If you’re not failing, you’re not trying…
Episode 19 of Better World Leaders, with Genna Onuchukwu, a nurse who combines passion, purpose and action to take a step off the pre-determined path and make an impact for good.
This is one of the fastest moving, punchiest and broadest conversations we’ve had onBetter World Leaders thus far, one in which we cover a lot of ground and an array of topics, including acting to align passion with purpose, the role of inquiry in leadership – that leaders ask and listen first and then act, without fear of failure. The later point they do because they accept that failure is a step along the road to learning and growth.
A little about Genna…born and raised in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, Australia, she is 1 of 4 daughters and has by her own words been extremely privileged her entire life. Struggling academically in High School she wanted to drop out, however her parents encouraged her to stay until she Graduated High School. The final two years were the best years of her life as she took on various leadership roles. She has now completed two university degrees, Bachelor of Nursing and a Bachelor of Arts in International Aid and Development and Sustainable Development.
Inspired by World Vision adverts to confront her privilege and consider how she could make a greater contribution, she approached major charities and NGOs when graduating high school but found little interest in her capability. This frustrated her that her passion and purpose were so readily rebutted, so she shifted into action, travelling to Africa and learning first-hand how to directly interact with, learn from, and offer assistance to communities in need.
In the years ahead she founded her own charity – Gennarosity Abroad – which transforms the lives of women and children in Kenya operating a Kindergarten & women’s Training Centre and supporting an orphanage and maternity clinic, as well as educating youth in Australia of global injustices (e.g. taken a group of 10 students to Kenya in 2018) The core message is one of inspiring others that as one person, they have the ability to change the lives of others.
Key out-takes from this episode;
– Instead of letting people dictate how you live your life, take control and have impact on the ground.- Not to tell communities what they need, ask them to inform you of what their problems are, and develop solutions together.
– That one of the biggest problems of leadership roles is power, and the inherent danger of having too much power.
– Humility, curiosity and respect can balance power.
– That we over-emphasis agreement as a requirement to cooperate. We don’t need to agree 100% to work together towards a shared vision or outcome.
– That failure is something we need to embrace.
– Leadership is about doing. Fear of failure is the reason many people don’t do.
– Education is not just about grades. That much of what good leaders need is not what is graded in our current education system.
– That in this sense we may we setting kids up to fail by only focusing on the grade outcome and not the skills acquired along the way.
Get in touch with Genna via any of these points of contact;
The website Gennarosity Abroad (www.gennarosityabroad.org)
email Genna at genna@gennarosityabroad.org
or call (yes, call!) on +61400224429. On Genna’s behalf we politely request an sms in advance to introduce yourself and your enquiry.
As always, great thanks and appreciation to the team who contributed to bringing Better World Leaders to you;
To Brendan Ward for production of all audio recordings and composition and performance of original music throughout each episode.
To Cooper and the team at RadioHub studios for technical support and creative guidance during the episodes that are recorded face-to-face.
You can find out about Radio Hub’s services here – https://www.radiohub.com.au/
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