How to Have an Impact without Electricity and the Internet

This is a guest post by Kona Shen, Founder of GOALS Haiti, mentioned here.  What she has done for youth and their families in Haiti demonstrates courage, compassion, purpose and leadership savvy few CEO’s of any age possess.  Kona shares the starkly different definitions of ‘basic needs’ between the USA and Haiti and how it affects her productivity and impact…a lesson for us all!

Sometimes, when I get accused of being a workaholic, I laugh. I do work hard, but I don’t think I qualify. My schedule typically consists of a nine-hour workday, Monday through Friday. I don’t have internet on my phone, don’t work on projects late at night or on weekends, and almost always take a real lunch hour.

Mostly this has to do with living in Haiti. I began traveling to Haiti as a volunteer in 2007 and moved here in 2010 to launch an organization called GOALS. GOALS uses soccer to engage youth in public service and education that improve quality of life and develop new leadership. We’re up to 600 kids per month with a staff of 18 local leaders focused on long-term, community-driven development.

There are times when full-time electricity, internet, and air-conditioning would be nice. Most days, communications and logistics take more forethought and I can’t always be reached.  It took me a while to figure out what a meme was, and I can barely name any movie, song, or YouTube clip that’s been famous in the last two years.

Of course, I don’t want to minimize Haiti’s long-term infrastructure needs, including electricity and internet. But personally, I don’t miss the 24/7 access to power much. In Haiti, I read more books, do more yoga, write more essays, and cook more meals. I actually studied French instead of putting it off. Without the temptation of the internet and fewer gadgets, there seems to be more hours in the day.

In the U.S., electricity at night and streaming internet is usually enough to derail me. I find myself hammering out emails at 11PM on Sunday with the TV on and my phone lighting up with messages. Clearly, I don’t have the discipline to pretend that turning electronics on isn’t an option.

Why does it matter? Because, for me, more work doesn’t produce better work. It turns out, my light bulb moments come to me when I step back. I get so many new ideas out on walks or runs that I carry a pen to make notes. When I make an effort After Isaac: Cleaning out a kitchento do less, the truly important work gets done first, the biggest breakthroughs happen and GOALS is better for it. Best of all, I find myself looking forward to Monday morning instead of burning out before the week even begins. 

Notes:

GOALS Haiti just won Beyond Sport’s award for Best New Project.

2 Degrees of Separation? Last month, Kona was in San Francisco meeting Arnold Ambiel, Director of Operations for One World Futbol.  He suggested she get in touch with Deb Mills-Scofield. Not letting on, Kona asked how he knew me.  He replied that he followed me on Twitter but didn’t know me personally.  Little did he know we were already connected – through bonds of purpose, passion and our alma mater.

What Value Do I Bring?

I'm honored to host this guest blog by Elizabeth Weber about her summer interning at a financial firm in Hong Kong.  The lessons she shares at age 20 are ones many of us don't even learn in our 40's, 50's or our lives.  She's bringing these lessons home, as Co-President of the Entrepreneur Program at Brown.  Please learn from her, share and impact others.

Summer in Hong Kong

I followed a curiosity this summer, and worked at an unfamiliar profession. I’m a rising junior at Brown University with a passion for supporting entrepreneurs and understanding how businesses develop. The University provided me with an exceptional opportunity - to work in Hong Kong at a financial company in their asset management and private equity divisions. For more than two months I became a proud member of Hong Kong’s colorful, cultured, and ambitious community.

My journey began with a conversation with a kind older woman. In Hong Kong, I lived at the Helena May, a historical woman’s hotel dating back to 1916. In dormitory fashion, I stayed with 24 women between the ages of 18 and 65 years of age, four of whom were eating breakfast the morning of my first day of work. The older woman sitting beside me must have noticed my apprehension because she asked if today was important. I raised my eyes to smile and told her I was beginning an internship today. She gave me a knowing smile and said, “You’ll do fine, just remember the importance of relationships.” And then she added, “Think hard about the value you bring to the company, and if you’re not sure what it is don’t be afraid to ask.” Midway through my internship, the woman approached me at breakfast again and asked if I had discovered my value. I started speaking, and after a few sentences I stopped, realizing that I still didn’t have a good answer. I was working hard at the company; I was last to leave and first to come in each day, and I was doing good work. I had two mentors; one of whom was knowledgeable beyond measure with an entire library encasing his desk area. But it wasn’t his knowledge that was so striking but rather his genuine compassion for sharing that knowledge. I was comfortable around him, comfortable enough to show my vulnerabilities. When I asked him the older woman’s question, “What value did I bring?” He said my value comes from, “The questions I ask and my eagerness to learn.” I hadn’t expected this answer; I had anticipated it would be my research or a presentation I had done. Something more tangible. Then I thought back to the woman’s first statement about relationships and began to understand. The best relationships are those in which, we share ourselves – our genuine beliefs and our thoughts. Even in business, defined by coveted numbers and profit expectations, relationships are what matter. I formed a strong relationship with my mentor not through my research, but through my questions, through showing weakness, and working hard. I learned the best relationships are honest and genuine.

My final lesson took me awhile to fully understand. Much of my work for the company revolved around identifying business opportunity. Through research, I learned what metrics and patterns to look for in a company’s financial statements, and what traps and common misconceptions to avoid. I became curious about process, what to look for first, then second, and then third on the income statement or balance sheet. I was becoming a process thinker. I realize this logic is not singular to investing but rather something I can apply to all aspects of my life. As humans, the first way we empower ourselves is through our thoughts. By constantly improving our thought processes, we can improve our working intelligence and translate that into work performance. At school, I’m head of the Entrepreneurship Program. I connect my peers with advisors, and potential investors to help them become entrepreneurs. Reflecting on my work this summer, I’ve realized a flaw in the Entrepreneurship Program. The organization puts more resources into rewarding success than it does into teaching the process. It’s human nature, to strive for the end product; parents wish success for their children, CEOs desire profit for their company but these end goals cannot overshadow the path to achieve them. The path is sometimes long, ridden with mistakes and struggles, but for the patient teachers and persistent workers, the process is worth far more than the end product.

While cultural differences separated me from my Cantonese co-workers and friends, I believe truths like these hold us together. Cultural differences – how to hug, how to politely eat a meal, and what to give as gifts – seem inconsequential in comparison. These can be learned by reading a book, but to become a person of the world, one needs to understand genuine relationships and respect how others think and learn.    

Also published in Echoes of LBI (Long Beach Island) Magazine.

ODE to Innovation

One of the most amazing leaders I’ve ever met, Mike Waite, President of Menasha Packaging Corporation, believes his job is making sure his people get to live their dreams.  While profit, revenue, shareholder value etc. are critical, without his people’s ability to turn dreams into reality – for customers and for themselves – there is no revenue, profit or anything else…simple…and too rare.  Mike is Menasha’s ODE, Official Dream Enabler. 

Dreams allow us to think of what could be, of what is possible - maybe not probable, but possible.  That’s why dreams are innovation’s fuel.  We know what happens to organizations that don’t innovate - look at the 1990 Fortune 100 list. 

We are innately creators and dreamers.  Somewhere along the way, for most of us, we are taught, encouraged, required to push those inherent capabilities to the back and obey the status quo (e.g., public education).  So how do we become an ODE to innovation?

My friend Whitney Johnson’s book, Dare, Dream, Do, provides a framework for becoming an ODE to our people and ourselves.  It provides a roadmap for risking to and realizing dreams – both for individuals and more broadly organizations.  If individuals aren’t allowed to dream, how can teams and organizations?

Three quotes in the book stick in my mind:

• “The only safe harbor is our convictions…because it ensures we are honest to our core values.” For dreaming - innovation to have a positive impact, it must be based on values and integrity.  As we are finally recognizing from the financial crises and our youth’s response to ‘Corporate America”, without providing meaning and purpose, there is no sustainable money and profit;

• “Sometimes we set out to be competent.  At other times our competence is simply the unintended consequence of doing what needs to be done…” We’ve been hiring for skills first and maybe culture and passion.  It’s time to turn that around.  Skills can be taught – enhancing a culture and bringing passion to work? Not so much; 

• “Hell is a place where nothing connects with nothing.” T. S. Eliot commenting on Dante’s “Inferno”: As many of you know, connecting, networking is in my DNA.   Dreams and innovation are not solo events; they are team sports.  How you encourage, support, reward teams around common passions will determine how well you delight your customers…and your people.

Do you define your role, your success, by the ability of your people, let alone yourself, to dream? 

Do you allow your people, yourself, the freedom and autonomy to turn dreams into reality?

Can you become an ODE to Innovation? Start reading Whitney’s book – for your people, yourself, even your family.  And then you can start turning dreams into reality.  So, go – Dare, Dream, Do.