Structure, people and focus

I am sorry. Let me rephrase that: Focus, People and Structure.

Focus: Exchange. More Exchange and better Exchange. Passion and fun of Exchange.

[yes, by doing this we develop loads of other exciting things, and by creating structured leadership experiences around the exchange we foster that as well. But there is no management without operations.]

People: If you want to be in AIESEC - do AIESEC.

[That means working your ass off every single day to make Exchange happen. Every single action should be related to this. If you think AIESEC is too much work, if you think that doing this is not too much fun or two rewarding, if you think that exams and other stuff is more important - or simply AIESEC is not for you - hey - that's fair enough. But please, leave this organization. Now. There are no excuses for why you, who are in AIESEC, cannot prioritize AIESEC. That is a choice that all those outside AIESEC make. How much work is alot of work? Every morning when you come to school, you should come to the AIESEC office and work. And during the day, between your studies you should work. And after your day, you should work. How much? If you cannot dedicate 2-3 hours per day for AIESEC (that means 15-20 hours a week) then, hey, I guess it's not for you.]

Structure: Design it around the operational actions of Exchange - not the strategic areas of "an organization"

[Talent Management, Communications, Finance are support teams to let the organization do Exchange. If necessary, reduce these teams to only a VP and let the teams that are recruiting. Get rid of ICX teams and turn them into DT Incoming raising teams (Incoming Exchange Non-Corporate: ICX NC). Make CR teams match and service their own TNs]

Now is the time. Not soon, not tomorrow, not "after we have seen abit". And definitely not "next quarter". All organizations and companies dream of next quarter as some sort of holy land of salvation, profitability and calm. Forget about it. Now is the only time that matters.

If not?

Last one out of the office, please turn off the lights.

Who needs an AIESECer?

Working with sales in Corporate Relations in AIESEC Norway this is the question which I constantly have to ask myself everyday. The first answer would obvously be: "Everyone"

The real answer is obviously not the same. To me there is little doubt that an AIESEC Experience is the most substantial development platform available for young people today. One of the crucial ingredients is Exchange, or for those not familiar with the idiosyncrasies of AIESEC, our International Internships. An AIESEC Experience without Exchange is like a hamburger without the meat. Sure, a hamburger consists of hamburgerbread, pickles (for those who like them), tomatoes, lettuce - sometimes cheese - or whatever else. And without all these things a slap of meat is NOT a hamburger.

So we have:

(1) International Internship ≠ AIESEC Experience

However, as most of you would agree, without the meat, there is not really any hamburger at all - hence:

(2) No International Internship ≠ AIESEC Experience

You need it all, that is- you need the meat and the bread. In AIESEC we need Exchange (the meat) and the bread (Leadership) to make it a complete AIESEC Experience. All with pickles and onions, and flavours from around the global making our global learning environment. To me AIESEC in a formula is:

(3) (International Internship) x (Leadership) x (Global Learning) = AIESEC XP

Just like the Burger, however, if you had to settle - you'd choose the meat - right? This leads me to my title.

For this to happen people like myself, who are living the AIESEC Experience need to constantly find these internship opportunities for our members. Only by doing this are we providing AIESEC Experiences to our own network, and in a wider organizational understanding - for ourselves. That we need exchange (the Meat) to provide AIESEC XPs (the Burger) is without a doubt.

The question we are asking ourselves in sales, however, is another one. Which meat producer (companies) believes that by providing the raw material for the meat, will they get a great burger? And which meat producer needs a great burger (ie. an AIESECer on an Internship).

The answer is quite obvious. Nobody, if ANYBODY - needs a burger. A burger is something you usually permit yourself because you want it. It simply tastes great, and even though you know it's a bit expensive - even though you know it's not always the healthiest choice - you want a burger.

Who needs an AIESECer is the wrong question to be asking. Nobody needs an AIESECer, really. People get by eating rice, potatoes, pasta. People eat sandwiches and fishballs. But between all these meals, every now and then - people want a Burger. What we should be asking us is "Who wants a Burger" - ie. "Who wants an AIESECer", rather than who needs it.

And for all those AIESECers out there. The meat and the pickles are really important. Keep making sure we have them. But let's get our meat in order. Let's get students and graduates who want an Exchange Experience. And let's find those companies that want the Burger.