Day 9 - Back to Dublin (Coming Home)

Our last day in Galway found us at the PorterShed, a tech accelerator housed in an old Guinness storehouse near the Galway train station. Mary greeted us and explained a bit of the history. It was inspired by a similar facility in Boulder and established after AirBnB expressed interest in Galway but determined that the city lacked the talent pool necessary and located instead in Dublin. PorterShed was conceived to never see this happen again and received funding from Enterprise Ireland to the tune of €600,000 for the building. The remaining funding for operations comes from AIB (Allied Irish Bank), the largest bank in the area, IBM, KPMG, and Western Investment Fund. The mission is to create a shared workspace for startup tech entrepreneurs and support their growth until they can scale up and leave the nest. PorterShed and Enterprise Ireland then split an 8% stake in those companies for facilitating their quick growth. It looked very much like a WeWork space but without the glass walls separating tenants. Definitely had a young, hip vibe but I surveyed the large open room with rows of tables and there were people of all ages. John Breslin, professor and director of the PorterShed, entered and gave us a brief tour while reiterating the story and goals of the accelerator.

We were able to hang around for an InterTradeIreland panel discussion that Jan was asked to participate in last minute. He gave a brief talk on leadership principles that we had been hearing all week. This was followed by a couple of other talks until the panel sat for a Q & A. One particularly interesting question was from an Irish woman in the audience. She asked for advice on how to integrate leadership principles into Irish companies. But the intriguing part of it was her indication that those principles are all but absent in Irish businesses. It made me ponder how this dearth of leadership could be so prevalent, no matter the country or the size of the business. It’s a concept that always seems to take a backseat to the other aspects of business. Why do so many business leaders feign management expertise and discontinue the learning process which would improve themselves and their organizations? Probably because it is anything but easy and takes a lot of humility, vulnerability and setting ego aside. Those are just a few concepts I’ve explored and put into practice over the last week. It requires making a concerted and intentional effort and it’s easy to fall back into old habits.

We broke for lunch after the panel discussion and boarded our bus for Dublin. A mere five minutes into the ride and our bus malfunctioned. Our driver, John, didn’t panic one bit. He tried to troubleshoot it and when that failed he called in reinforcements. The group also showed patience and poise during the delay. Or maybe we were just too worn out to care....hard to tell after the week we had. The silver lining was that we got a 20-minute lecture on peat. Peat is a fuel source beneath the surface that requires backbreaking work to harvest. The Irish have been utilizing this resource for ages. It takes 1,000 years to grow just 30cm of the stuff and is natural and highly cost effective. I was excited for a subsequent deep-dive into dry stone walls, but Jan had something else in mind for the drive. The group gathered at the rear of the bus and we were told to one-by-one express positive thoughts about each group member. As we went around the circle, it was interesting hearing all the different perspectives of each other based on the different ways we’ve interacted. Each group member has unique qualities and characteristics, all special in their own way. It made me think of what a well-rounded group we had. It truly is the people and relationships I’m thankful for and everything they’ve taught me in one week. I sincerely enjoyed being a brief part of their lives and sharing this experience.

I was the last person to get feedback from everyone. It was interesting for me to hear all of the various takes on me with a recurring theme of “intimidating”.  This got me thinking about what exactly it is that might be the cause. I’m well aware that I’m intense and have a voracious appetite for knowledge, complexity and nuance. It’s part of my cerebral drive to better myself in every facet and never settle for mediocrity. But I never contemplated that it would intimidate and potentially be off-putting. Jan made a comment reflecting on how great it was that everyone on this trip could be themselves. That was only partially true for me. There were a few candid moments with some group members where I felt comfortable enough to reveal my true self but, otherwise, I was probably at 75%. I'll call the other 25% adaptability. Something that is needed in business and that I need to improve upon further to become more approachable. But this also begs the question of whether or not leadership is the right fit for me. A question I’ve been weighing for some time now. Rationally speaking, not everyone can or will be a leader. This journey I’m on is ultimately about unearthing a passion and finding alignment. I took this course to explore myself deeper and be honest, no matter the result. And like Bono, I still haven't found what I'm looking for but this experience gave me some answers. 

“My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, made mistakes, but recovered from them”  – Bono

With special thanks to Jan, Jacquie, Ben, Jesus, Steven, Brett, Eric, Kai, Ranjit, Roop, Divya, Christa and Jordan!