies) are being formed. It's possible these CWO roles exist or could be retrofitted to existing (or life 1) companies via wellbeing-minded leaders; however, it will be less common. I will explain this more in the future. My concentration will be on blue-sky open-minded thinkers and possibilities. The believers!

Through a unique lens of amalgamating much of the global senior HR profession, via ChapmanCG, which had a network of 100,000+ leaders, I was able to see that "wellbeing strategy“ sat partly via HR and partly in the business. I was able to see there was "something" beyond HR to work at the problem. And this capability needed to be amalgamated from fragmented brains and departments in the business. This, I believed, could be a wellbeing custodian. And this thinking could form the seeds of a new global profession in wellbeing. The advancement of this initiative is what I want to focus my purpose on.

Outcomes for MC2 Life

A friend asked me today what would be the outcomes I would be looking to achieve with MC2 Life. I said:

• It’s not about making money; if that comes, it will be via solving problems that others value and assign a monetary value.

• People in the network feeling understood, valued, and inspired (i.e., talent will feel value being part).

• In the future, there being an identifiable global slate of perhaps 500 CWO candidates that are aligned with wellbeing-minded leaders, and the c-suite CWO role becomes a reality.

• Personally, I want to grow and learn from the best wellbeing brains, so it’s best to follow my passion.

• And with all that in mind, I need to keep my own wellbeing front and centre for the ideas and possibilities I see to become a reality (so keep grounded and healthy).

The MC2 Ecosystem

I talked at the start of MC2 Life being like the "parent banner" over "child concepts". The architecture looks like:

• MC2 Search

• MC2 Network

• MC2 Formula

• MC2 Coaches

• Parihoa

• Edge of the World

• Higher Self

• MC2 Foundation

There will be more.

In short, "Search" and "Network" I have covered. "Formula" will be my coaching brand. "Coaching" will be the amalgamative coaching brand of coaches I support. "Parihoa", named after my property in the North Island of NZ, will be the retreat experience (and earthing) of the Network. "Edge of the World," my newest property in the South Island of NZ, will be the retreat experience of CWOs (the slate of talents I will help develop). "Higher Self" will be a collective around healing music that will overlap with the Network. The "Foundation" will be the MC2 give back and will trigger after some forthcoming transitions in my life (which I am advanced on to simplify my "things" into a legacy that can enrich and leverage the wellbeing of the Network). Lots of detail to unpack here, but that gives a taste.

I must add before finishing this that with a broader group of close friends from NZ there is also an extended wellbeing network concept beyond MC² that we call "Morphosis Network" (a shortened version of the word metamorphosis). If this ever was to come to fruition (which I believe it could), and we continue to morph the idea, it would result in not just my wellbeing network (MC²) but theirs' and others' as well. We dream of putting this into a platform and it becoming the world's ultimate wellbeing network and platform. But one step at a time and we want to enjoy the journey. I enjoy mentoring these friends to help create this idea and it may take some time, hence why I will kick off with MC² as I start MC2 Search and the MC2 Life range of concepts.

The story begins, and it's already been unfolding. Thanks for reading.

All the best,
Matt aka MC2