Read the latest from our Associate Leah and how she learned to say, "I'm so glad I'm not the expert!"

I had studied for more years that I care to remember. The work I did in the professional world was difficult. I was the grunt; I put in my time; I earned my stripes. I learned things. I climbed the corporate ladder. I became an executive. I was the leader.

Then I moved overseas.

I thought it would be the time to put all my education, expertise and leadership skills to work.  However, my expectations were slightly off.  Sure, my professional skills were valued and contributed to the whole.  Yes, I was a vitally important part in a project that is working toward sustainability and full-life transformation.  Miraculously, I was making a difference!

But it wasn't actually my skills or my work that helped me and my teammates succeed in our overseas setting. The thing that made the biggest difference and made our team grow stronger with each passing year was our willingness to submit to the leadership of the nationals with whom we worked. This was the key. Our national colleagues were the cultural experts. Not just experts in the culture of the nation, but in the culture of the organization in which we all served. They had the long-term history. They had the relationships.  We were the newbies!  We were trying to fit in. Letting the nationals take the lead was like finding a map to lost treasure: they led the way on a not-so-clearly-defined path and we followed.  In the following we found the richness of their experience. We found the blessing of building strong relationships and long-lasting friendships. We discovered the true secret to being a leader cross-culturally is the willingness to serve in submission to others and to steward our skills and gifts alongside others for the greater good.

Yes, this sounds so very nice and incredibly idealistic. Anyone can do it!  Well, it wasn't an easy road. We had to make a daily, conscious choice to relinquish certain parts of ourselves, our personalities, our preferences, our culture. We had to make the conscious choice to listen when we wanted to talk.  We had to make our efforts at relationship building consistent and repeated: we couldn't try once to make a friend and give up. It took time‚  lots of time. Overall, we had to make a conscious choice to lay aside our own worldview in order to see through the eyes of our national leadership.

When we made those choices, albeit they were not always the easiest choices to make, we began to see things clearly. We saw that the strategies and ideas created by our national colleagues were the ones that were long-lasting, most sustainable, and more easily accepted by others within the organization and within the community. When we listened instead of talking, we saw that our opinions were sought out and considered. When we followed joyfully, we saw a deep trust begin to be built. Our decision to follow led to massive growth in our own view of work, personal development and the world around us.

Our lives are richer, deeper and more meaningful. Our work more successful and more fulfilling than it has ever been. The efforts and sacrifices we made were worth it.

We made the decision to follow‚  and oh how glad we were to be led.