Wow.
The only word I can think of after finishing up our final module of Endeavor Fellows. You see, I was lucky enough to be selected to this years 5th Endeavor Fellows class, and it was truly a life changing experience. I went into this opportunity thinking it would be great for personal and professional development, but little did I know I would walk away 12-months later with 13 new family members.
My fellows journey started off with quite the casual message to Endeavor Atlanta's Managing Director, Aaron Hurst:
After ironing out some details and filling out the application, I received an email, 6 weeks later, stating I've been accepted! "Awesome," I think, "Can't wait to travel and learn some new stuff through the year." I still remember that being my initial inclination - and boy was that certainly underplayed.
For context, Fellows consists of three week-long modules over 12-months, with each module having a different theme - managing yourself, managing others, and managing change. A series of speakers are brought in to teach a variety of concepts and hands-on exercises are completed to implement what we just learned. We are asked to gather 360 reviews on day one and again on the final day to track our progress. The days are long - about 10-12 hours of content, followed by dinner (we usually cook as teams), followed up with hours of dinner conversation. All 12 of the fellows (plus our fearless leaders Jesse Miller and Anna Hess) stay in the same Airbnb, making it very easy to deal with logistics.
Day 1 finally arrives with the first module taking place in San Francisco, California. I'm excited but anxious, having no clue what I've just gotten myself into. I walk into this beautiful home in the heart of SF, say hi to the other Fellows who've already arrived, and sat nervously in the living room to await the others. After everyone arrives we are divvied up into our rooms (all 5 of the guys had the attic to share :)) and we headed out to our first activity: an escape room.
What an ice breaker this was. We had just met and already had to figure out how to communicate, work as a team, and problem solve. We were given two hours to finish the escape room, and in epic fashion, we finish with one second left on the clock. We head to dinner thereafter which was the first time we really had a chance to get to know one another. We celebrated a birthday, shared a lot of laughs and some great food. You could tell at that moment there was something special about this group.
Day 2 was the first day of content, focused solely on managing yourself. The tone was set right off the bat as we were tasked with creating a life graph. The life graph plots your highs and lows on a spectrum and helps you recognize memories that have made a significant impact on you. I mentioned how special this group was, but I believe the life graph took our relationship (in just 24 hours) to a whole new level. The amount of detail shared was inspiring. Tears were shed. Laughs were had. And stories of hard times and perseverance flowed through the room. I'm usually a reserved person and shared things in that graph that friends of many years don't even know. I was in awe with how much this group leaned in and am grateful that no one held back.
The content the rest of the week was incredible. The first outside speaker held a session helping us explore finding our purpose. We had other experts come in and run us through our MBTI results, understanding what they mean, and how they can be best leveraged in a work environment. We also learned about our "sabateurs" and how to best manage (or use them) to be better leaders. The last couple of sessions included a design thinking workshop, as well as understanding how to be a better coach through giving and receiving feedback. It was a great kick off to the year long process, setting the tone for what was to come.
The number one thing I underestimated going into Fellows was how impactful the human connection would be. I mentioned it earlier, but after the days were completed we’d head back to the Airbnb and cook dinner in teams. What I downplayed in my earlier comments were the hours and hours spent sitting around that dinner table telling stories, learning about each others culture, singing songs, dancing, and building genuine life-long friendships. I was inspired sitting in that room every night. We had team members from 10 countries and a slew of different backgrounds, races and religions. There was so much diversity in one room and each of us cared so deeply for one another. If you want to take a snapshot of what is right in the world, this was it. I learned more sitting at the dinner table every night than any classroom has ever taught me - and for that, I'm forever grateful to Endeavor.
With Module One in the books, we were asked to have bi-weekly check-ins with our 'advisory groups' (aka Cooking Groups). This was to hold us accountable in our work and learnings, but have a team we could lean on through the process. I couldn't be more thankful for my group of Augustin Dagnino, Farida Salah, and Asun Leon as those bi-weekly calls became a staple on my calendar. I looked forward to each one as they provided a constant reminder of our time at module one. My team helped me immensely throughout the year as I navigated tough decisions and just provided a safe space to talk freely about things on my mind. Team Lasadel, you are the best.
Module 2 took place in late June, this time in New York City. Once again, we stayed in an incredible brownstone in Brooklyn but what was most incredible was still how connected we were as a group. It was as if time hadn't even passed. We went right back to being a family.
The content for the week was all about managing others. This time we had experts come in and talk about topics such as building better communication channels, trust and psychological safety in the workplace, how to manage conflict, using negotiation tactics, as well as how to manage up, down and around an organization. We also had the opportunity to speak with Endeavor's Founder & CEO, Linda Rottenberg, on her vision for the future, as well as Adrian Garcia-Aranyos (Endeavor Global's President) on how he sees the organization taking shape in years to come. What I appreciated most was how open they both were to our questions, feedback, and thoughts on how to continually make Endeavor the leading organization for High Impact entrepreneurship.
All in all, Module 2 was very similar to the Module 1 - the days were long but inspiring, and bonds continued to grow deeper around that dinner table. This time many of the fellows brought treats from their home country giving us a small taste of traditional foods from back home.
One area I really started to see take shape was how much knowledge sharing was happening across Endeavor offices. With 10 countries, and 12 offices represented, best practices were always flowing. We had Endeavor offices as young as two and as old as twenty, so there was plenty of experience to go around. For example, I was able to gather best practices about creating a 'Scale-Up' program from Luis (Brazil), managing our mentor network from Cynthia (Mexico), team structures and pipeline management from Zara (Jordan), team and board member accountability from Juan Carlos (Colombia), implementing a new, sustainable program from Morgan (Endeavor Global - NYC), managing our investor network from Anisha (Endeavor Global - SF), and even designing and implementing new local talent/entrepreneur programs from Utku (Turkey). You see, each Endeavor office is running so fast trying to sustain itself and its operation, but taking a week and facilitating informal cross-office collaboration provides so much opportunity to learn from others successes and mistakes.
Module 2 finished and the bi-weekly calls with my advisory group continued all the way up until our final module in Istanbul, Turkey. We unfortunately were short a few of our family members, but the impact remained high. This module was all about managing change. What was most fun about the sessions is that the speakers came from various backgrounds - entrepreneurs, academia, consultants, investors and corporate. One minute we were able to hear from an Endeavor Entrepreneur on how they've managed change in their young and growing companies, and the next, a successful strategy consultant who has worked with enterprises on how to best build and implement key strategic initiatives. We also had amazing sessions about creating culture and developing a growth mindset, all of which have a major impact on how organizations view and embrace change.
Much to our dismay, the week in Turkey flew by. You could sense the emotion in the room get stronger each passing day. None of the fellows wanted it to end, knowing that this would be one of our final opportunities to be together in the same city. The final day came, tears were shed as people left, with promises that we'd figure out how to have a "Module 4".
So there you have it, my journey through Endeavor Fellows. A life changing experience on many levels. Something I will always remember and value as part of my Endeavor career. Something I hope every team member at Endeavor can one day experience. This opportunity helped shaped me personally and professionally going forward. It's helped me recognize the impact I can have on others and this world. Most importantly, it's given me 13 life long friends I know I can always rely on.
Last but not least, I want to say thank you to my home office in Atlanta - Aaron, Alaysia and Rachel - for picking up the slack while I was on the road for each of the modules and supporting me through the journey. I also want to thank Anna Hess and Jesse Miller for putting together a program none of us will ever forget. And finally, Endeavor Global for giving us the opportunity to participate, connect with others and ultimately make a larger impact on the organization going forward.