Building one global, entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Reflections and reminders in first month as the Director for Global Community at GEN.
In early February, I wrote about attending the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC). At the time, I was working as a consultant and excited to, again, be part of the US delegation. Less than a month later, I was offered a full time position and joined the Global Entrepreneurship Network team. Needless to say, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind.
Coming onboard just as your organization is preparing to host over 2000 international delegates (and 10,000+ locals) in a foreign country, is like cooking holiday dinner in a new kitchen while your guests are arriving. While the work is familiar, you are in a new environment and it takes some time to know where the ingredients and utensils are, and learn how hot the stove cooks. Meanwhile there is an urgency for things to be perfect, and respond as your diners reach out for directions and show up. As much as you can anticipate, things do not go as planned. Best intentions of responding to all the emails and learning all the systems quickly has not happened. You need to simply attend to the things you can, making the best of the time together and learn.