Impact

Amigos!

Time has passed but life has continued even though I haven’t been writing to you. Life experiences keep coming and I’ve had to build the wisdom and patience to handle them. I wanted to share a few memories as I continue the journey of life on earth.

Africa caused a deep genome change in my human development. Life added another resource to expand my horizons. African life engaged every receptor in my being like no other culture has been able to. The reasons to smile, the importance of simplicity and essence of culture, refined the way I make decisions.

Two days ago, I started a workshop on leadership with Seth Godin, one of the prominent entrepreneurs of our time. As part of the workshop, there are notebook moments that contain a series of questions that vary depending the topic of discussion. The first three topics are a) Leadership is not management b) See the End Before You Begin the Journey c) Culture Defeats Everything.

Below you will find a few notes and unedited answers that came to my mind on how to answer these notebook questions.

Hope you guys take something from it. Asante.

Leadership Notebook #1

Leadership motivation moment

For the past 3-months, I’ve worked at a energy startup and social enterprise in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The company’s vision is to provide rural villagers with the power of solar energy to improve their livelihood. To help them save income, improve their education and bring them out of poverty. It sometimes feels the challenge is too big to solve. A few weeks ago, the CEO/ Owner reminded me why we come to work everyday. He reminded us that our work directly impacts the life of hundreds of people by giving them the ability to study longer hours at night with the aid of a lightbulb, and improves their health by removing the need of kerosene as a source of light. In this time of uncertainty in the company, he always keeps his cool and looks at the bright side. He is always mindful of what is the end goal.

My Leadership moment

During this time in Devergy, I’ve had the opportunity to be an entrepreneur in my own role and provide new ideas, and improvements. I am in a position where if I don’t do it then it doesn’t happen and it is both stressful but fulfilling. Been managed for the past 6-years has taught me how to get things done efficiently, and it has also taught me that to cause change I need to take bigger risks. I need to make decisions that not many dare to do.

The Goal

I would like the opportunity to improve the lives of the poor, to work towards the eradication of poverty and aid of those most in need.  Do what I love everyday and continue to build a better society while doing so. 

Fear of failing as a leader

As I navigate the path of life, I’ve decided that one of the things I value the most is to learn. To be constantly challenged and learn about myself and about the capabilities of my team. Doing so, makes me a better leader to them and we can both accomplish our goals. This way of thinking allows me to always take advantage of the present situation and be grateful for it. It helps minimize the fear of failure. 

Thinking about failure, does it make you fail?

No. It actually helps me realize where I stand today. I do acknowledge that not having a clear picture of where I want to cause the impact, seems to be an obstacle for growth. Finding the ultimate goal is the hardest piece at this moment. The impact I want to cause is defined but how I want to cause that impact and to who, seems to be unknown.

Ciao!