I told a leader yesterday that she shouldn't aspire for her organization to be a normal brick-and-mortal organization, a virtual one is not just acceptable but also innovative.

It's like saying to the fish: Why not be normal and walk on the ground like the rest of the animal with legs? 

If they end up being a normal organization, they lose their individuality, sense of value, and advantages of virtuality.

There are more cases of dysfunctional and mediocre outfits within a normal mold.

These outfits are embroiled with admin, nitty-gritty, how to look good publicly, and social washing.

Whereas being virtual means more focus on impact, getting things done, and being the best version of themselves, less frills.

But also not perfect, or put-together, or cleaner.

Did I forget the word 'stable' too?

Okay, I think what they need to learn is to be good risk takers.

They need to own their game.

They need to devise their playbook and stop comparing themselves with others.

And they need exemplars all around them.

In short, get new friends. 

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I attended to an exhibition booth for two days.

I realized that I'm the only business amongst the mission and purpose-driven organizations there.

But one thing I realized while I was observing them get sign-ups, talk to the students, and create visual attraction for their booth made we want to explore the art of exhibition. 

One of my neighbors donned a costume on. The first day he wore a long shirt and tunic pants with a hat, Mediterranean style or say Arabic. The next day he wore a Filipino barong, a traditional Filipino attire.

He was the only one who thought that a costume could evoke a reaction from students.

There were candies, stickers, swags, and brochures, QR codes, online and printed sign-up sheets.

I'm the only selling books that I have written. Some books were given away for free and some were sold for a donation.

I couldn't also believe that standing out is not really hard. You just need more creativity and injecting fun to it.  

​I was in the room of a university academic official recently and we talked about how I can support their goals of strengthening students' leadership impact.

The discussion went off and I told him, "You're wrong. I'm not everything for everybody. I have a specialization and I worked on it for more than 15 years."

They needed to be told because they think consultants/advisors/coaches peddling their wares are after their budget and will do anything and everything to get a sale.

I'm in the 1% category and I'm fully convinced that if there's no need, it doesn't matter if you're good at this or that, it's not going to be invested on and your work will not be sustained by those who are responsible for the charge daily.

Hence, I can walk away with elegance, having said what I have to say.

Walk away if you must.