Category: Growth

Expanding Professional Boundaries: How It Encourages Development

Pamela Ayuso June 22, 2020

Last year I had the immense honor of participating in the Central American Leadership Initiative (CALI), a fellowship that brings together leaders from different spheres to interact and learn how to be better leaders. There are four participants from each of six Central American countries, who in most cases, have never met before. I cannot describe the magic that took place when they brought together these musicians, filmmakers, public service leaders, and entrepreneurs to discuss leadership models based on prior case studies.

The program is built to take you out of your comfort zone by having conversations about leadership as well as participating in different types of team-building activities that challenge your perceptions. CALI is a very specific type of program, and not everyone may wish to participate in something similar, but its lessons are universal: getting outside your comfort zone and looking at your life and work from an entirely new perspective can help you transform your world.

What to Do When Everything Has Been Disrupted

Pamela Ayuso April 27, 2020

These unprecedented times can be paralyzing. Everything that we have worked hard for and have dreamt about seems to, in many cases, have evaporated. This feeling may not be true, but at least in the short term, nothing is working the way it was in the past, and we need to grieve what we believe to be lost. I say we pause and acknowledge this massive sense of loss we are all feeling, for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our countries.

In an interview with the Harvard Business Review, David Kessler, author of Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief (public library), describes what we are feeling as collective grief. It is helpful to understand the stages of grief, which, according to Kessler, do not necessarily happen in this order. They are denial, anger, bargaining (trying to negotiate with the situation by saying if we do this, then maybe it will all be better), sadness, and acceptance.

Denial and Action in the Face of the Pandemic

Pamela Ayuso April 20, 2020

The COVID-19 virus came out of nowhere. Up until March 15th, I was in denial. I did not think it would affect my country or my company, and I assumed that I’d mainly have to deal with the fear that the virus had generated. Then, on March 16th, my country, Honduras, went into lockdown. From one day to the next, we had to walk away from our two ongoing construction projects and move our corporate office to remote work.

As I’m reading Amanda Ripley’s The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why (public library), I see myself mirrored in the stories she tells. In her book, she describes the survival arc we go through when we are confronted with disaster, and the first stage is denial. That is precisely where I was before March 15th. I have been wondering why I couldn’t see more of the impact the virus might have in the week or two before, but now I understand.

COVID-19 From the Point of View of the Ancient Stoics – Part 2

Pamela Ayuso April 13, 2020

As I discussed in my previous piece, the ancient Stoics have much to teach us in the middle of this crisis. Acceptance is one of their most important lessons.

As Epictetus put it: “Some things are up to us, and some are not up to us.” There are also things, as Irvine points out, over which we have partial control. Epictetus, who was born a slave and was also disabled, said that it is foolish to spend our time thinking and worrying about things we cannot control, and we should accept them with calm. Nevertheless, we are responsible for our actions.

COVID-19 From the Point of View of the Ancient Stoics – Part 1

Pamela Ayuso April 6, 2020

n the middle of these tumultuous times, I keep referring to the Ancient Stoics and their philosophy. William Irvine’s A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (public library) describes the Stoic philosophy’s principles, which were designed to prepare people for times exactly like the ones we are living. Through their practices, we can learn to appreciate what we have, use situations to become stronger and be able to deal with more challenges, and accept our circumstances.

COVID-19 and Your Business: How to Manage

Pamela Ayuso March 30, 2020

I was thinking yesterday about the plans I made in January for the first six months of this year, and how different they are to the reality we are living today. I never saw this coming; I don’t think any of us did. The year was starting so well, and now, we’re currently in lockdown in my city, scrambling to keep our company operations going. COVID-19 found us in the middle of the construction of one building and two weeks away from finishing another one, and we had to, nevertheless, pause our construction activities today.

I’m having a hard time gathering my thoughts and finding my way through this. It’s shocking, yet we are all in the same boat.

Growing Your Business with Incremental Investment

Pamela Ayuso March 23, 2020

I’m writing on a Monday, and it is one of those Mondays. I feel tired after waking up early to start my day and my week. Not only do I feel fatigued, but I’m also not feeling motivated. Writing isn’t easy today.

It is at times like this that I am encouraged by compound interest. I realize it may sound silly to read that I draw inspiration from something as bland as interest, yet compound interest reminds me of how consistently adding more (money, effort, knowledge), regardless of whatever else is happening, will result in exponential growth.

Innovation: How to Integrate Creativity and Inspiration in Your Company

Pamela Ayuso March 9, 2020

Creativity is a strange animal — you could almost say it has a will of its own. You may have had the experience, as I had, of sitting in the middle of a meeting talking about an unrelated topic. And then suddenly, you have a flash of inspiration about something you have been grappling with for a year. Other times, you may struggle with the solution to a problem– perhaps you can’t find it, despite trying everything.

We all have our methods for inspiring creative thought. Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most brilliantly creative minds humanity has ever produced, famously left many of his works of art unfinished. He would start work on one piece and then leave it incomplete. On commissions, he would take more time than what was originally allotted. Those who hired him would try to force him to complete his work with punitive clauses in contracts, but it wouldn’t work.

Your Career Can Be Your Greatest Teacher

Pamela Ayuso February 17, 2020

Our careers are a progression. As our careers develop, our work with all the experiences it involves as well as our colleagues and counterparts can be some of our greatest teachers. We grow through our work because it forces us to confront our fears (e.g., fear of failure or public speaking) in a way that no other activity would. There is no choice; we have to get to the other side of our fears because we might otherwise damage our careers. By letting go of our reservations, we discover new inner strengths as well as other perspectives in life. Over time, we learn and grow with our career.

Along the way, we also inevitably make mistakes. It is part of what we sometimes must experience to learn. We regret some mistakes, and often we would rather forget them because they sting, but we all make them. If you are on an upward journey and working on areas you have never worked on before, you cannot know everything there is to know about them, and you will make mistakes. They are a part of our path.

What Happens When You Have Achieved Your Goal

Pamela Ayuso January 27, 2020

Goals are a very popular topic. We read advice on how to set them and then how to achieve them. There is less talk, though, about what happens once we get to our destination. Perhaps this is because the likelihood of achieving those goals is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, eventually, with enough effort and knowledge, you will arrive at the point of success.

Once you have accomplished a long-held objective, the moment may be great. It may, however, not be everything you hoped it would be. The results may not feel like what you anticipated. Moreover, after that, there is always the question of what happens next. Do you fill the void with another project? You will have to consider whether you go on with a new phase of that project or if that one is complete, take on a different one.