Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Question: What should success look like in the next 10 months?

I've been contemplating this questions for a couple weeks now, but still have not been able to clearly define 3-5 goals/objectives for my 10 months in Africa besides "learning everything I can" and "contributing my time and experience", which feels way too vague.  Some more concrete goals from both personal and career development standpoint might be helpful so I know what exactly I'd like to accomplish at the end of my time there.  Any suggestions?

Right now, I'm stuck with the following draft, they all feel very generic (with the exception of maybe the first and the last one), definitely think I'm missing something big...please comment and challenge my thinking more!
  • Basics
    • Stay alive, healthy & safe...
  • Career
    • Immerse in all aspect of d.light beyond my job description: to understand how a social enterprise is run at that early stage and to take part in  the effort to start a new office and develop a new market.  to take advantage of the extraordinary talents in the office in Nairobi and Delhi to learn from them key lessons doing business and leading people in Africa and India
    • Define clear objectives with d.light so I will actually help them during my time there...TBD with team in Africa
  • Personal
    • Travel and learn about the diverse cultures and rich history of Africa: I will get a chance to travel all over sub-Saharan Africa during my fellowship.  I plan to learn all about the different tribal languages (well, the basic words) as well as the secret handshakes. 
    • Fight my introvert tendencies and meet as many people as possible in the diverse expat community: to learn about their stories and be inspired by the different walks of lives
    • Learn to slow down: having gotten a taste of "African time" in May, I think learning to slow down and master the skill to still get the important things done would be a challenge
  • Community
    • Start or jumpstart an organization in the Kibera slum that will benefit the society: during my last trip to Kenya, I made some friends in Kibera, one of the largest slum in Africa.  I was deeply inspired by the optimism, collaborative energy, and entrepreneurial spirit from the folks I met there.  Despite of the harsh condition, people are happy and thankful for what they have accomplished thus far.  With the move this summer and my 30th birthday bash, I would raise some money from selling personal items and from friends.  I plan to work with my friends in Kibera to co-create an organization (or help an existing one already started by the community there) that would be helpful to the local community, hopefully something related to education.  I have never done anything like this before.  Historically, I've just donated money to a charity, and let them manage it from there, this could become something interesting.  

1 comment:

  1. interesting... curious on where you would like to be (or think you'll be) after this experience and what will actually happen after 10 months.

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