3. Following my heart: Observing, Listening and Learning

— How it feels to be the National President? And two times? — A new executive member from a foreign country asked me with the enthusiasm of someone finding clues of a secret.

— It feels like having a hobby, but more fun — I answered smiling, and it was like that how a long conversation started between both of us, she kept asking me several things, work related, personal related, culture related, university related and we go on until was late and we both felt hungry.

— I want to eat a salad?

— And I want a pizza, I know a place, is called Plaza de Toros… Our “Strategic Food National Partner” — I answered fast, hoping she will catch the small joke.

— Yes, hahaha, you go there often? — We laugh because the restaurant became unofficially our lunch, dinner and coffee break partner, we always went there, it became a tradition, and the employees also knew about us, they already knew all the time what we are going to order, they always come with a big smile offering us a nice table for us, and if is needed to join tables for big groups; for us it was nice to have a place like home.

— Thank you for your time, I know you might be busy especially now that is transition period in the National Committee. But I want to ask you about working things, I’m concern about the challenges we might have the next term and the lack of motivation of the members for support the office.

— That always happens in organization that are working in the same way than pass years, or working in a traditional way. If you want I might give you some advices but I need to know more information. Can you describe me what is happening in your local office? Make a small report.

— Yes, why not. We are preparing for the recruitment period; but the Exchange department is setting goals for the number of students we will send for our term, however the Talent Management department has set already the universities where they will recruit the members, but they have no idea about the profile that exchange department is requiring. At the same time the Communication Department had prepare their Communication Plan for Recruitment, but they haven’t define the target market they have to approach.

— Ok, this is clear and you know it. It is lack of coordination.

— Also I would like that the members had an attitude like mine, working, supporting other activities, focusing in the details, aiming that everything has to be done in a proper way.

— This is lack of commitment. You have to promote the integration of the members; they have to feel that the local committee belongs to them, that everyone feels like a family.

— Another is the office, we need more things but there is no space in the office for everything we want to do. We need more computers, some LCD projector, photocopier, coffee machine and a conference room.

— You are talking about an infrastructure problem. In general some of all the problems you have mentioned might be solved if you ask for recommendations to the members.

— I know, but that really works? It can solve the problems? Because once we made a survey asking for recommendation and only one filled it, and we tried again using an LC Meeting for this, but it didn’t work.

— It works, but is better to talk with them, to have the personal contact; this is how many other organizations are working with their employees, volunteers, etc. It makes the difference.

— I see. But there is more — She mentioned me with concern—. We also have problems with other organizations, they are having stronger promotion, they are recruiting in our university now and they even want to open an office in the same faculty, and even when they are offering things that will never provide, they are taking our members, our partners!

— What you are mentioning now is the competition, and it will continue growing. So you and your members should learn to coexist with it. What you have to do together with your members is to offer what the competition is not offering. So you will have competitive advantage. And actually, according to Michael Porter the three methods for creating a sustainable competitive advantage are through Cost Leadership, Differentiation, and Market Focus.

— Thank you for helping me to see and analyze my local office reality. What do you thing if we rest for today? and let’s have a coffee tomorrow because I have so many other questions.

— Yes, I’m also a little bit tired. Thank you for you attention, it was long afternoon.

At the end of the conversation meanwhile we were walking back to the office, we knew the time spent together was a helpful for both of us. She was catching the learning and the experience that I have, and I felt I was helping her plus I also felt happy about her interest for learning and not to make the same mistakes that the experience teaches.

2. Following my heart: The comfort zone

— Are you Yoel? From Peru?— a tall guy with a Grey jumper approached to me with a funny smile.
— Yes, my name is …. — and without having time to introduce myself this guy hug me like if I were his brother who haven’t seen from long time ago, this funny guy name is Nenad.
I was expecting something completely different, I was told I will live in a really cold environment, with people who barely smile, because now I was heading to the Balkans; but instead I found the opposite side of the coin, they are very warm, hospitable people, somehow I felt still in Latin-America when it was the first time I meet them.
— How are you? How was the trip? What happened with you? … we thought you will not come … — Nenad kept asking me more questions meanwhile he was driving me in his Yugo to the center of Skopje, but me I was just observing the view. I was wondering all the time what is happening in the minds of the people who goes to live in another country with different culture, what is the feeling, I for sure felt weird, nostalgic and happy, afraid and excited, heart broken and in love, everything at the same time, but over everything I felt stronger because one more time I decided to step outside of my safe world or like is known in psychology like the comfort zone.
The comfort zone refers to the set of environments and behaviors with which one individual is comfortable, without creating a sense of risk. In leadership matters is known that highly successful persons may routinely step outside their comfort zones, to accomplish what they wish. A comfort zone is a type of mental conditioning that causes a person to create and operate mental boundaries. Such boundaries create an unfounded sense of security. Like inertia, a person who has established a comfort zone in a particular axis of his or her life, will tend to stay within that zone without stepping outside of it. To step outside a person's comfort zone, they must experiment with new and different behaviors, and then experience the new and different responses that then occur within their environment.

1. Following my heart: 19th of September

— I love you son, go on and follow your dreams… we will be always with you — where the words of my father in the airport.

— Bro, good trip… now your room will be mine — my small sister told me with a evil smile in the face meanwhile a tear dropped slowly on the left cheek of my older sister who was standing behind her.

Then everyone jumped to make a group hug even when we were joking about other people doing those kinds of scenes in the airport, but this time, somehow we knew that this will be a long good bye and time will pass before to see the family together again. It was almost time, the last call for the boarding passenger was announce and after a last strong hug to everyone I went walking to the passport control prepared for my next journey, full of emotions, but before to stop seeing my family I turned back, and a huge flying kiss was the last thing I did before to cross the police control; a strange feeling went through myself and my teary eyes where covered by the sunglasses before to take the plane, but I was prepared because I knew I will come back.

With 24 years, I had the opportunity to lead the national branch of a global organization in Peru, traveled to several countries for International Conference in America, Europe and Africa, being facilitator at national and international level, lead a high quality team members, and more than 200 students from the best universities in my country; in sum I’ve been able to experience to be like a CEO in a really young age.

When once I was doing volunteer work in an asylum because of university obligations, so many things came into my mind, and somehow so many questions where answered; It was nothing about science, about philosophy, about job opportunity, it was something much more simple, it was about the life it self; I have to be sincere when I’m saying I didn’t think about it until years after when I traveled to Poland for an International Conference and had the chance to travel to one of the places that I was curious to see but at the same time afraid to be there, the concentrations camps of Auschwitz, it was then when something changed in my life.

I was crossing the Atlantic Ocean again, but this time with one way ticket; recalling the last words of my father, those words were in my mind during the long 15 hours of traveling, during those hours I was asking myself why I’m doing what I’m doing, the answer was really simple, I was following my heart, that weird feeling when you are in front of something or someone, and you just know, is illogical, is just there, and you just know, but is right.

It was Wednesday 19^th of September, finally I was there, the land who called me with a magical reason, with almost no purpose, but the feeling was there, the feeling to be in the right place in the right moment. A place who became home, a place where I fall in love, a place where I born again, a beautiful place called Republic of Macedonia.