From Future Leader to Present Leader

This past week I completed my first year as a manager with Olam International and my membership in the Future Leaders Programme.

The program had its ups and downs along with its side to sides. I certainly feel prepared to be a manager in Olam and have learned quite a bit about the agro-commodities and food systems business. The program ultimately brought me to eight countries across three continents:

Over the last year I’ve shadowed our cocoa procurement managers in Akure, Nigeria, walked the rows of our 2,000-hectare coffee plantation in southern Tanzania, and sweated my butt off in our cookies and crackers factory in Tema, Ghana. The highlight of the year was the three months I spent in Indonesia. I had never been to Indonesia before and it’s a wonderful place – beautiful and diverse, filled with friendly people. I also got to spend two months back in Nicaragua helping to evaluate and implement digital products in our coffee business.

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My time as an FLP ended last week with our graduation in Singapore. We spent a week meeting the new groups of FLP’s, saying goodbye to each other (we are all spreading out around the world for our permanent roles), reflecting, and receiving personal development sessions. I suppose I’m no longer a Future Leader; I’m a Leader of the Present.

I flew to Singapore with a one-way ticket and all of my bags packed. The company had not found a suitable role for me by the time of my departure. One role in Latin America had fallen through. Some other opportunities, including cocoa procurement in Cote d’Ivoire or Project Management in Singapore, were being thrown around. It was a bit jarring to have to pack up my whole life, make sure it weighed 50 lbs. or less, and then fly clear across the Earth, not knowing what would be next. In a way, it’s a great allegory for the absurdity I sometimes experience with this company.

When I got to Singapore, the company had found a role for me. Straight out of right field, I was being assigned to Internal Audit. Internal Audit was my first role out of college (as a consultant with Ernst & Young). Internal Audit was not what I was expecting. I thought I would be going into the operations, not an oversight function. Nevertheless, everyone, from the COO on down, is saying that it is a wonderful opportunity for me, and I am very well suited for the role. I will be living in Bogotá, Colombia (or possible São Paulo, Brazil) and covering all of Latin America, with occasional travel to the rest of the world as well. If nothing else, I expect to learn a ton more about Olam’s operations.

I’m still in Singapore, going through Internal Audit training. In the next week or two (I still don’t have a flight out of here) I’ll start making my way to South America. I may make a few stops along the way to shadow some audits and meet some more members of the Internal Audit team. Once I am settled in my new home in Bogotá (or São Paulo) I will update everyone on my life (and invite you all to visit).

Avid readers will have noticed that over the last year the blog has veered more towards video posts, away from my usual prose. I continue to write a lot. The thing is, my fount of inspiration is now my work, and unlike business school and the US Peace Corps, I can’t freely write (and criticize) without possible repercussions for my employability. One day I hope to get everything on my mind into the public domain, but for now, you’ll have to remain satisfied with video updates as well as my occasional text posts and articles, like this one. I am working on a big article concerning my experiences with inter-cultural communication over the past year. That has been one of the most challenging and fascinating aspects of first year with Olam.

Leading in the Present