This post is a part of a series to document the Hive Global Leaders Program that I went through in San Francisco, March 2014. The other posts in this series are posted below
Introduction
Day 0 (Welcome Reception)
Day 1 (Your World)
Day 2 (Your life)
Day 3 (Your Org)
Conclusion
Day 3 – Your Organization
After two days of thinking about the world's problems and our own life purposes, we came together at the basement of Galvanize, a co-working space in SOMA, for the last day's program which focused on developing an organization to enable your vision. I recently noticed that Hive changed this day's program title from "your organization" to "your work", perhaps as a way to better relate to the actual Hive audience, many of whom work in organizations and does not plan to start companies at least in the near future. Below is a recount of the last day's program.
Building an awesome company culture (Dave Kashen, MeetingHero, Quantum Leading)
The first talk of the day was presented by Dave Kashen, whose own story resonated with me deeply. Dave came from a finance background and dabbled in start-ups after business school. Through his own pain running a start-up with cultural issues, he discovered his passion for coaching and cultural consulting. He shared with us his insights and practices on how to create a great and relevant company culture. You can find Dave's full presentation here. There is also a video of his talk at the first Hive Global Leaders Program in January at Hive website here.
I thought Dave's presentation was insightful and thought-provoking. Though I also knew that building a great culture or changing an existing culture can be extremely hard. What was presented by Dave can only serve as a starting point for experimentation when we actually delve into real work at our own companies. Here are some of my key takeaways from Dave's talk.
Introduction
Day 0 (Welcome Reception)
Day 1 (Your World)
Day 2 (Your life)
Day 3 (Your Org)
Conclusion
Day 3 – Your Organization
After two days of thinking about the world's problems and our own life purposes, we came together at the basement of Galvanize, a co-working space in SOMA, for the last day's program which focused on developing an organization to enable your vision. I recently noticed that Hive changed this day's program title from "your organization" to "your work", perhaps as a way to better relate to the actual Hive audience, many of whom work in organizations and does not plan to start companies at least in the near future. Below is a recount of the last day's program.
Building an awesome company culture (Dave Kashen, MeetingHero, Quantum Leading)
The first talk of the day was presented by Dave Kashen, whose own story resonated with me deeply. Dave came from a finance background and dabbled in start-ups after business school. Through his own pain running a start-up with cultural issues, he discovered his passion for coaching and cultural consulting. He shared with us his insights and practices on how to create a great and relevant company culture. You can find Dave's full presentation here. There is also a video of his talk at the first Hive Global Leaders Program in January at Hive website here.
I thought Dave's presentation was insightful and thought-provoking. Though I also knew that building a great culture or changing an existing culture can be extremely hard. What was presented by Dave can only serve as a starting point for experimentation when we actually delve into real work at our own companies. Here are some of my key takeaways from Dave's talk.
- Three key questions to ask yourself: What's been driving you? What would you do if you know you couldn't fail? What problem is worthy of your life?
- Value-driven start-up starts with clearly-defined core values that are aligned with an inspiring vision which drives people's behaviors.
- Building an awesome culture starts with the "why". See Simon Sinek's TEDx talk on "How great leaders inspire action" below to get more inspirations.
- Language vs. action: Organization is a network of conversations. However, alignment lives in the domain of action, not in the language. Therefore, core values need to be both clearly articulated (in common language) and clearly demonstrated through observable behavior and org practices (in action).
Peter came from Firelake capital, a venture capital firm that focuses on disruptive technology innovations that aim to solve world's most pressing problems. I originally thought his talk would be on how to raise VC funds for social entrepreneurs. It turned out that the talk was mainly about Peter's life stories. Peter talked about how he followed his instincts and made some well-thought-out decisions that allowed him to combine his skill-sets and interests to pursue a career that he felt passionate about. I appreciated his sincerity and humility which is sometimes hard to find in the ego-centric VC world.
One benefit corporation and leaps of faith (Rose Broome, Handup)
Dressed in a beautiful floral sundress, Rose stood on stage and spoke to us earnestly and enthusiastically about her journey to start Handup, a social enterprise that provides a platform for donors to donate directly to homeless individuals in their neighborhoods. She spoke about her struggles searching her own path and taking the leap of faith to do something that was risky, uncertain and yet exhilarating. She briefly touched upon the topic on incorporation choices and introduced us to the concept of a legal benefit corporation. What stuck with me most though was her candidness in admitting the difficulties she faced when she took the leap of faith and her passion for doing something good for the community through her start-up.
Hive participant story-telling time
This was a unique session during which participants signed up to tell a 2-minute story to the entire group, with no restriction on the content or the format. It ended up being an exciting, inspiring and refreshing experience. Many of our new friends shared skills and knowledge they accumulated over the years. Some shared significant moments in their lives that shaped who they are today. One talented young man even conducted an impromptus acapella with 15 volunteers on stage (see picture below). It was a humbling experience to see what people were willing to share, to experiment and to be vulnerable on stage. I wished I had not hesitated at the last moment and ended up not taking my chance to share.
Impromptus acapella led by one creative Hive participant
The story of a fellow Hiver - Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah
Below was a video that we watched at Hive to learn about the story about one of our own, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah. Some Hivers learned about Emmanuel's story over dinner conversation the night before and asked him to share the story with the whole group. Now I cannot wait to share his story with you.
Below was a video that we watched at Hive to learn about the story about one of our own, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah. Some Hivers learned about Emmanuel's story over dinner conversation the night before and asked him to share the story with the whole group. Now I cannot wait to share his story with you.
Before hearing Emmanuel talk and seeing this video, many of us had no idea he had suffered and achieved so much in his life. At the end of the video, we stood up and clapped fiercely for the hero sitting among us. On one hand, compared to Emmanuel's struggle and triumph, my problems in life suddenly seem so minute and trivial. On the other hand, I had to remind myself that every human being lives a different yet unique life with its own valid challenges, big or small. We cannot become others. We can only take inspirations and courage from others and try to live our own lives fuller and more impactful. For that, I thank Emmanuel.
You can learn more about Emmanuel's current effort from Emmanuel's Dream.org.
You can learn more about Emmanuel's current effort from Emmanuel's Dream.org.
"Needs & Gifts" Wall
On the first day of Hive, we were instructed to fill out a "Needs & Gifts" worksheet during which we wrote down three things we needed help with and three gifts that we could offer to the Hive community. The worksheets were then put on the wall during the next three days for everybody to review. If you felt that you could help with any need or if you found any gift helpful to you, you could paste a small post-it note with your name on it to that person's sheet. Here is what the wall looked like at the end of the third day.
On the first day of Hive, we were instructed to fill out a "Needs & Gifts" worksheet during which we wrote down three things we needed help with and three gifts that we could offer to the Hive community. The worksheets were then put on the wall during the next three days for everybody to review. If you felt that you could help with any need or if you found any gift helpful to you, you could paste a small post-it note with your name on it to that person's sheet. Here is what the wall looked like at the end of the third day.
"Needs & Gifts" Wall at the end of day-3, with all the colorful post-it notes
For me personally, I received lots of interests in my trial coaching offerings which was absolutely helpful for me to launch my own practice. It also felt great that you could help someone with what you are good at. I am still in the process of following up with everybody who showed interests in my needs and gifts, but I can say with certainty that I am already benefiting from this simple exercise.
My "needs & gifts" sheet
The three-day Hive Global Leaders Program officially ended with everybody sitting in a large circle and taking turns stepping into the center to share our "finalized" life purpose (in reality, this will always be a work in progress). Each of us received our Hive t-shirt and our framed life plan, which I proudly display at my desk at home these days. The idea was that that if we make our life plan visible to ourselves and others on a daily basis, we would be more likely to achieve these goals. We shall see how it goes with me!
My framed life plan, now sitting on my desk at home
Read about my experiences during the other days at Hive
Introduction
Day 0 (Welcome Reception)
Day 1 (Your World)
Day 2 (Your life)
Day 3 (Your Org)
Conclusion
Introduction
Day 0 (Welcome Reception)
Day 1 (Your World)
Day 2 (Your life)
Day 3 (Your Org)
Conclusion
