Archive for November, 2015

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Sunday, November 29th, 2015

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Celebrating Small Business Saturday

Saturday, November 28th, 2015
Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday

I decided to celebrate Small Business Saturday by exploring a local neighborhood known for its eclectic mix of independent, locally owned shops and restaurants. Hope Village is the community located where the Summit, Mount Hope and Hope neighborhoods in Providence Rhode Island all converge. Many of the small businesses there are part of the Hope Street Merchants Association, a mini-chamber of commerce that organizes seasonal events, such as the Recent Stroll, to encourage people to shop local. The pride in the neighborhood seems to provide proof of the frequently cited finding that 68 cents of every dollar spent locally is reinvested in the community. Residents appear meticulous in how they care for their homes. I enjoyed having a cup of tea and gingerbread at Seven Stars Bakery and then went to Kreatelier, a unique shop offering fabrics, sewing lessons and home fashions. I was especially happy to patronize Kreatelier for the first time as it is a fellow WBENC-certified business through the Center for Women and Enterprise. After a fun afternoon, I can see why Hope Village describes itself as the place offering “small businesses with big characters”. I look forward to returning to visit Festival Ballet. I hope everyone supported at least one local business today.

Leadership from Below

Friday, November 27th, 2015

I am using the occasion of the long Thanksgiving weekend to catch up on my reading and came across an inspiring interview with Harvard Business School Professor Rohit Deshpande in HBS’s podcast series Cold Call. Professor Deshpande wrote a case study titled “Terror at the Taj Bombay: Customer-Centric Leadership”. So you can read or listen to the interview according to your preference. MBA students at Harvard learn via the case study method which presents a situation for discussion and analysis. The professor typically begins, or “opens the case” by “cold calling” (asking without warning) a student with a specific question to initiate the class discussion. This case centers around what happened on November 26th, 2008 when a group of terrorists  attacked several sites, including the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. The kitchen staff attempted to help the guests escape through the back street behind the hotel and when the terrorists caught up with them, the chefs lined up in front of the guests and took the bullets. Many of them died in the process, accounting for the largest number of casualties in a single area of the hotel.

I found the interview to be an inspiring account of personal courage. At the same time, I also know from my own experience of 9/11 and from the experience of others impacted by major trauma that there may be strong emotional reactions on anniversary dates. So as we are enjoying our Thanksgiving feast, there are those in Mumbai who may be re-living aspects of the tragedy and the losses they sustained on November 26th. Another reason to give thanks for our blessings and pray for those who are in need.

 

Thanksgiving Blessings

Thursday, November 26th, 2015
A Brighter Future

A Brighter Future

This image captures the blessings for which I am most profoundly grateful this Thanksgiving holiday. I took this photograph when I was working in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, a French-speaking country in Africa. I was there working on a project for Land O’Lakes, an agriculture cooperative of more than 1,000 member dairy farms. I love this photograph because it shows a girl doing something few girls in her part of the world are able to – attend school! Her smiling optimism contrasts with the grinding poverty of her country for which she represents the hope of a better future. This photograph reminds me of how fortunate I am for my education, and my continuing education, as I invest in building capacity for my business, Prisere LLC. It reminds me of how blessed I am to be able to do work that is deeply meaningful to me and, I hope, makes a difference to the lives of others. The photograph is evidence of the blessings I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy, in traveling around the world for my work.

This image also reminds me of how much I treasure my relationships with my French friends. When in Guinea, the French soldiers helpfully showed me the safe places to eat to minimize the risk of illness. And they kept me out of trouble when I was nearly arrested for taking photographs! At that time, Guinea’s strongman-dictator viewed photography as an activity calculated to motivate civil unrest, so I unwittingly put myself in harm’s way when I took pictures. I have photographs such as this one in my office to remind me what I have for which to be thankful and where my attention to be focused. I am spending part of the holiday today going through my photo albums and reflecting on my blessings. And I expect this exercise will multiply my motivation when I return to work tomorrow!

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Wednesday, November 25th, 2015

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Tuesday, November 24th, 2015

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Monday, November 23rd, 2015

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Sunday, November 22nd, 2015

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Friday, November 20th, 2015

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Thursday, November 19th, 2015

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