Discovery

In the end of August I attended the biggest international conference in my organization – AIESEC International Congress in Malaysia.

It was the second International Conference I took part during my AIESEC career.
Similar to the previous one, IC in Malaysia reminded me that I am in AIESEC for a reason, and if I am here than I responsible for bringing the change to the society after I finish with AIESEC. It might sound superficial, but for me it is much more serious than it sounds.

At my first IC our chair (master of ceremonies), David Pollay, showed the audience the picture of his daughters and said: “I came to chair this congress to empower people who will create the better world for my daughters when they have grown up”.

At the recent congress, another person, Arthur Johanson, gave similar message saying that he wants to see the better world around, and this is why he flew from Colombia to Malaysia to chair this conference.
I had a break in AIESEC and then came back, because I wanted to get a life-changing leadership experience to be able to bring change (I felt I hadn’t fully taken it in the past). And if I am here, I will never be a usual corporate worker. I am responsible for bringing change to whatever I do.

I would like to share some moments from the IC that stuck in my mind:

…Juan, President of AIESEC International for 2008-2009 led a session with report for his term in AIESEC international. He started with the basic principle of his which is a promise. He asked the delegates: “Tell me, what have you promised to people last year and what have you delivered?”. He was giving the mike to randomly chosen people in the audience asking them this question. It was an interesting moment of truth. Being honest with myself, I realized that I delivered on some of the promises, but didn’t fulfill all of them that were important for me and for people I led last year. And being the person who respects promises more than anything else, it was not an easy thought to experience. However this question gave me the power and push for my current role and reminded about giving 100+1% every day. Easier to say than do, but at least I am striving:)

…There are sessions at the International Congress, when Presidents of all AIESEC countries make decisions to improve the working process of global AIESEC. In the beginning of this session, the chair makes a check-point to make sure that representatives of each voting country are present in the room. When it was a turn of Russia, Victor (current president of AIESEC in Russia), said Ya zdes’ meaning I am here. Many country representatives before him had said this in their own language or in English - I am here  - however this simple Russian expression Ya zdes’ reminded me about here, now, and pay full attention to what is happening in the present moment. Ya zdes’ every moment, every day.

…We had a session called Leadership Journey where Aman (current president of AIESEC International) asked us a few interesting questions about leadership. I remember two of them the most:
- Are you leading or following how things were in the past?
- What is your leadership challenge?
Great insight and discovery

…Youth to business forum. This forum was organized to connect AIESEC members with representatives who shared their opinion on 3 different topic: entrepreneurship, sustainability, and labour mobility & diversity. I attended the workshop about social entrepreneurship to understand if I am passionate about this topic, and realized that I am not that strongly passionate to work on the problem of poverty, although I have seen a lot of it in the past year and know how worse it can get. If talking about social businesses, I am more interested in learning/educational ones.

A few more observations:

- It’s great to work with and connect to fellow AIESEC Presidents from other countries
- I really enjoy being with my team
- I like to stand up and express my opinion in the plenary of 600 people, even it is often a challenge for me to do that

And.. Kuala Lumpur is a great city: fast, efficient, and super green!

I am now back to Muscat and will give you some interesting updates very soon.