Today, I gave a talk on harmony to my cousin’s company here in Lima, Peru.
Ironically, my ride was an hour late. I almost jumped into a car, that I thought was here for me, and the driver nearly had a heart attack, thinking that I was trying to rob him.
Starting a talk on harmony after waiting for your ride on the busy streets of Lima, is like trying to run a 100 yard dash after getting kicked in the “you-know-where”.
The room was full, it was Monday morning of a short holiday week (so I am sure people’s heads were full of tasks remaining to be done), and a jack-hammer blasted away through the entire talk outside the conference room.
Somedays you are just swimming upstream.
I share this because it was almost exactly a year ago when I did my first talk on Harmony for Vistage.
I am now officially an international speaker ;-) Ha!
I get these crazy pangs of doubt… why am I so consumed with the concept of harmony?
I watch my cousin, and my relatives here in Peru with awe. They are so very entrepreneurial. They just make stuff happen. Exciting stuff! They default to action everyday.
I look at my passion for harmony and their passion for entrepreneurship and I find myself wanting to do what they do. I have this tremendous interest in being entrepreneurial, in creating something from nothing. It’s what I have always dreamt of doing.
And, there is some of that happening at EMG, my company… There is some crazy exciting stuff happening. But, somehow, it just doesn’t seem as exciting as the successes that are going on here…
Why am I so distracted with this whole harmony thing?
I know that its all tied together. But, I question my focus. I question my passion.
I do feel like there is a right and a wrong approach to life.
I do feel like I have come to understand the difference.
But I feel like the process of trying to share what I have come to understand is so painfully inefficient. Its inefficient, because you cant teach it. It’s like teaching culture. You have to live it to create it. You have to live it for a long time to embrace it, to adopt it, to create it.
The talk today went OK… just OK.
I did it in Spanish, which was new and different. I was jumping around a bit. There was one guy sitting near me who kept dosing off to sleep. That is always tricky.
The company these people work in started less than 6 years ago, and it has grown to over $50 Million in sales in that time. I walked around the office, and it is an impressive operation. These people work hard, and they care like crazy. I can tell… I can just tell. The business they are in, is demanding and high intensity. There are a lot of deadlines.
They are doing so many things right.
My cousin, is a very special man. He moves at a fast pace. He has an amazing heart. He is crazy generous.
Perhaps the most impactful part of my talk, wasn’t my talk at all.
Before I went on, he introduced me to his company. Listening to him talk took me back. He talked about my life through his eyes. He told people that the day I left Peru, he felt a huge sense of loss. He said he lost his brother. I felt the same way.
I have always looked at my life as the one that changed. I have always looked at my life as the one that must have been harder. I am the one that had to leave. I never considered what my leaving Peru must have meant to those left behind. How hard was our leaving on my grandmothers? On my cousins? It was a different kind of hard.
I am not sure what I accomplished today.
I am not sure how much the conversation on harmony struck a chord or sparked new thought, or didn’t.
I question at times why I make it so hard.
I question all the time how I can make it easier, clearer, easier to embrace.
It’s frustrating to think that there isn’t necessarily a simple way.
It’s frustrating to see others living harmony so apparently effortlessly.
It is what it is ;-)
And, it starts again today… as it does everyday.
Perhaps the most important thing that I accomplished yesterday is that I heard my cousin, my brothers words. I heard them clearly. And, I have been selfish.
I learned, as I often do when I come to Peru, that there is a balance between thinking and doing, and if you can only do one DO! Doing you learn faster than thinking, as long as you are paying attention.
I want to be known for doing, not thinking.
I want to be known for living, not theorizing.
Both are important, but we must mind our balance.
And, I think I need a little adjustment.
Yesterday was a gift. Seeing my cousin’s company, trying to convey my message in Spanish, hearing my cousins words, walking the beach at night.
It was a full, full day.
Who knows, maybe someone else received a spark that they didn’t expect.
Maybe we shouldn’t try so hard all the time… maybe sometimes we should just observe.
Always learning...
Yours in harmony,
Nestor