February

Leadership is not about you; it's about investing in the growth of others.

Ken Blanchard

“You will get the highest return,” my mother used to say to us, “if you invest in people.”  Nowadays, she wonders why most of her children can’t afford to give her a stipend, a little cash flow so she can spoil her grandkids, my niblings who I believe need some character building 😏.  Had she asked us to invest in stocks, real estate, or some business, she might have gotten more cash from her kids instead of full-grown adults in ministry who can barely make ends meet.  Just think about it, if we had invested in Amazon or Priceline stocks or rental properties or better yet a lucrative dot.com company, she would be getting more than just a small stipend from me.  We won’t mention my siblings who are struggling.  According to them, I have the most comfortable, luxurious lifestyle with very little worries because I am single and don’t have kids or school/car/house loans.  They forget that I owe a mortgage on my current home but for some reason in their fantastic worldview, I live the dream.

So what did she mean when she told us to invest in people?  Most likely, given her evangelical bent, she probably believed that if we converted people to Christendom, then we would have saved them from damnation.  It would have been a great investment in terms of salvation for them which would not have been of any benefit to us since we are not the ones in need of salvation - isn’t that interesting how we need to save others but not ourselves.  But if you pushed my mother, she would say that we would have a greater reward in heaven, a golden mansion instead of a hut made out of straws.  Yet I’ve always wondered, why it would matter what type of home we lived in if we are in heaven? 

But is there some wisdom in her words?  Are humans a good investment? Parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, and some aunts (not referring to me) expend much of their energy on young people to mold them into exemplary adults.  They are not usually monetarily rewarded though if you ask some Asian parents, children are supposedly their retirement plan.  Oh, silly humans.  So what is the reward?  Some idealist will say that their reward is in the joy of having some input in the unfolding of people’s potentials.  I used to and at some level, still believe in such nonsense.  Are we willing to put money, energy, resources into people who may or may not even want to explore their own beauty/talent/gifts.  Personally, I would die to work with a few Amanda Gormans in my life. But truly, how many Amanda Gormans are there? Then is it just this delusional feeling that we have impacted a few people that would be our return?  If it is, then it’s not much of a good profit margin.

So lately, I’ve come to believe that an investment in people is not something with the greatest return but a necessary investment for the future of our communities.  It has become an absolute moral imperative that we invest in people, actually believe in and work with young people and womxn who have bought into this narrative that their agency does not matter, that their words and actions have no power in this world.  Without their leadership, we are really screwed.  Yes, we will not be financially rewarded; yes, we will probably never see or feel the effects because we will be dead; and yes, we may never realize our impact on them.  So we may never see the returns on our investment.  But what choice do we have?  Should we allow the world to rot and go to a metaphorical hell because we will not be personally rewarded in worldly terms - money, fame, power?

I have no measuring tool but I know that when I leave this world that it will better than if I had not lived. Because you need to understand that all we need are a few Amanda Gormans to transform our communities.  My impact on one person or two is all I need to create a ripple effect in which many lives will be changed.  So the return is there but not materialized into what is tangible and therefore measurable. It is actually more phenomenal in what is possible, a new vision of where we can all be.  What can I say except I have come to believe in my mother’s wisdom even though she would disavow it.  Because ultimately I guess that, like a bee which is busy pollinating, I actually derive benefits that I cannot quantify. I know, silly me.

Sam Joo

CEO and Founder

1/30/2021