Dare

If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got

Do something else today. Not like yesterday. Not like the day before. Something different. Something more. Something bold. Just do it.

2 weeks to go

2 more weeks (+ some days) and it's Christmas. That means half our term is over. Personally it means half of my term is over. That's shocking, really. The question in my mind is - what will be the legacy of this term? Will it be a year that will be remembered, and if so - for what?

It's not cricket, is it

:-)

Idea

New way of structuring performance appraisals in AIESEC.

Simply stuctured along 3 dimensions.

1. Contribution in creating Experiences

2. How you are living your Experience

3. Connecting the two

A great performing AIESECer will be creating loads of quality experiences for others, by raising Traineeships, raising Exchange Participants, Matching, Promoting, Delivering, Servicing, Sustaining, Supporting BUT will also be striving to complete her own experience, to have both the right leadership experience(s) and the right exchange experience(s) for her own development, to take the right options to become that change agent. The key is when your own experience is a result of those you are creating.

Hmmm. I will explore this more I think.

Principles of pricing = business principles?

This is the question I have been asking myself mostly this evening.

Today we lost out on signing a traineeship, as the company did not agree with our structure of pricing from a principle point of view. They perceived that it didn't make any sense, whereas our position is that the pricing model is based on where and how we deliver value to our partners and therefore is a principle issue.

Our pricing model:

Basically we price corporate traineeships according to the length of the traineeship (which can be between 2 and 18 months). As the internship fee is a sum paid per month, the total is in accordance with how long the intern works at the company. In order to ensure that companies don't use AIESEC internship contracts as temporary work contracts and then hire the person outside internship terms without AIESEC actually being able to finance operations through this fee, there is a clause in our contract saying that up to 18 months (corresponding to our max internship length) when the person works there the company has to pay this fee. This means that if the company chooses to employ permanently an intern after f. ex. 1 year, then for the time up to 18 months they would still pay the fee to AIESEC. The logic is that a person hired permanently is clearly adding value to the company, and that only reinforces why AIESEC should be compensated for the value we bring to the partner.

The (non) customer argument

If the original internship is 12 months, then after the 12 months there should be no payment to AIESEC even if the person is hired permanently by the company after this as this has nothing to do with the AIESEC internship. Perhaps this position is related to their comparing our pricing with job advertising portals - which - while it might be perceived as similar by the company, is a completely different business.

Conclusions?

If we change a pricing principle because a potential partner tells us it doesn't make sense to them, then surely this means they would be right - if we could just change it then it doesn't make any sense and we should have already changed it?

Well, I guess we will see.

I felt a lot of pain today when my VP went home, having been close to meeting his Quarter sales goals, but not quite making it due to this difficult potential customer. The thing is, he has done such a good job in preparing the case, knowing that he was close to his target, especially considering the initial customer expectations was something AIESEC could not even deliver on.

He has worked on 2 tough projects which have both had deliverables, and neither has been a walk in the park for him. He has, in my opinion, done an amazing job this quarter, and not been quite rewarded for this (as 2 "freebie" traineeships were not matched despite high chances and would have bridged his goal gap).

I guess I would love to sit down with the customer for 20 minutes and explain one last time our position. I would love to really understand theirs as well.

I believe we did the right thing, and I believe our business and pricing model corresponds with our work and the value we bring. I guess we will be rewarded in due time if I am right. Until then, we suffer a bit on this.

Thanks for Quarter 3. The best Quarter 3 since the 80s. in 45 minutes it's quarter 4.

"Work with Exchange. Lead Exchange. Go on Exchange"

What is AIESEC? It's that simple.

A good moment..

I am back from India and hopefully I will write something about it in a few days.

Today I had the chance to spend around 15 minutes speaking to one of my Local Committee Presidents (LCP). I was talking about something I learned (or re-learned - it's usually like that) in India about the combination of a challenging environment and a support environment for personal growth and development.

What he told me made me extremely proud and humble. Basically he was talking about how much support he had felt from my team while I had been gone. Basically my team understood this lesson a long time ago, long before I did. And they have acted upon it and are making it happen.

They truly are amazing, these Back to the 80s VPs.

India -1

Today I am sitting alone in the MC office. Either because I scared away my team, or, more likely, because they are all over the country and the city to work where work matters. On the ground.

All of a sudden I realized that tomorrow morning I am leaving for India. For sure AIESEC has some fringe benifits in addition to the hardcore learning we get by running the organization and going on internships abroad.

Going on international conferences to far away exotic places for sure is one of them.

So India... what is this country - really? I have only heard people talk and never known much of it myself. Well, I guess I will find out some things.

Finally excited.

Some quotes..

Julian Barnes remarking that life was like invading Russia. "A blitz start, massed shakos, plumes dancing like a flustered henhouse; a period of svelte progress recorded in ebullient despatches as the enemy falls back; then the beginning of a long morale-sapping trudge with rations getting shorter and the first snowflakes on your face. Ultimately, you fall beneath a boy-gunner's grapeshot while crossing some Polish river not even marked on your general's map".

Amazing quote, though slightly pessimistic, no? :-)

Birthday

I turned 28 today

Thank you to all those who made me into the person I am today.

Euroco

I got some really exciting news this week, that I will be facilitating at EuroCo in Austria in October. EuroCo is an LCP conference only, meaning all the delegates are the leaders of their local committees somewhere. I feel so lucky to have this chance, and for sure it will be an amazing experience. Also, the facilitators team is absolutely awesome as well, which just enhances my excitement.

Facilitating an International conference outside my "obligations" was a dream I had already before I became and MC member last year. Last year, however, I never felt that I could permit myself to spend a week away from my job when the conferences were happening, and hence I always postponed it. It was one of the very few regrets I had in an otherwise awesome year in the Big Bang MC. This year I am going to grab the opportunity with both my hands.

So thank you again, AIESEC, for giving me amazing opportunities

Racing at full speed

Almost 45 days into my most amazing experience yet as President of AIESEC Norway, and I can't believe how fast time is running.

We have spent a lot of time planning, with the country and within the national team. We have spent time getting ready for national recruitment, which is kicking off next week. We have spent time preparing and delivering ScaLDS in Finland, a Leadership Development Seminar for Scandinavian leaders in AIESEC. We have eaten lunches together almost every day. And we have been tracking our Exchange every single day and are reaching our goals so far. Here is a year team presentation

Quite a rewarding month and a half for me. However, I believe now comes the toughest time period for all of this. At the end of the week 2 of my team members are leaving to work with our local committees for 1 whole month. In 2 weeks I am leaving for International Congress. And left in Oslo are only 2 out of 5, to manage operations and run the country.

Stressed? Nervous?

Not really, as my team hs already proven to me that they are leaders without me. I see it more as an amazing test of our team and of amazing individuals.

Other things? On Sunday I turn 28. I don't feel 28. I feel 20.

The small things..

Today is the first Monday as President of AIESEC Norway

So what has happened today? Basically we had our first weekly meeting, which I was leading. I am happy as the meeting achieved the outcomes desired and was on time. Sounds like a small thing, but in fact it is not for me as these operational tasks make up a significant part of my job. Some years back I was part of a team where we had meetings which went overtime, were often unproductive, and where the agenda was unclear or not followed. It was crap.

So basically that's it. The first Monday morning of my term.

Day 1: Sun

So that's how it feels like. Around 9 hours after I walked into the office this morning as MCP of AIESEC Norway I am about to leave it now.

It's good to get started - feels right. And it's good to have the team already starting to feel their place.

Funny fact/curiosity. For the 3rd year running the successors of the previous board has taken the seat of his/her predecessor - exactly. Talk about "picturing" yourself in the seat of someone - literally.

First action this morning was to clean the well overdue, extremely dirty office. Now it is nice and shiny.

Important and clearly significant: Today it is sunny AND warm, which given the summer we are having seems not irrelevant. The gods must know it was our first day

Days left: 1; Wheather: Rain

It's one day left until we officially start our term and I officially have the pleasure of being President of AIESEC Norway.

Emotions? Calm, attentive and apprehensive

Thoughts? Confident and optimistic

Sensations? Wet and cold

Yes, that's right. For the second year running Summer seems to have abandoned Norway. It's the 30th of June and we have at most had 3-5 days of sun in a row so far. NOT GOOD. And today it is absolutely pouring down. Hmmm. Will it be a brighter future - aka tomorrow?

A vision..

My experience as President of AIESEC Norway 2010-11 is full and well underway now. While my old and amazing Big Bang team says its last goodbyes, a clear vision for the future came out of the National Planning Conference this weekend. For me it was really quite an experiment, as I had never really done or seen a complete open planning process where the National and Local Boards co-create the future together.

The vision of AIESEC Norway 2010-11:

"We attract and select high potential young people for the AIESEC Experience, where every member takes an Exchange or Leadership opportunity in their first year in AIESEC"

"Our culture of Exchange Performance leads to exchange growth and profit in all entities"

"We deliver relevant exchange products to organizations which recognize the value of the AIESEC Experience"

Ready to be part of the Exchange Revolution?

All is fair in love and war

And Werewolf?

Perhaps I divide life and game to much? Perhaps too little?

Year 2: 1 day to go

A few days ago I closed my first year of being part of the leadership team of AIESEC Norway with my most amazing team. It was emotional and nice, it was powerful and fitting.

I have the pleasure of not having to close off this experience but instead to build upon it for the next year. In 2 days the whole new team of AIESEC Norway will start our journey together. A journey which begins with intense transition.

For sure this is the biggest challenge I have ever faced. To lead such a talented team and a country that is starting to find it's feet - starting to feel it's own potential - is surely no easy task. But at those times I like quoting myself, "If it's easy to do, it's not worth doing". I am so excited about starting now, that I can't wait.

One more year of craziness, an amazing journey of learning to be continued. And the best part of it all is that I feel proud to be allowed to carry the Big Bang legacy further. For sure it will be a great year ahead.

AIESEC Norway, thank you for the opportunity - I am grabbing it with both my hands. Hold on!

Our vision

Today I cried some tears of joy

"We attract, select and retain high quality people. Our members are engaged and committed to the AIESEC Way."

"Our LCs drive eXchange growth. Our eXchange results create a culture of excitement and achievement."

"We have good financial management, transparency and diversified sources of revenue. This ensures short and long term financial sustainability."

What a Big Bang

Fly and spread your wings my little bird!

In 3 days one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life is leaving Norway. R. appeared over 1 year ago in Bucharest smiling and nervous and I have loved her ever since. I have had the luck of spending almost every day with her for the last 11 months, experiencing her in all her splendour, seeing her challenge herself, develop, wanting more, spreading her wings, sometimes crying, almost always laughing and teaching me about life an myself.

On Friday she will go to Romania, to live a crazy month of double work, double emotions, double the fun.

It breaks my heart a bit. Not because I am upset with you, but because I will miss you. Our team will not be quite the same in the office, we will all be a bit lost. And we know you will be here in heart 200%, and that is more heart than most people even have! And that's exactly why our hearts will be a little lost.

I am already excited about seeing you in June. I am already excited about team days although they are far away. And tomorrow night, and Thursday night, I want to party with you!

All my love my dearest. My friendship is forever.

Presence

Are you thinking of what you are doing right now or of what you should be doing? Are you there 100% with your mind, soul and body? Or are you somewhere else, in a different place, a different time, a different reality?

Let's give our experiencing self a drug-kick. Let's make now AWESOME. Right now.

My 2010 so far...

The following projects I have started, been involved in or been in charge of since 1st of January 2010

• MCP elections
• MC Sales: Raised TNs
• TN delivery: Workpermit issues with UDI
• LC structure revision
• DT Projects startup
• Hunting for LCPs
• Selecting full MCe team
• IPM
• FK Project
• Financial Model Revision
• Budget 2010-11
• Start building MCe team
• UNITE National Conference
• Apply for Steering Team
• Building National Leadership Team with LCPs and President’s weekend
• MCP transition
• MCVP transition
• Design National Planning Framework

What 3,5 months.....

Uselessness of being worried

Being worried is a very human emotion. Being no expert (on anything, really), I believe it comes from our frontal lobe's ability to imagine/project the future.

The way I see it, when we don't have enough information to assess a future happening to our own satisfaction, we worry. It's not really the outcome itself that worries us, but the insecurity tied to the outcome of the future event.

The interesting thing is that we know very well that worrying doesn't help us in any way what so ever. It won't give us the information we need, and if anything, it will prevent us from making a decision.

What can we do about this? Here is my personal "recipe".

1. Being concious about our inability to really know anything about the future (including next five minutes), anyway.
2. Accept that a low amount of information for future decision making is ok! We usually probably only have 15-20% of the information we really need, but we usually overestimate it's value by something like 4 times meaning we believe we have between 60-80% of the information we need. A reduction from 15% to 5% isn't really very much, in both cases we don't know squat. But the perceived reduction from 60% to 20% seems very much
3. Take risks and smile at them :-) Life goes on

Expectations?

Found this video on the blog of Juan and I thought it was awesome!

Making it happen

The last few days I have been dealing with the Norwegian Directorate for Immigration.

Working in an organization that is changing people's lives by sending them across borders, laws, and barriers set up by a world which is determined on hindering people's chances to build their own life - their own world - is one cool experience. I remember at IPM, one of the most popular ideas for AIESEC to achieve, was an "AIESEC Visa", which [I guess kind of like a Red Cross Visa, or a Diplomatic Visa] would bypass the ridicule of the real world.

Yeah, sure we would all like that... But while dreaming about that we are still dealing with the real world down here on planet earth.

So the Norwegian Directorate for Immigration... UDI

I feel sincerely sorry for the employees of an organization which is basically meant to deal with people as case files and, while having no political power of their own, are obliged to take all the worst kind of negative c*** from everyone else (including me) who obviously don't feel they are doing a good job.

Understaffed, underappreciated, underfunded, lack of ability to attract and retain top talent.

Dealing with everything from Asylum seekers (Europe's and Norway's perhaps most delicate case politically), to students, to specialists, to work immigrants, to family reunions, to war criminals to au-pairs. Relying on Embassies cooperation, when Embassies aren't obliged to listen to UDI at all, as they fall under different jurisdiction (Foreign Department). For sure, being UDI is no easy job. In fact, they are doomed to be disliked.

I feel sincerely sorry for those working there.

But sometimes, frustration bursts out. Waiting for 4 months for cases to be treated is a test of patience. Experiencing that for the second time in the space of 6 months entire cases are lost inside their system, without any explanation or understanding - well. It's a test of civility.

Where is the political will in Europe as a whole to do something about the elephant in the room? About talking about immirgation, foreigners, asylum seekers, our civilization, our culture, our age-problem in sensible terms? Where is our defense of human individual rights? Where is our respect for humanity?

Freedom?

For now: Please UDI - handle our case quickly.

Killing enthusiasm

Today I came with loads of enthusiasm in a general area of work. My concrete strategy, once I presented it to some colleagues, clearly had some obvious flaws, which were duly pointed out to me.

The effect of this was double.

• Firstly I started looking at the strategy in specific, and my rational 30% took the input and looked at how it could be improved.
• However, my emotional 30% also lost quite a bit of enthusiasm for the are in general as a result of this input.

I am using myself as an example of a more general concept. When someone presents their concrete idea for a general area, we are quick to criticise it and shoot it down. Sometimes with very good reasons as well. But by doing this we often throw out the baby with the bath-water.

Now, how do we balance our "desire to help through criticism" with the general desire of not killing the enthusiasm of the person we are "helping"? Should we sometimes put our rational mind aside and enthusiastically support a strategy we perhaps are not convinced by, simply because we trust that the enthusiasm of our colleague will get the project their anyway?

Communicating on different levels

These last few days I have gained some more insights into communication.

One of the insights is that we often identify communication as a cause for problems, when in fact it is more of a consequence. Often the issue at hand has more to do with an understanding of what you are talking about, or more generally, where you are standing.

Communication suffers as a consequence of the lack of understanding on where each person is coming from. While being a consequence, communication can also serve as a solution to the problem. But not by communicating better, by using better channels or clearer messages etc. Rather, by communicating about the actual issue at hand - which is the fact that each person is coming from completely different perspectives and why that is.

In terms of personal development I really would like to develop the ability to use communication as a tool for achieving this kind of connection. The ability to level with people and have them levelling with you.

10 ways for a leader not to get isolated from reality

taken from this blog

1. Be an outstanding listener.
Listening is one of the most, if not THE most, important leadership skills. Unfortunately, it’s often one of the most lacking. Learn to “listen between the lines” and pick up on subtle hints that your employees are trying to tell you something.

2. Shadowing.
You don’t have to go undercover to experience life on the front lines. I knew a VP that spent 4 hours each month in a call center next to a customer service rep listening to customer calls. He not only learned the frustration that a rep goes through dealing with an outdated CRM, he learned what customers were complaining about. If you manage sales reps, then go out on “ride-alongs” on a regular basis. Listen and observe - don't give advice and try to fix every issue.

3. Have regular 1on1s with your employees.
Is your reaction “Duh-uh” to this suggestion? Do you think sounds too obvious? Try asking a random group of employees if their managers have regular 1on1s with them. I do, and I’m no longer shocked at what I hear.

4. Town halls.
If you’re a really big cheese, informal breakfast gatherings, fireside chats, and town hall meetings can help. Just make sure you’re listening more than you’re talking.

5. Surveys.
Again, please don’t dismiss the obvious and assume all companies do employee surveys. I could write another blog post called “101 excuses for not doing an employee survey”. There’s only ONE good reason not to survey employees on a regular basis: if you’re not going to do anything about the results.

6. Break out of your office.
It’s easy to become a prisoner in your own ivory tower or even your own office. If you have employees in multiple locations, then get out and visit each location at least once per year. I knew a VP that had a map of the world on his wall, and put a pin in every location he visited each year. You don’t need to have employees scattered around the world to break out. I’ve seen managers (myself included) become isolated from employees that are just located on a different floor in the same building.

7. Leverage technology.
Use email, blogs, IM, social networking, and other digital communication tools to establish a “virtual open door” policy. In some companies, it can be career suicide to email the CEO. In other companies, it’s a regular practice that’s rewarded.

8. Eat with employees.
There are these rooms called “break rooms”, and “company cafeterias”, where regular employees go to sit with co-workers and grab a bite to eat. Give them a try – but don’t just sit by yourself or with other managers.

9. Establish a culture of candor.
This one’s easier said than done - certainly not as easy as eating in the breakroom. It’s about making it OK to challenge authority and speak up. If you’re not a CEO, you may not be able to change your company’s culture, but you sure can establish your own sub-culture.

10. Get regular feedback.
The research says that leaders who regularly ask for feedback are rated higher than leaders that don’t. Asking for feedback isn’t a sign of insecurity or weakness – it’s a sign on strength and confidence. Every leader should do a 360 assessment every couple years.

Strategic thinking or trying things out?

“The best explorers are the worst navigators.”

Being simple

We had teamdays the past weekend.

It was an emotional rollercoaster ride and perhaps the strongest team experience I have had. I think our collective leadership took a huge leap forward as well.

Now I feel happy, calm and committed. Happy about myself, my choices, my team, my life. Calm about our dedication, about our path about our year. And committed for the next 3 months like never before.

It's good to be an MCVP in the Big Bang Team.

Expect the best in people

Having spent close to 9 months on the Executive Board of AIESEC Norway, certain things have dawned on me gradually, and others again slam your face on Monday morning.

This job is God damn hard. Very, very tough. Make no mistake about it. In fact, I think it is much tougher than I ever imagined, despite believing in advance that it would be very difficult. In the end, it is not the daily grind, the lack of money or any other resources, the LC's.. In the end it's the fact that trying to move a mountain is quite simply a very tough task.

The hopes and dreams with which we started our term have long been reduced to more "realistic" ambitions. We are focusing on what matters, and not on what doesn't.

One of the toughest part of the job has been the balance between changing an organizational culture through hardcore management, and trying to change it through emotional leadership. The first we have done consistently. The second, not so much. Part of that is due to negativity on our part - my part. Focusing on the problems leads only to problem land. When there are so many problems, it is easy to bury yourself in them - easy to overlook what's working. At the same time, we sometimes praise even small insignificant things with the negative consequence that sub performance becomes a norm.

How to set expectations of excellence that people live up to with joy in their heart?

The path goes on...

Are we stuck in High-School

Just a copy and paste from Seth Godin's much famed blog:

"I posted this eight years ago (!) but a reader asked for an encore.

...are we stuck in High School?

I had two brushes with higher education this week.

The first was at a speech I gave in New York. There were several Harvard Business School students there, invited because of their interest in marketing and exceptional promise (that's what I was told... I think they came because they had heard that Maury Rubin would make a great lunch!).

Anyway, they asked for my advice in finding marketing jobs. When I shared my views (go to a small company, work for the CEO, get a job where you actually get to make mistakes and do something) one woman professed to agree with me, but then explained, "But those companies don't interview on campus."

Those companies don't interview on campus. Hmmm. She has just spent $100,000 in cash and another $150,000 in opportunity cost to get an MBA, but...

The second occurred today at Yale. As I drove through the amazingly beautiful campus, I passed the center for Asian Studies. It reminded me of my days as an undergrad (at a lesser school, natch), browsing through the catalog, realizing I could learn whatever I wanted. That not only could I take classes but I could start a business, organize a protest movement, live in a garret off campus, whatever. It was a tremendous gift, this ability to choose.

Yet most of my classmates refused to choose. Instead, they treated college like an extension of high school. They took the most mainstream courses, did the minimum amount they needed to get an A, tried not to get into "trouble" with the professor or face the uncertainty of the unknowable. They were the ones who spent six hours a day in the library, reading their textbooks.

The best part of college is that you could become whatever you wanted to become, but most people just do what they think they must.

Is this a metaphor? Sure. But it's a worthwhile one. You have more freedom at work than you think (hey, you're reading this on company time!) but most people do nothing with that freedom but try to get an A.

Do you work with people who are still in high school? Job seekers only willing to interview with the folks who come on campus? Executives who are trying to make their boss happy above all else? It's pretty clear that the thing that's wrong with this system is high school, not the rest of the world.

Cut class. Take a seminar on french literature. Interview off campus. Safe is risky."

Some thoughts...

Expectation setting: Don't expect a coherent blogpost!

International President's Meeting

Yesterday I came back from AIESEC International President's Meeting (IPM), which took place in Tunisia. It was a very emotional and empowering experience, as I had the opportunity to meet all the current and all the elect national leaders of AIESEC around the world. That amounts to around 200 people, scattered across the planet. Truly a global network of high-potential youth leaders.

Being in any leadership role can be a lonely and troubling experience for anyone. What made IPM very special is that being put together with around 100 people (leaders elected to take over from the summer onwards) makes you feel safe. All of a sudden you are not at all alone anymore. There are loads of people who are amazingly smart, dedicated, passionate and talented, who feel just as scared and confused as you. That is nice. Together with them anything can be shared, anything can be accomplished, and the openness is incredible.

AIESEC as a social enterprise

A thought that started occupying me quite a bit was the idea of AIESEC's business model and what we are. A session at IPM, which pointed out the obvious, but which still was very good, was about the bottom line for an MCP-CEO. Basically any company has 3 concepts which it needs to understand and develop to succeed. 1. It has a product. 2. It has customers. 3. It has HR to deliver.

In AIESEC Product=Customer=HR, as our members are our product through their AIESEC Experiences, they are also the main customer and they are the one's providing it from an HR perspective.

This led me into the thinking that in reality AIESEC is not a student organization at all. I mean, it happens to be that the "product=customer=HR" are students, but that is not really relevant in terms of description of the organization. In fact, we are not so much an organization as we are a business. So what kind of business are we? In my opinion AIESEC is really a Social Enterprise. With this I mean that we are run like a business but that our bottom line has a social purpose. The only difference from a regular business is that the bottom line is not money in the end, but that money is only a temporary means to achieve the social impact. Like any social enterprise, start-up and operational cash for the projects in which we are involved is crucial for our success and survival, however.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_enterprise

So what's the "point" in making a difference between a social enterprise and a student run organization? The difference is that enterprises have a very clear purpose and a clear strategy to get there. Student run organizations usually don't. AIESEC, unfortunately, often doesn't. Basically the only thing that makes us a student organization is that the actual people working AND we want to impact in AIESEC are current students and graduates. This is defined because we see these as the people in the world that we can really impact to achieve our social purpose - developing leaders for positive impact.

What are key points which makes it differ from a student organization?

Economic:

• continuous activity of the production and/or sale of goods and services (rather than predominantly advisory or grant-giving functions)
• a high level of autonomy: social enterprises are created voluntarily by groups of citizens and are managed by them, and not directly or indirectly by public authorities or private companies, even if they may benefit from grants and donations. Their shareholders have the right to participate ('voice') and to leave the organisation ('exit').
• a significant economic risk: the financial viability of social enterprises depends on the efforts of their members, who have the responsibility of ensuring adequate financial resources, unlike most public institutions.
• social enterprises' activities require a minimum number of paid workers, although, like traditional non-profit organisations, social enterprises may combine financial and non-financial resources, voluntary and paid work

Social:

• an explicit aim of community benefit: one of the principal aims of social enterprises is to serve the community or a specific group of people. To the same end, they also promote a sense of social responsibility at local level
• citizen initiative: social enterprises are the result of collective dynamics involving people belonging to a community or to a group that shares a certain need or aim. They must maintain this dimension in one form or another
• decision making not based on capital ownership: this generally means the principle of 'one member, one vote', or at least a voting power not based on capital shares. Although capital owners in social enterprises play an important role, decision-making rights are shared with other shareholders
• participatory character, involving those affected by the activity: the users of social enterprises' services are represented and participate in their structures. In many cases one of the objectives is to strengthen democracy at local level through economic activit
• limited distribution of profit: social enterprises include organisations that totally prohibit profit distribution as well as organisations such as co-operatives, which may distribute their profit only to a limited degree, thus avoiding profit maximising behaviour

This should radically change how we run our organization. F. ex. the way we look at membership needs to be redefined. Now, we talk in theory about high quality attraction and selection, but in reality this can vary significantly. "Membership" is easy, to be an in-kind compensated employee is entirely different. "Leadership" to run a student organization is one thing, entrepreneurship to run a social enterprise is something else. "Impact" starts having a clearer meaning as well. Social Enterprises don't settle for "still a little bit of crap in my local community".

Selecting my team

Only a month ago I was elected MCP by AIESEC Norway. More than 4 months before starting my term I have already made my first, and perhaps the most important, of all the decisions i will make this year.

You can have alot of plans and ideas and hopes and dreams about the future, but without great people a leader is going nowhere. I already feel lucky, as I have the best people.

My new team for AIESEC Norway 2010-11 is ready:

Raluca, Hege, Andreas and Elena - what a year ahead!

Courage!

I heard some news today.

One of our Local Committees, UiO have been recruiting the last month for members. As most LC's they want to have many new great members to do amazing AIESEC stuff. I think they want around 8-9 members although I am not sure.

I heard today that they are selecting 1 person.

Finally.

Courage.

Potential Only.

Impact only.

AIESEC