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One year since Walkabout

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The other day Facebook let me know it had been a year since I completed Walkabout 2017. A full year since I threw all the life cards in the air and tried to figure out what the hell I wanted to do next. I did the job search thing and still find it hard to put into words my experience with the search and the search firms that came calling and I signed up with. For me, it exposed some truths about the racism in the sector I have worked in for the last 20 or so years and its efforts to diversify leadership. I’ve been excited to see so many leaders of colour take the helm at nonprofit organisations in the last few months but about a year ago I was told by one consultant at a national search firm that I had an inflated sense of my accomplishments and experience. Possibly. But when they kept trying to push me towards a certain job I repeatedly said I had no interest in, I knew it wasn’t me. When I was told I made their applicant pool look good, I thought it was definitely time for a chang...
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A Black Unicorn in Queen Elisabeth II's Court - My New World

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The other day Facebook let me know it had been a year since I completed Walkabout 2017. A full year since I threw all the life cards in the air and tried to figure out what the hell I wanted to do next. I did the job search thing and still find it hard to put into words my experience with the search and the search firms that came calling and I signed up with. For me, it exposed some truths about the racism in the sector I have worked in for the last 20 or so years and its efforts to diversify leadership. I've been excited to see so many leaders of colour take the helm at nonprofit organisations in the last few months but about a year ago I was told by one consultant at a national search firm that I had an inflated sense of my accomplishments and experience. Possibly. But when they kept trying to push me towards a certain job I repeatedly said I had no interest in, I knew it wasn't me. When I was told I made their applicant pool look good, I thought it was definitely time for ...
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Paradise Schmaradise or The End of Walking About

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I decided to end Walkabout 2017 in Maui. It seemed a fitting way to decompress from my month-long decompression from my seven years as CEO of 826 National. I had spent the majority of my walkabout exploring some of the major cities of the world, in continual motion and perpetual thought. It you wanted to go by steps and miles, my Fitbit tells me I clocked more than 500,000 steps, about 195 miles of walking and seeing. Thankfully you can’t measure the amount of thinking I did but it was quite a bit, maybe two thoughts to match each step. I earned that lounge chair on the Maui beach. The view from my hotel balcony I booked myself into the Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa. Quite a lovely hotel looking out on the Pacific Ocean, the weather hot but not too hot. I was excited to kick up my feet and do nothing for three days before I headed home and back to 'real' life. I admit that I was dreading going back to the US. I had been watching what was going on in the country through ...
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A Black Man in a Japanese World - Part II

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GODZILLA! The next two days, my new friend Suguru is my guide to the city. He takes me on my first trip on the insanely efficient Japanese subway. The system, made up of 13 lines run by two different companies - Tokyo Metro and Japan Rail (JR), has signs and announcements in Japanese and English which is nice. I had always heard that Tokyo, and by extension Japan, was not friendly to tourists but the very reassuring train voice gives us the stops in Japanese and English which helps somewhat in the deciphering of how to get from place to place. The warning signs on the car doors  are populated with cute animals in train conductor uniforms telling you:  ‘Don’t stick your arm outside the moving car,’ and ‘Chewing on seats is wrong!’ I am definitely listening to the cute conductor panda warning me seat eating is off limits. The system is extensive and the trains go everywhere. Even for a New Yorker, it's overwhelming but not impossible. I had already purchased my Suica pa...
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