Sir, you have opened my eyes!

[Jean-Louis Lamboray]

«Sir, you have opened my eyes. For 25 years I have had what you might call a successful life. But today I can see beyond this apparent success».  

This gentleman came to me after the presentation of Community Life competence in Singapore on November 24. Our proposition to people in businesses is met with enthusiasm! Let us hear a few more reactions:

“Are you operating in PNG? I want to put you in touch with the leadership of this big mining company” –

“I live in Belgium. Can I call upon you to approach communities of people dealing with obesity?”-

“I am the former Human Resource Director of this Belgian Bank. I’ll join your training”-

“We support this gentleman, whose calling is enhance the quality of care for kids in the 8000 Indonesian orphanages”.  

“ I’ll join SALT visits with Beyond in Singapore. To whom do I talk? When is the next one?”.

“My boss is old style, but I want to use this approach with the 200 people I supervise. They will appreciate seeing beyond their immediate job”.

This is only a sample of reactions that day. I am so grateful to all the people who made this possible: to  Luca, who connected us with the Belgian Luxemburg Business group in Singapore and Gloria who connected us with Beyond, a Singapore based NGO,  to  Maizy and Pascale from Beyond,who went ahead and shared her personal experience with SALT, and to all the members  of the CLCP and the business sector group, who have been debating how  to approach people in business.  Together with Luca, Pascale, Rebecca and Maizy, we did an After Action Reflection at about 11.30 PM. Here is what we learned that day on approaching people in the business world. They are welcome to add!

1. Businesses can be seen as communities and the processes we offer is relevant to these communities
2. People in business aspire for meaning in their work beyond the production of goods and services
3. People in business are people. They also have a family life. Our proposals should appeal to their spouses and children as well. We will be more credible if we use language that everyone understands.
4. People in business want to be of service to the communities beyond their  work. Their initial instinct is to give money and goods. This is valuable, but that is not what we do. Hence, we need to state in very clear and simple language the benefits of SALT to any community.
5. It is important that we start our relation with exposure to community strengths. This  will enable reflection and learning about oneself in various contexts of life, including, but not exclusively that of  work.

 

And here is what we learned about format of the event

 

1. The video works wonders! Thanks to Gaston for his persistence, as I resisted the idea for quite some time, and to everyone involved. You have not seen the video? Please click on this link!
2. We were hosted in someone’s home. A perfect way to start in a human atmosphere
3. We did this together withBeyond, a like minded local NGO. This gave the presentation a very concrete aspect.
4. I did not present, but answered questions. I was ready with Powerpoints if needed. I did not show one slide!

 

Comments welcome!

 

 

JL

[Gaston]

Great. Just talked to Luca and Gloria as well who feel slightly overwhelmed by the invitations they're getting! It seems something worked that evening ;)

[Dr. E. Mohamed Rafique]

If we remember that CLCP had one of its beginnings in Biz, then JLL you are completing the cycle by taking it back to Biz!

[Michael Mc Garrell]

I like the fact that you had powerpoint ready but did not use them. I always believe its is always a good thing to have lots an arsenal of tools at your disposal. I like that you answered questions rather than make a presentation, sometimes we feel like we would not have done anything if we do not present, but we must be reminded that we are there for the community and not ourselves. They must feel like they have achieved, and if it means us answering their questions then lets do just that.