In my book, Provocateurs, Chapter 8 talks about Envisioning the End you Intend. A foundation I have followed through the years is closing down its operations for good. I got the chance to talk to the current Executive Director about the rationale and the processes they're working leading to this path.

Ending with grace is a purpose-driven response to closures, good byes, and changes. This means a lot for those who were part of the organizational journey from the very start, the founders- Board, Staff, members, grant recipients, and the people on the ground who were touched by the impact funding and breakthrough activities. This means a lot as well to those countless people in the community who were involved in some ways or another to the activities and programs and celebrations of solidarity with the people in the South.

I am quite shocked at first as an outsider to hear this but I salute the courage to truthfully assess their situation. This is a very difficult decision to make and no Board, staff, or members would take this further unless it's considered to be (at that time) the best alternative amongst other options. As a consultant and advisor, I can't get into the minds of the decision-makers but I believe that there is a bundle of rationales that are taken into consideration in such an undertaking. But what happens next is not really much discussed but fortunately, my book looks at many such wondrous things that can take place after closures. Evidence is replete with many spin-offs, small and large that can 

I heard from the Executive Director that a bunch of members is meeting informally over coffee. All good things will end eventually but this is an interesting development to watch. We can all learn from this process and be amazed as to what 'reimagining the futures' would be like for this community. 

In the business of helping purpose-driven organizations succeed, we all know that it's all about relationship. Yet, networks and organization leaders prefer to put their goals and agenda front and centre. When they're unsuccessful in putting their agenda on the table, the focus on relationship becomes fickle and shallow.

We need to redeem how we make business with one another. Instead of profiting from relationship, we should ask ourselves, how our relationships not just give us what we want in terms of vested interests but also allow us the opportunity to examine our understanding of our organizations and the world we live in.

If we prioritize relationships before our own sacred goals, we do not lose even though we might not get what we want. If we prioritize being in-community with one another instead of competing for those limited funds and scarce resources, we are less about scarcity but more of generosity. If we understand that when an organization or a leader succeeds, there are hundreds more that can benefit from a simple stroke of convergence. If we lift one up, we know that this person will one day lift more people as they rise up from their own struggles. 

Hence, when was the last time you forge a relationship between and within and outside your own networks and systems, without any vested agenda or purpose at all? Sounds too saintly? No! It's our business to make purpose-driven organizations more more purposeful towards humanity. It's our business to keep kindness our agenda. 

Do you know that you can enjoy being in a community despite being an introvert? 

Yes, I'm basically an introvert, although a lot of people will not believe when I say that. I have to get over the introversion because my work dictates that I should be outgoing, energetic, and open.

But introvert leaders must be able to be respected for who they are. In my community that I'm building, The Provocateurs' Nexus, this online community could be something different to different people.

To the overachievers and action-oriented leaders, a space to run their ideas and expand their professional network;
To the dreamer and visionaries, a space to experiment on different models of operating and different knowledge bases they can tap on;
To the change-makers and catalysts, a space to learn, laugh, and build the next systems change tools and techniques;
To the young and inexperience, your Kuyas and Ates (older brothers and older sisters in Filipino) can guide your way so you can avoid the mistakes they made;
To the silent and introverts, you can be lurkers, observers, and quiet support but your presence and impact is felt nevertheless.
To the empaths, you engagement this community by volunteering and leading with your thoughts and prompt and ensuring that everyone is feeling safe and valued will be appreciated. 

You bring your whole being here and we respect and value that here.

​Of course, if you're not part of this, how would you know the difference? 

I have never been so committed to getting this right. A community that I have been looking for for the past five years. As you know my consulting practice has taken me in various directions, metaphorically and physically. Hence, the product of all these tours, detours, reiterations, and close-calls are now lovingly produced into this community, The Provocateurs' Nexus. 

As I was talking to representatives of my target demographic, I noticed three qualifications which I think deserve its own explanation. 

They want EASY, NO RISK GUARANTEES!
We are bombarded with so much gizmos, gadgets, apps, and everything that involve making our lives easier. We are given promos that are time-sensitive to get us into action. We don't want any sleazy marketing. We want personalized, high touch attention. I hear you! Let the buyer buy without any hassle. 

They want NO GUILT, LAID-BACK PARTICIPATION.
I'm all for it. There is no sense of building a program for those who are overworked, underpaid, overly-stressed, and underpowered in their current roles who will not have any time or energy to devote to anything else. I can't emphasize this need very well. There's a space for lurkers, browsers, and introverts too. I will not be taking away time as opposed to be building personal efficacy over time. 

They want NO UNSOLICITED ADVICE.
Aside from effective facilitation and expert moderation in this instance, key is the adherence to values and principles laid out from the beginning. In any group dynamics, there could be misunderstanding which can lead to conflict or hurt feelings. The need to be respectful and supportive can be shown not just in giving or receiving advice. Giving advice when not welcome at all is just being insensitive. For this community, I'm leaning towards disclosing based on one's comfort level and encouraging conversations at a more general level and not particularly pointed to one or more individuals in the group. More of a teaching moment for everyone. 

If you want to know more, head to my page where I talked about the benefits, terms and conditions, no risks guarantees, stories, and more.

I didn't come from a well-to-do background. I came from the most humble beginning.

Way back in circa 70s, what we had was a make-shift house, with tin roof over our heads, three simple meals a day and an opportunity to go to school. Forget that the neighbor in better villages could afford a television, a fridge, a stove, a good toilet, and some eating out and vacation time.

Well, I have travelled from there to here and I can fairly say with all honesty that it was a good journey. I have learn lots in the process. Truth to be told, it is not perfect now, but comparing to those years where all you want to do is to get out of the misery, it wasn't bad after all. It was good to suffer early on in life. I learned to appreciate early little good things that I have. 

What brought me here is a group of people that supported me from the start and continue to support me in every aspect of my life. They cheer me on, bring me perspective, encourage my walk, and gave me all kinds of support. I am forever indebted. 

I thank them everyday during those formative years when I have no awareness of my potentials yet, they build it from within me. Because my family cared, my former teachers and mentors cared, and other kind-hearted people I met along the way cared, I am now what I am.

To the many more people that I will meet in the future, it's not my skills, expertise, and charisma after all, although they are valuable. It's not about me, it's because they are the kind of people that rises up with others along their path.


​Thank you for spreading love and humanity.

I was in an online connections meet-up of a social enterprise eco-system network for the first time. What was my biggest take-away in a matter of half an hour talking to a group of strangers was the fact that at the end of it all: they were no longer strangers but good friends.

Building connections is not as easy as I thought it was. This problem is compounded during COVID19 where lockdowns increased social isolation and the mental health issues that come with it. Nowadays, for many, it seems that 'building connections' is seen as a luxury not as need. It's easy to work with colleagues over Zoom but building interpersonal connections is almost impossible or nil at this point. It's very easy to say that you don't have the time, when it's actually about prioritizing and valuing it. 


​I maybe immune to this at some point because I work alone and I'm basically to myself for many working days. To me, connecting is like breathing air. If I haven't connected meaningfully to another person, colleague, network member, client, prospect, or to anyone in my circle, I will be totally down for the rest of the week. As opposite of energy suckers, I long for energy booster communities which I can fully show up as a person, not just a professional and be embraced by them. In return, I show up and engage actively. There is no real substitute for that kind of community. 

As I ponder on this today, I note that integration and connection requires discipline, strategy, and intentionality for these things to take place. Building it and they will come is a surefire for lackluster results. It's those things that are always taken off the plate when events get tough.

Instead of seeing it as burdensome or work-requirement to connect, note that you needed it as part of the humanity. We need to connect, belong, and share with one another, trusting and relying on each other to succeed in life. 

With that Zoom community call today, I felt revitalized than ever. It provides levitation I need for the rest of the week. More of these, then I will feel like am really where I belong. Right here talking with people without any agenda but to connect meaningfully. 

It's now almost the end of summer and the remainder of the year looks very near.

Harvest time will be in full swing. COVID19 and Monkeypox will soon plateau. The Ukraine crisis will end and that the supply chain problems will dissipate. Organizations will know that they can't rely on prior performance, methods, and technologies to propel them to the future which is now. Executives will be busy gathering what they have learned from two years of crisis to rewrite their own playbook. 

In the midst of all of these, the rainbow (from the Bible) represents renewal, a promise of commitment to never again a massive deluge will cover the whole earth. What I see with the rainbow, is what lies behind it.

There is another day, another week, another year for us to work on. Seize the chance to make sure that what you focus on gets you to the next level.

A friend of mine has won a PhD scholarship award from him and his wife. His wife and baby is now in another country on a another scholarship. Their lives was torn apart by civil war and a repressive regime. This challenge did not deter them obviously. 

Cheers to many people whose lives are being transformed and renewed through courage, determination, and persistence. They have seen the worst but decided to honor what is the best for themselves, for others, and for humanity.

​

Last year, I went to our community library and found stacks of books for sale, almost for nothing. I paid $ 50 cents for two books. The first book was a classic and timeless read, The Long Road to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. I thought that I was a few decades late on this and had to quickly brush up on gems found in his life, political career, struggles, and experiences in prison and beyond. What struck me was the clear and unassuming way he wrote down his some of his poignant thoughts.
 
This is when he enjoyed gardening in prison: “In some ways, I saw the garden as a metaphor for certain aspects of my life.  A leader must tend to his garden; he, too, plants seeds, and then watches, cultivates, and harvests the results. Like the gardener, the leader must take responsibility for what he cultivates; he must mind his work; try to repel enemies, preserve what can be preserved, and eliminate what cannot succeed.”

One time, his cell was moved to cell 18, the farthest from the entrance where visitors come. The authorities wanted him not to be able to talk to visitors to voice out their concerns. For the sake of unity, everyone agreed that visitors should talk to cell 18 for their complaints, when asked. 

As a leader in your home, workspaces, networks,  groups, and communities, tend to your garden and diligently bring it up to the level of competence. Watch it grow and increase. When things fail and you have done everything in your power to grow it, let it go. Take care of what you can preserve and move forward. 

The lessons of Mandela are evergreen. Note that Mandela represents the thousands of people who sacrificed and fought apartheid for decades in South Africa and in other places. Mandela is the icon, not the individual. Mandela's win is the win for the 21st century.

I was speaking to a group this week. We polled them if they have a positive outlook during the pandemic and less than half confirmed that they had. They also reported that their supervisor supported them a lot. This showed that even their supervisors might not be feeling positive as well.

We can only surmise. 

Positivity in the age of post-pandemic emergence is a pre-requisite and it's the basic quotient to have before you can build along changes that come into your life. I know for a fact that this is not easy. But I chose to be positive, persistent, and hopeful, despite several setbacks I experienced last year. 

We can never know what other people are experiencing. If you can count the people in LinkedIn that have critical illnesses, jobless, with family and personal challenges, you will know that your troubles aren't comparable to these situations. 

It's better to go beyond resilience: benefit from shocks, stresses, raise the bar, and go along with changes and welcome ambiguity. Cultivate opportunities even in the midst of trying conditions and know that you're not alone. You can be in a lockdown but isolation is a choice. You can still be connected in the deepest, most humane way if you choose to be.

I can say that the distance between our efforts and what we have as external impacts is our positivity equity. Increase that positive equity now and as you move up, lift others along the path to your recovery.

How many organizations in the on-purpose sector are scrambling to get the best member? 

You want the world to know your impact. 
You want the world to see you've made these dents and about to accomplish more.
You are innovative and leading the way for others. 
You need great members. 

A newly minted organization is asking itself what is the best positioning in a world where competition for belonging, attention, and value is high and unyielding. When talented people are redesigning their lives versus to fit and to belong to just anything. When time outside work and family is precariously limited.

To get the best you need to be the most differentiated or at least try to be. 
Ask yourself, what's the driving force behind your differentiation?  
Don't just be different from the mold, create a new paradigm. 
Ask them, what affiliation would best meet their needs?
Don't just provide the obvious and standard. Raise the bar. 
Educate the public. Educate your network. Educate your team. 

If what you want to be doesn't excite or scare you. Rinse and repeat.