Head, Heart, & Gut: She Farts Proudly. So, Do I.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin one of the premier scientists of his day (thanks to his remarkable discoveries in the field of electricity), wrote a letter in 1781 to the Royal Academies of Science where he asked a witty but scientifically important question as follows ”How might the discovery of some drug wholesome and not disagreeable, to be mixed with our food or sauces, render the natural discharges of wind from our bodies not only inoffensive, but agreeable as perfumes”

This question alongside the theme for international women’s day 2019, #BalanceforBetter, struck a unique chord as I ingested all day, drugs of powerful acclamations of purpose and commitments to gender parity, and reflected on how this may have translated over the years to 'perfumes of excellence' in my own personal life. Here are a few insights I would like to share.

The Chosen – The African Queens

I was born to one of the most remarkable women that graces this earth. She not only spent more than half of her entire pregnancy within the four walls of a hospital propped up but sacrificed everything to give me the best life and education she could muster. The most often-understated talent research insights of our time are how much we learn whilst in the womb of our mothers. From the ambient sound of wisdom generated from her voice through the abdomen and internally through the vibration of her vocal chords, to the diversity in taste preferences from several passing fluids through her veins, to the intrauterine curiosity developed through playful exploration by yanking, pulling, sucking and simply practicing how to breathe. The secret sauce of life was already learnt before I graced the planet earth itself. I arrived and learnt real lessons modeling my career journey’s after hers. She had many firsts as a female leader to emulate, the most memorable were the tears I remember vividly as a child from a boardroom filled with men indecisive about taking chances on her. Despite the challenges, she made it to the pinnacle, and her experiences inspired a purpose in me, of which I remain eternally grateful.

I am married to a Shero. An outstanding woman of valor indescribable in words. She was there in the early days of my career journey, was there through the celebrations and trials of growing up and chose me despite all my imperfections. Another largely understated talent research insight is the correlation between a man’s projected happiness with higher confidence levels when she says Yes. “Moto Moto” the hippo in the movie Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa typifies this daily inspiration with the quote “I promise the answer will always be yes, unless a no is required”. She blesses me with many undeserving Yes’s and holds me accountable to the occasional No’s in love when I deserve it. We enjoy the happiness and confidence required to grow daily, and I spend every day modeling it in return. Furthermore, when you live with the most talented person you know, you learn how to shape talent. You learn how to balance better, you learn that success is only certain when you grow and think together as equals and I am profoundly indebted to my Shero for shaping me every day.

Together, these phenomenal women represent my foundation and strength. My artificial afro-centric hairstyle illustrated visually in this article's header, symbolizes how they make me feel. They are in my Head every day in unequal and natural measures, reminding me I can achieve nothing without their strength & love.

The Cheerleaders – The Global Curators

I recently read an essay from Whitney Johnson (a leading business thinker on disruptive innovation & personal disruption) where in the 31st chapter of Frances Hesselbein’s leading book “Work is Love Made Visible” she speaks vividly to ladies about throwing down their pompoms, and to the guys their gaming joysticks. I learnt a truly important lesson on the balance for better. Let me explain.

I have had exactly four female and eight male managers throughout my entire career. Having twice as many male leaders relative to females, keeps me engaged as I share the impact of each female leader’s role on critical milestones on my career journey in royal admiration. My first female leader was a Lebanese princess who took a chance on me to transition from a business technical role to a core human resource role. She observed me in action leading a talented bunch of graduate engineers to their purpose and simply whispered in my ear, you will be an awesome HR Leader. She followed it up with committed action and promoted me into the most accelerated learning role of my career as an HR transformation leader. She charged me to not just personally disrupt my ways of thinking, but to disrupt people practices within the M&A/Outsourcing space, the first of its kind on the continent. I knew nothing of HR, knew nothing of M&A’s but she took a chance on me. My second female leader was an American ailurophile, who decided she would show me more love than her own children. Against all odds and resistance, she elevated me to a global audience to tell the African M&A story. When you tell a story amongst a tentative audience as a minority, and it follows with a standing ovation amongst others, it removes any self-perceived barriers of inequality previously conceived. Both leaders charged my early career into realms unknown to me.

My third female leader was an Italian duchess who showed up in a timely fashion in one of my most important career junctures in recent years as an experienced professional. These are the times when your biases are at its prime, asking questions never considered on what it means to work for a female leader and work with a group of predominantly female leaders. She turned my biases on its head and simply handed me a white unicorn to fly the skies on. Her ability to listen to my unspoken concerns, to remove barriers where I wasn’t looking, and to sponsor some of the most entrepreneurial pursuits in my career impacting the future of work was simply ceiling shattering. My fourth female leader was a Canadian countess who helped me find my true calling for shaping talent at all organizational levels transcending logic in a truly inspirational way. She put a mirror of my leadership walk daily through her consistent reflections, repeatedly speaking the forbidden language of complete trust, and ultimately self-sacrificing for a purpose larger than us both.

When I play back the impact of these 4 inspirational women, I can only but marvel on what I have become because they chose to fart unapologetically their ingested love for the talent I exhumed, in crowds where others may have been too shy to. They challenged me to drop my joysticks as they had dropped their own pompons and took a golden chance on me. They are curated in my Heart every day in varied measures, reminding me the sky cannot be the summit, but only the beginning.

The Cherry on Top – The World Changers

Paradoxically, when you learn to manage your fart in a crowd, or in an airplane seat next to a pleasant stranger, you withhold the beauties within. Dr. Franklin argues that the fundamental difference between the world today and 200 years ago is the freedom to fart. He metaphorically talks about our fears to take risks, our lack of tolerance to anything not squeaky clean, (body odor, smell of garbage or language) and the investments of millions of dollars in deodorants, mouth rinses and perfumes to avoid the unpleasant smells of life. What really stinks today is our inability to smell the droves of talent in many diverse forms, particularly females and the balance of equality that should prevail.

I have found that every day at home, at work, at school, at church and just all around me, I am exposed to world changing female leaders in droves. They rise through the toughest of life challenges, perform business miracles, drive change in ways the best of us men have not fathomed yet. With the rise in talent research insights speaking to top performing boards, companies and governments with women at the helm, it's easy to gloss over the narrative, rather than ask the question why? I found my personal why by simply listening, learning and investing time in these world changers. Some of them call me family, some friend, some colleague, some mentor, but what they all have in common is a strength and emotiveness that I choose to emulate. I choose to see the world from their fresh perspectives, I choose to empathize differently through intentional emotional connections, I choose to give them a chance where many don’t. In other words, I choose to ingest the beauty they give naturally and egest their perfumery in the places where they are not heard or given a platform to shine. I also found that when fellow men choose not to take on this responsibility, (or excuse my language insist on being asses), I communicate with the appropriate part of my anatomy by turning to face them with my posterior to let them know where I stand. I do envisage a world where many of us collectively choose to count our farts as thunderous steps to true freedom in diversity and equality, as simply making small gestures acutely effective in large crowds.

In conclusion, my truth is loud and clear and how I live (not how I say) it is what really matters. I recently took a role as a lead people and culture enabler in the company I work for. My first 90 days in job is about journaling the talent we have in our organization at the levels where they are not naturally seen or heard, and tell their stories through strategic Farthing or Storytelling, in the right places. Spending time on the field inspiring the world changers (women and men alike) to finding their purpose aligned to personal and business outcomes, will balance our world better. These talents trigger my Gut and are my ultimate cherries on top. It is the reason I play in the talent field. It is how I say thank you to the wonderful females in my life who have gone ahead of me or still stick with me. It remains my reason for being. And in the final words of Franklin, “So fart, and if you must, fart often. But always fart without apology. Fart for freedom, fart for liberty and fart proudly.

Authors Note: Some of my expressions are inspired directly by the writings of Benjamin Franklin you never read in school, from the book “Fart Proudly” edited by Carl Japikse.