Learnings from LEADER

[Siberia in the Winter - picture taken by my student, Sofia]

I have been home for a couple of weeks now and still can't stop thinking about Siberia. The places, the faces, the feeling - it was such an incredible, life changing experience.

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive before I left…for the first time I was going to a place where no one I knew had ever been. Just the sound of "Siberia" invoked the charm of a forgotten land full of desolate, endless snow and stories of romantic exile. How surprised I was to see a place not so different from home. Probably because, as I researched later, Calgary and Irkutsk are around the same latitude (Calgary 51°N & Irkutsk 52°N). Curiouser and curiouser…

So what did I learn from this amazing experience? Not sure if I can clearly articulate the bulk of it, but I'll give it a go...

I learned that Siberia is massive and that it's full of universities and research institutions. I learned of the vast opportunity that exists for business leaders in Siberian cities, and that 70-80% of Russia's natural resources are in Siberia. I learned about the extreme differences in climate and topography - to the north, there are large areas of tundra. To the south, there is taiga, or areas of dense forest. To the East and South, the Sayan and Altai mountains dominate. I learned that Lake Baikal, the pearl of Siberia, is the most voluminous fresh water lake in the world. Most of you know that I love the wonder of geology, and the crescent shaped shores of the pristine lake are filled with lapis lazuli, lazurite, charoite, jade, quartz, and much, much more.

However, these facts mean nothing unless I try to describe the real feeling of the place. I constantly think about the people - the students were so bright, hardworking, and determined to succeed - despite institutional barriers. I admire the deep eclectic purple of the Charoite stone (a gem "endemic" to the Baikal area) that I brought home with me, and I liken it to the mystery of the Buriyat people. I remember the legend of the Shaman rock, and I can almost taste the calm, peaceful, Buddhist air of the Baikal area. I wear my traditional Russian rose Pavlo Posadskyi scarf, and I am reminded of a confidant, great conversation, and hopefully a life long friend.
 
But most of all, I learned that no matter how far you are from home, you just have to look inside yourself to realize home was always there in the first place...