Confessions from a Social Entrepreneur: What I Did to Stay Afloat and Launch My Creative Ideas12/10/2024 How I launched bold ideas with no budget—and how you can apply these lessons to your own transition too. Originally Published 3/18/23. Updated 12/10/24. Many years ago I had to close a nonprofit organization I had founded and ran for 12 years due to the recession and difficult fundraising climate. It all happened pretty quickly and we had 21 days to close everything down. Although we had a super successful 12-year run, it was an incredibly sad and stressful time, to say the least. There I was, suddenly collecting unemployment, with only a few thousand dollars in my savings account. I had absolutely no clue as to how I was going to make money. I knew working for myself was the route I wanted to take, but I had zero extra money to invest in any kind of business. I needed whatever little savings I had to supplement my unemployment compensation and cover my monthly expenses. So, here’s what I ended up doing to stay afloat. Sold Small Assets At the time, I remembered my mom saying something about how the price of gold had skyrocketed in the past couple of years. I had never sold something like jewelery, but was curious about whether I could get any money for the remaining pieces of my jewelry sets - backs of earrings from my high school days, a broken gold chain, a black pearl necklace, earrings I had bought on a trip to Hawai’i but never wore. I ended up taking a little sack of miscellaneous pieces to two jewelry shops to see if they would buy them. The jeweler also bought the pearls and the backs of my gold earrings too. I walked away with over $1,000. The key strategy here was selling items with gold in them, as the current market value of gold had gone up significantly. Back then one could expect to get 80% of the market price for gold from a gold buyer. In hindsight, I had a lot of things taking up unnecessary space in my drawers that I could have sold, but my mismatched jewelry made the most sense. It wasn’t very usable but it was worth money. Consigned Items During my initial year on unemployment, I also ruptured my Achilles tendon. (That’s another story.) So not only was I unemployed, I was unable to drive. I know. Losing. My parents had to come from out of state to tend to me for a month because I couldn’t do much on my own. And so began my mom’s cleaning frenzy. Not only did my parents complain about all the “stuff” I had in my closets, each day I’d wake up to find my mom cleaning out one of my kitchen cabinets. She would pile things up followed by piercing questions like, “Do you NEED this?” I’d nod my head, defending my favorite frying pan with all my zeal. And then she roped my dad in it too. He was convinced I needed to get rid of everything in my apartment. I was annoyed, but decided I needed to reframe quickly. This was not an annoying and invasive visit from my parents, but an opportunity to make space for new energy to come in by moving old energy out. As a result, I got rid of all the clothes I hadn’t worn in the past few years. Luckily, living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I am surrounded by all sorts of cool consignment shops. I took my clothes to one shop and earned almost $90 just from that trip - $90 more than I had before the cleaning frenzy! I’m a firm believer in making physical space for new ideas and dreams to manifest. I am also a fan of the quote “we are burdened by our possessions.” It couldn’t be more true. Cleaning up and consigning left me with the space I needed to create, craft and build from a clear space. This goes for furniture, household items, rugs, antiques, or whatever else might have been taking up space in my living quarters. Liquidated Larger Assets For most of my adult life, I’ve been surrounded by entrepreneurs. And I can tell you firsthand, we take risks. And, sometimes we end up contorting ourselves like a pretzel to finance them. I remember listening to the founder of my favorite ice cream company in the Bay Area tell his story about having no money when he wanted to start his company. He liquidated his retirement and took a loan from his family to start. He took a huge risk; everything was on the line for him. At one time his ice cream was in every major grocery store in the Bay Area. Today, it’s not. During my time of transition, I had launched two ventures. The first was a culture change platform called brown girl surf and the second was Surf Life Executive Coaching, my coaching practice. I didn’t have much of a retirement savings from having worked in nonprofits for 16 years prior, but I made the decision to liquidate equities to keep me afloat during the years I was trying to bring these ideas to life. I knew I could make the money back, and that taking the money out of my retirement and putting it into my ideas would help accelerate them more quickly. Over a four-year period, I liquidated almost 40% of my retirement and sold several stocks, half of which went to finance surgery after breaking my ankle at a surf contest while representing team brown girl surf. This caused me to cancel a coaching retreat I was hosting in Hawai’i due to the injury, losing out on all income from that event. S*!# happens. In hindsight, if I had a choice, I would not have taken money out of retirement. That money would have compounded and grown substantially over the past 12 years. But I did not have much of a choice, especially given my injuries. Negotiated and Downsized Fixed Expenses I used to be the executive coach for a bootcamp focused on supporting executives in transition. These were all director and C-level folks who were out of work. We used to encourage them to call their cell phone and insurance company provides, and any other businesses where they had monthly, fixed recurring payments in order to negotiate a new rate. During my start-up transition, I was able to talk to customer service at my cell phone company and let them know I was thinking about leaving for a carrier with better prices. They reduced my monthly bill and gave me more minutes. I also called my auto insurance company to make sure I received all possible discounts. I put all of my fixed expenses into a grid and tackled them one at a time, trying to figure out any possibility of lowering my bills. I asked myself questions like: Do I really need that subscription? I got tight fisted with money going out since there was little to none coming in. These recurring expenses are like apps running in the background of a phone. You don’t see them, but the money is going out the door, until you stop it from doing so. Volunteered My New Expertise I’ve found volunteering builds relationships and trust, and gives me an opportunity to help others. It’s also a great way to get exposure to a business, project or challenge so I can determine whether this is a space I may want to work in the future. When I started my coaching practice, for example, I would freely give coaching sessions with absolutely no agenda in mind. I loved to practice my skills and witness transformative moments in the lives of others I coached. And slowly, the very friends I had coached for fun started recommending me to their friends. One time I gave a free, hour-long coaching session to a friend of mine while walking on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. A few years later, she ended up getting a job in an architecture firm. They then hired me to coach all the principal architects. Had I not coached her pro bono, she never would have reached out to me for that opportunity to serve her firm. I learned giving away your skills leads to visibility and building relationships. And perhaps it might lead to building a future pipeline of clients. Budgeted Whilst on my nonprofit sabbatical a few years prior, I learned to budget very well. Since my income was limited during this time, I had to be really conscious about my spending. By the end of my travels, I was pretty much surviving on ramen noodles and eggs as my daily diet, which was just fine for me. I continued to budget carefully, even after I arrived home. I separated my fixed expenses from my variable expenses in an Excel grid. I kept track of every single cent that went out the door. I knew exactly what my monthly cash flow looked like. It’s tedious at first, but it’s totally empowering. All of this was in addition to the given of running through my modest savings in the first year of my transition, which I needed to do as I had fully ruptured my achilles tendon while making an influencing video for brown girl surf at the gym. To date, I’ve been working with entrepreneurs now for over 25 years. I like to think of us as masters of financial patchwork. Most of us don’t have one comfortable source of funding. In fact, if we were comfortable in all this, it might short circuit the very neural pathways needed to fire in order to get us to bring our ideas to life. I learned comfort is never really your friend in bringing ideas to life. Grit is. For me, realizing my ideas has not just been about the glory, but it has also been about pain, personal sacrifice and risk, be it financial, physical or emotional. But that’s also where the grit lies too. Figuring out how to piece together the financial puzzle to enable your ideas to come to life is like the tetris in social entrepreneurship. And it makes a world of difference if you actually enjoy playing the game. Have you ever been in my shoes? Are you in my shoes right now? What are some of the strategies, tools and resources you used to stay afloat? Farhana Huq is an Executive & Leadership Coach, Surfer, Global Explorer and Founder of Surf Life Executive Coaching & Brown Girl Surf.
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From carbon-capturing surfboards to sexy conservationists --
8 ideas to spark possibility
Who knew after I graduated from my climate fellowship that I’d find myself repairing my favorite pair of black, cotton-blended culottes in a sewing circle with a group of physicists and a software engineer?
The circle, created by my friend and fellow cohort member Ariana, was part of her climate action plan. We were all challenged to put one together upon graduation, no matter how illogical, strange, simple, or complex our ideas. I ended up with many ideas, most of which did not make it into my plan. I felt some were too wacky to share. I also felt frustrated to have all these ideas but not enough time, and resources (and lifetimes!) to implement them. So, I figured I’d write about them instead. Maybe they will inspire someone to try them. Or, maybe they will help generate tangents that lead to new ideas or hybrid ways of thinking. Here goes! Idea 1: Carbon Capturing Surfboards What if we could create a thin sticker or film to put on the bottom of our surfboards that could sequester carbon from the ocean? What if it were versatile so it could also be used in kayaks, jet skis, stand-up paddle boards, or devices that float on the surface of the ocean? Why? CO2 (carbon) is a greenhouse gas that contributes to warming our air and oceans. About 30% of our CO2 emissions are absorbed by our oceans. Coastal areas sequester the highest concentration of CO2, which is first absorbed at the ocean’s surface before it gets stored in deeper waters. Surfers spend most of their time sitting on their surfboards, bobbing up and down on the ocean’s surface, waiting for waves. We could use the surface areas of our surfboards to help sequester CO2. After it is sequestered, the patch or film can be easily removed and dropped in a depot at surf breaks. Perhaps the carbon can then be repurposed into bricks or building materials. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we need to remove some 5 billion tons of CO2 every year to limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C. The International Surfing Association (ISA) estimates that there are between 25–30 million surfers around the world. Yes, surfers can be lazy. But, give a surfer a bit of structure, like telling them there is a beach clean-up at 9 am at a specific location, and they will show. By offering them a structure to be involved as they enjoy their sport, we’d be adding a huge, untapped lever to the climate action movement. Idea 2: Coalition of Acupuncturists and Climate Scientists What if we could get Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctors to share their thinking on ways they help balance out the acidity in their patients’ bodies? Then what if we get scientists to share their thinking and insights on the increased acidity of our oceans and soil due to climate change? Come to think of it, why not add some entrepreneurs, ocean conservationists and farmers to the group in the spirit of collaboration? Why? As our world warms, our oceans and soil are becoming more acidic and imbalanced. If you’ve ever been treated by an acupuncturist or doctor of TCM, you’ll be familiar with the principles of Yin and Yang used in their treatment approach. Yang is related to acidity, while Yin is its counter. Could the Yin and Yang application found in TCM inspire new insights for scientists, ocean conservationists, farmers and entrepreneurs to think about how to combat ocean and soil acidity due to warming? Idea 3: Snoop Dogg Does Climate What if we got Snoop Dogg and Martha to commentate on the innovative and unique solutions emerging in climate with the same curiosity and wonder they did for the Paris Olympics? Why? We have the climate science. We have ideas for climate solutions. However, we need to get better at communicating climate change and reaching more people. The news is focused on covering climate disasters and crises more than it is focused on covering potential solutions. Imagine if Snoop Dogg commentated about seaweed-derived polymers as an alternative to plastic with the same wonder in which he talked about equestrianism at the Olympics. His attention to the innovations would build a buzz around climate awareness. Idea 4: Amplify Storytellers from the Poles What if we could amplify indigenous storytelling from the poles? Why? We have three poles — the Arctic, the Antarctic, and the Third Pole. The poles are indicators of how fast our world is warming. How often does the average person see, hear, or think about them? I sometimes see the Arctic referenced in scientific-focused articles or through stories of polar bears on melting ice caps. It’s like out of sight, out of mind. I hardly come across stories from Indigenous people speaking about the changes they are experiencing in these remote places. Though the poles are far off to most, they are our highly vulnerable axis of balance. If they are thrown off, the whole earth is thrown off. If the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland melted alone, sea levels would rise 230 feet, and coastal cities would be underwater. We need to amplify more voices from these regions of the world. Idea 5: Every Travel Writer a Climate Writer! What if there was a movement that mobilized travel writers, bloggers, and influencers to integrate climate messages into their stories? Why? People love following the stories of travelers as they explore the wonders of the world. Perhaps instead of travelers just writing about the awesome wave they surfed off the coast of Java, or the transformation they got from the Ayahuasca ceremony in a South American jungle, they could include climate talking points in their posts relevant to their place of travel. I’ve adopted this hybrid approach to share my surf travel memoirs. I write about my past surf adventures and link them to pressing climate issues. What if every travel writer were a climate writer? That would be a powerful way to educate and reach more people on climate change. Idea 6: Sexy (Or Weird!) Conservation Influencer What if we had a “Kim Kardashian” equivalent of climate influencing — someone who can make conservation sexy (or weird!) enough to want to follow? Why? I know. Sexy is subjective. And it’s not “social justice-y” of me to perpetuate constructs that focus on individual influence as opposed to building communal influence. But, people follow people. And, individual actions and stories are hugely influential in bringing people along into broader movements. Beauty and fashion influencers have incredible sway over people. What if there was someone who made conservation behaviors sexy (or weird!) enough for people to want to emulate? Could refusing single-use plastic ever be…sexy? Idea 7: Junior Climate Corps What if we could create a junior climate corps that provides paid internships for high school students to get experience working in areas of recycling, clean energy, conservation, and climate adaptation? Why? The U.S. is historically responsible for the most CO2 and CH4 (methane) emissions, two greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. To give some context on emissions in the U.S., an American refrigerator consumes more energy than many people do in Africa. To say we have a duty to reduce the impact of our emissions would be an understatement.
In the U.S., we need a pipeline for youth to enter the climate movement as leaders. If youth come from families with economic struggles, putting food on the table trumps any focus on climate action; worrying about the environment is a privilege.
We have an American Climate Corps for adults, which helps train tens of thousands of Americans to enter the workforce to fight climate change, accelerate the use of clean energy, and help communities with climate resilience. These corps members receive a monthly stipend and educational award to participate. If we could tie economic livelihood creation to climate action for youth by providing them paid opportunities as part of their high school education, we would not only cultivate the next generation of climate leaders, but we’d also be creating pipelines for a future green workforce. While the work of small nonprofits to create this pipeline is worthy, systemic solutions to create pipelines through high school infrastructure can help us scale efforts to meet the enormity of the climate issue. Idea 8: Man-Made Coltan What if we could create a man-made mineral that replaces coltan? Why? Congo holds 70–80% of the world’s coltan, a mineral used in creating a variety of electronic products. However, over 6 million people in Congo have lost their lives in large part due to the country’s mineral conflict since the 1990s. Coltan is also used in creating solar products, an alternative energy solution to get us to rely less on fossil fuels. While going solar is solving one problem, it does not solve the huge human rights and climate justice problems endemic in the sourcing of its materials. Someone once told me that innovation is just a function of time. I have no doubt some of these ideas might already be in the works in some way, shape, or form. I also do not doubt some of them may be downright impossible to do. At the same time, Einstein once said “if at first the idea is not absurd, then there will be no hope for it.” Perhaps there’s a thin line between what’s laudable and what’s laughable. Perhaps some seeds of hope got planted from this share.
Farhana Huq is an Executive & Leadership Coach, Surfer, Global Explorer and Founder of Surf Life Executive Coaching & Brown Girl Surf.
Moving from fixer to coach ![]() Early in my career I once managed a high performing leader who would often express feeling overworked and unsure of their role. In an effort to solve the problem, my gut reaction would be to try to control and fix. I’d come up with a list of parameters on expectations and try to clarify roles. I’d give guidance on where to spend more time vs. less. I’d wrap the issue up like a present, tie it with a pretty bow and then put it on a shelf. Problem solved. Or so I thought. The same theme with the same person would resurface. And I noticed I’d become increasingly exhausted trying to solve it. In hindsight, I realized what I was really missing in solving this was one thing: curiosity. What was needed was for me to get curious and ask of them questions like: What do you really want? What would that look like? What do you need more of/ less of from me? How can I be a better manager to you going forward? Instead of burdening myself to solve the recurring issue with excel spreadsheets, roles and task lists, an easier path was to help this capable leader get clear on what it actually was they really wanted. I’d come to understand that underneath the real issue was their desire to be recognized for their contributions in a way that was meaningful to them. Underneath it was their wanting to express what they needed to thrive as part of our team. What they needed was a collaborative process that was relational, taking into account how WE worked together. Now as an executive coach for over ten years, when I see managers default to the exhausting control and fix mode of management, I challenge them to cease being a fixer and to become more of a coach. Solving the hard issues requires getting to the bottom of the issue. And getting to the bottom of an issue requires of us to be engaged and curious. Sometimes what’s needed is less “that’s yours and this is mine” and more “together we are.” Farhana Huq is an Executive & Leadership Coach, Surfer, Global Explorer and Founder of Surf Life Executive Coaching & Brown Girl Surf.
Navigating Leadership's Complex Narratives: Lessons from a Social Entrepreneur I’ve been writing a lot of late about the non-profit I ran of 12 years that closed. It had a worthy mission to economically empower immigrant and refugee women through entrepreneurship and English training in the San Francisco Bay Area. After 10 years running it, I took a sabbatical for rest and much needed time off. Upon returning, I came back to a skeleton of an organization that was running a $50,000 deficit, all occurring while I was gone. There were many narratives as to exactly why we ended up in this position. The interim leader’s narrative ranged from ‘I was left to manage a house of cards’ to ‘the staff was not matched in the right positions for their skillsets’ to ‘our board chair wasn’t strong enough.’ Some of the Board Members’ narratives were ‘you can’t leave for 4 months and expect everything to be hunky dorey’ to ‘you left a COO in charge, not a CEO’ to ‘you didn’t share with us how much this was being run like a start-up.’ Some staff outright blamed the interim leader, some the Board. The most corporate members of the Board blamed me, because to their mindset, the buck stops with the CEO. Forget about any non-profit, “kumbaya” notion of shared leadership. It was a terrible time trying to stay afloat amidst a whirling sea of vastly different narratives. As well, there was the backdrop of the recession we were in at the time, which was more fact than narrative. After having ample time to reflect, heal, do my own internal work, what became apparent to me was that I never really formed my own narrative in the process. I listened to everyone else’s. At one time, I had been the outreach person for this organization, the programs person, the grant writer, the major gifts fundraiser, the website developer, the bookkeeper, the computer tech person, the visionary leader. I grew an idea I started from my bedroom desk when I was 24 years old with $1,000 into an incorporated non-profit organization with an official Board. I was the one person with 360 degree experience of the entire enterprise. And much like a deer in headlights, I was so caught off guard coming back to this I could not even form my own narrative. While having my own narrative was important to me in making sense of this all, I also learned that when things go South like this, it never is about any one person’s narrative. Ask anyone and they would all have a different perspective as to the “why” of this situation based on their own life experience or values. To them, their version IS the truth. As a leader looking back on this, I can say the learning is that we have to take responsibility and accountability for each of our roles in leadership. The learning is that nobody is perfect. The learning is in believing everyone did the best they could in the given circumstances, recession and all. Sometimes that is all we can do. We should own up to our shortfalls versus passing the blame and trying to justify why something wasn’t our fault, or our responsibility. We should understand we were all accountable in some way, and that for great ideas or organizations to thrive, the leadership must be shared. Going forward, I choose a no frills narrative of “what’s so. “ What’s so is I founded and ran a great non-profit, co-built together with wonderful colleagues, Board members, advisors, funders, volunteers and staff. What’s so is I went away for a much deserved break on a Board approved sabbatical. What’s so is the organizational leadership was not able to raise sufficient funds or effectively orchestrate the team to achieve their goals. What’s so is upon my return, we attempted to merge the organization with a larger non-profit. What’s so is we were unable to do so for various reasons, including the recession. What’s so is we closed. What’s so is I learned the lessons of a lifetime. That’s what’s so. Farhana Huq is an Executive & Leadership Coach, Surfer, Global Explorer and Founder of Surf Life Executive Coaching & Brown Girl Surf.
Journal Excerpt: The Fall of C.E.O. Women, The Start of brown girl surf December 18, 2011 I’m alive and I have all my limbs so I’m trying to put the closing into perspective. A lot has been done to dismantle the (C.E.O. Women) office. We’ve sold most of our assets last week and this week is the final push. The only thing is that we have no staff left – I’m the only one and so I have to manage all of the following:
I sent this list to my board chair and treasurer to let them know … But as it is, I’m left as the only one trying to manage the final three days of closing of the office. People expect way too much when you are a Founder. The good news is that I raised an extra $15,000 from foundations and donors and that the government approved our $20,000 reimbursement request so we will have enough for payroll, which will limit the board’s liability. They were going to float a loan for payroll as well which I was happy about but now they don’t need to. My friend and board member gave me a $1,750 (personal) loan to tide me over until we can collect on all the grants. … I have been actively trying to find a home for Grand Café in it all … because we owe the bank for our line of credit … It is a hard decision because that is nine years of work/research that went into building that asset (and $500,000) and I’m not sure what the bank will do with it at this point but I want it to land somewhere good, but I also want this to be done, so I’m torn … I have been surfing which I’m glad about but skipped my Friday session down in Santa Cruz as I normally do. I just felt like last week was intense and I couldn’t focus so much on my surfing, but I did get out on Friday and Saturday to Ocean Beach which I was really glad about. I also started to get a lot of momentum on brown girl surf … I am so proud of the (web) site and honestly it has been like therapy. After coming home dismantling an 12 year old non-profit I built on my back, I can work on creating something new which gives me a lot of energy. I’m excited that I am so excited about this … … If it weren’t for surfing and brown girl surf, I’d be in bad shape I think. But I feel calm and collected … but I just want this saga to be over with … I have such a wide range of emotions regarding the board that it’s hard to make sense of them. On the one hand, I have felt left in a lurch by them all year – only half of them fundraised and did what they could … On the other, they are my personal contacts and networks, and amazingly, not one member resigned since the crises … most of them have given or raised significant donations (totaling over $96,000) … So it’s not bad for a small board … I’m glad that brown girl surf will not have one going forward. I just want to be free from this all - free from the blame, free from the stress, free from this identity that I have held for what seems way too long. I am Farhana and I am the Founder of C.E.O. Women, but it is not my baby and I don’t feel that way about it … … It sucks being a Founder. Your DNA is imprinted into the organization and work until the day you leave/ relinquish it but I feel trapped and not in a position to relinquish at this point. I can’t wait until it’s all over. I can’t wait to run with brown girl surf and it’s exciting to see it come alive … Farhana Huq is an Executive & Leadership Coach, Surfer, Global Explorer and Founder of Surf Life Executive Coaching & Brown Girl Surf.
Beyond Setbacks: Bringing a Decade-Old Idea Back to Life I founded and ran a non-profit organization for 12 years with an amazing mission – helping low-income immigrant and refugee women to become entrepreneurs and learn English. After 10 years of running it, I took a needed sabbatical to reflect and rejuvenate. An interim leader led the organization in my absence. When I returned a few months later, it was operating a $50,000 deficit, the first ever deficit in the history of the organization. As a Founder, this was devastating. It was like coming back at halftime to a 0-4 World Cup game and you’re on the losing team. To continue reading more about bringing an innovative idea back after a big setback, check out my full post on linkedin. Farhana Huq is an Executive & Leadership Coach, Surfer, Global Explorer and Founder of Surf Life Executive Coaching & Brown Girl Surf.
11 Transformative Qualities That Separate Great Leaders from the Average Performers Some of my first experiences with leadership began as a 14-year-old, when I started teaching martial arts classes for adults. I learned the importance of leading by example. I learned what it was to be in front of adults who were relying on me for guidance and support to grow their skills. In my 20’s, my leadership journey further expanded after founding an organization that gave me the opportunity to not only grow and exercise leadership in ways that continually stretched me, but gave me the honor of working alongside some of the greatest, most courageous people I’d ever met in my life, from fellow scholars, small business owners, to social justice leaders, to corporate CEOs. After really thinking about this journey of leadership, and some of the characteristics of great leaders I met along the way, it was hard not to think of surfing. The similarities are uncanny, actually. Who would have ever thought surfing could be such a window into greatness J Below are 11 great leadership qualities I have seen in action. 1. Great leaders commit to their word and follow through: In the way a surfer commits to a wave at the time of takeoff (the point where the surfer catches the wave and pops up on the board), when great leaders say they are going to do something, they actually do it. They commit to their word. When something changes on their end, they communicate it out or give advance notice. Doing what they say they will do builds absolute trust and confidence in their word. 2. They have balanced energy: Balance is at the foundation of surfing and is a quality I have observed in the greatest leaders I have met. They have a calm, balanced energy about them and are able to be fully present with you in the moment, even if they are extremely busy. They possess a balanced and inviting way of doing things. Many of them have a practice (yoga, running, meditation) or something that keeps them grounded. That energy is felt when you are with them. 3. They know when to be old skool: Great leaders are skilled in the art of relationships, and more importantly, they just know when to pick up the phone, old- skool style. They don’t send long, diary-like e-mails expressing their feelings and frustrations with a laundry list of things you did wrong or how they feel wronged. When shit goes down, they pick up the phone. They are courageous. They confront things head-on and know when a face-to-face conversation is warranted. Relationships matter to great leaders, and they know how to manage them. 4. They choose creation over victimhood: Great leaders have a creation vs. victim mentality. This means they focus on the ride – the art of carving through the wave - even if the wave is monstrous and gnarly. They are self-accountable and don’t blame others for their situation or their wipeouts. If something doesn’t go as planned, they regroup, try again, shift strategies and embrace a growth mentality, learning from the process. 5. They possess a passion for their craft: Much like a surfer, great leaders have a passion for their craft. They put the best intentions of the issue, cause or organization before their personal agendas. 6. They understand the greater powers at work: Like surfers who understand the power of the ocean, great leaders understand they are minute in the big scheme of things. They know when to be humble and lead from behind, and how to manage a healthy ego while being at the helm. They know how to use their ego selectively. 7. They are courageous: Like a big wave surfer tackling the world’s scariest waves, great leaders are courageous in their ability to confront uncomfortable situations and have those difficult conversations. They face their fears, and by standing in their power and speaking their mind, they are able to come to new understandings with those around them. 8. They are versatile: A surfer can be versatile in her ability to surf many different types of surfboards through many different types of conditions in the ocean. In the same way, great leaders tend to have broad experience in various aspects of their craft, and are versatile in what they do. Some of them may have started doing the most menial thing, but learned the ropes along the way and know what it feels like to be in the shoes of the people they are leading. 9. They respect others: As surfers learn to have a healthy respect for the ocean, great leaders operate from a baseline of respect for people, including their rivals. They are not the type who go around making up names for a colleague or boss, or talk badly about someone behind their back. They hold respect for others and know how to communicate their position, even if it is at odds with someone else’s. 10. They are able to see trends through multiple perspectives: A surfer goes through many perspectives – from assessing conditions on the beach, to being in the water taking the drop, to being in the ‘zone’, to duck diving under the wave. They are able to be in all perspectives. Great leaders are also able to be in a range of perspectives, understanding that not everyone will see something the way they do, but knowing how to cull the “trends” from varying perspectives around them. 11. They are curious: Just as surfers cross borders, curious about the next kind of wave they will encounter on the horizon, great leaders are curious. They never assume anything, and know how to approach issues from a place of curiosity. They know how to ask the right questions from this rich place of curiosity. What are some of your observations of great leadership? AuthorFarhana Huq is an Executive & Leadership Coach, Surfer, Global Explorer and Founder of Surf Life Executive Coaching & Brown Girl Surf. ![]() Our personal journey through life defines our values. We know what we like. We know what hurts us. We know what we are afraid of. We know what gives us inspiration. This knowledge of self begins to shape our life purpose. Our deep connection to our values is the most powerful motivator there is to propel us forward to take our leaps. Trying to take a leap without clearly knowing what our values are is akin to searching for buried treasure without the treasure map; we meander aimlessly in circles wondering where it is we are going. Two of my values have always been freedom and independence. When I was a little girl, I’d never let my mom pick my clothes out for me. I insisted on making my own lunches and was doing my own laundry by the time I was in the 4th or 5th grade. I would ask my parents repeatedly if I could move into the shed in the back of our house so I could have my own home. It was as if I was born this way – always wanting to be free and independent. Weird, I know. These values drove me to devote my entire career to helping women take the leap to feel the freedom and independence of owning their own businesses. When I was starting the non-profit I ran for 11 years, never did it feel like it was work in the beginning. I always thought I was so lucky. It was only when the organization started to get bigger, and I faced increasingly frustrating growing pains and HR issues that I started to feel dissonance. I’d finish a week that had been filled with sometimes 20-30 meetings with volunteer groups, organizational teams, donors, funders, vendors, and then retreat up to West Marin in Northern California not wanting to speak to anyone for the whole weekend. I was exhausted. I missed the energy of early-stage projects that allowed me to work on many different things. I missed getting deep with the people I worked with, sharing that family-like camaraderie and building really solid one-on-one relationships with my colleagues. When I ran the non-profit (which helped immigrant and refugee women to start their own businesses), I once knew each client by her first name. Years later I just knew of maybe the star entrepreneur of the class. I realized I needed to take my own leap and found myself contemplating a new career. I eventually figured out a model for myself where I could still exercise the values of freedom and independence and be true to my entrepreneurial nature, but do so in a way that allowed me the valuable one-on-one time with people, and the ability to go deep. These values are what drove me to coaching. Since making the decision to work deeply with people, I’m back to feeling like my work isn’t work, but just a natural extension of what I love to do. I talk with social entrepreneurs, creative people, and people with real struggles trying to take their leap. I have the honor to help guide them to realize their values and craft a path for their life to align with those values. It makes me feel energized, purposeful and alive. This process and experience makes me realize just how important it is for you to know what you really value, else you may be taking a leap on a path that sounds good in theory, but that may compromise your values or make you feel dissonant or exhausted. Take a temperature reading of the dissonance in your life. Do you feel any – in your relationships, at work, with respect to your health? If so, I’d challenge you to make a list of your values – not material items, but attributes and ways of being in the world that are especially important to you. Then rate each one on a scale of 1 -10 and see how much you are honoring these values in your life. 10 means you fully honor it. 1 means you have some work to do. Where do you need to honor something more? Are you not honoring one particular value at all? What’s the one big thing you need to shift within YOU to change that? Values are our spiritual launch pad; they are our internal treasure map. When the dream we want to bring to life is in clear alignment with our values, something magical happens and the treasures of life begin to unfold. You begin to feel a natural energy and momentum which propels you toward your leap. The universe just works that way. It may be scary at first, but at some point you’ll eventually find yourself feeling like what you are doing is not work, but a natural extension of you choosing to live and exercise your values in the world. Let your quest begin! AuthorFarhana Huq is an Executive & Leadership Coach, Surfer, Global Explorer and Founder of Surf Life Executive Coaching & Brown Girl Surf. Everybody has the tendency to sometimes complain about their circumstances or the people they are in relationship with. I once read somewhere that complaints are are just unspoken requests. But sometimes we cannot make the requests we want to make so find ourselves in the position of complaining. What we do have the power to shift is what is within us. Getting in touch with your ability to make these internal shifts will help the leaps you want to take in your wave of life to be all the more smoother. For example, there is an important relationship in my life but I had a hard time with the way that particular person has related to me in the past. This person from time to time would start to accuse me of things and then would start to criticize me. I would feel defensive and hurt. I realized that it was holding me back in a lot of ways and making me feel bad about myself, and even eroding my self-confidence. I decided the next time she started to criticize me, that I would not react, but I would try to understand her perspective and see if I could find some value in her words and just listen. Rather than let her words land on my heart center and feel defensive, as she spoke I imagined them landing on the ground in the space in front of me. I also told myself to not take it personally. I made the conscious decision about how I was going to react and to approach the conflict the way I would surf a wave – to just be curious, go with it and follow it. I listened and ask questions and tried to understand and clarify the source of what was making her criticize me. The process diffused the episode of this person and allowed me the space to speak my voice and share my perspective with them. In the end, I didn’t change her, but changed the WAY I chose to relate to her. It also became apparent that her episodes were more about HER feelings and the way she experienced the world vs. about me. I learned that when you’re trying to move forward and you feel something or someone is holding you back, it’s easier to shift something within you, rather than change someone or try to change your circumstances. You have far more control over changing YOU first . This has been a critical lesson for me in leaping into the unknowns of life, not knowing what you might face. Having the muscle to flow in and out of conflict and shift your RESPONSE to what is happening will make you all the more prepared to take your leap in life, whatever it may be. AuthorFarhana Huq is an Executive & Leadership Coach, Surfer, Global Explorer and Founder of Surf Life Executive Coaching & Brown Girl Surf. |
AuthorFarhana Huq | Social Entrepreneur, Executive Coach, Global Explorer, Founder Archives
December 2024
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