I Am From …
Invitation to practice Being The Leader You Most Respect
You don’t know me … yet. I am Saurel Quettan, the CEO of exeQfit, a firm whose sole purpose is transforming leaders from managers into propellers of growth and development. I want to share how I got to where I am today and how you too can discover your own anchors and create the life and the business you want.
I am from trash heaped upon heaps of trash, soft and spongy under my black rubber sandals. I never thought the pungent smell of methane was abnormal. Emaciated dogs and cats, sneaking around to get a whiff of what is about to be my dinner, never phased me. With the love of a mother in her smile, Dieudonne extended her callused hand and said: “That will be 5 Gourdes (HTG)”. I smiled back, and paid her with a glad and grateful heart. Home was just down the street. Half the food would be gone by the time I got back to my friends who inevitably would ask me to share. Was I selfish, or just hungry?
I am love and joy, from a self-taught seamstress and a self-taught mechanic. Seated at her sewing machine, the kind powered by a big heart with a foot pedal, my mother fashioned my first grade uniform and everything else my brothers and I wore until I was 13 years old. Handsome and strong, my father took a few steps back to admire the colorful tap tap he and his friends had just finished. What was once a stripped-down American school bus was now baptized “Poupette”, a jewel of Haitian public transportation, my father’s primary means of earning a living and taking care of us. I’ve always wondered why Dad named the bus “Poupette”. So I asked.
- Me: Why did you choose that name for the bus?
- Dad: I didn’t. Reynold Rousseau gave it to me.
- Me: What?
- Dad: Yeah, he was a good friend and when he got ready to retire, he gifted me his pickup truck named “Poupette” and the route it served.
- Me: Wow! So he started it all, huh?
- Dad: Yes! He gave me the opportunity to start my own business, and when I made enough money to buy and build a bigger bus, it was important for me to honor his love and generosity. I also knew that the customers didn’t come for me, they came for “Poupette”. So for me, the name was a no-brainer.
I am my mother and father for whom entrepreneurship is a necessity, as it is for most of the more than 12 million inhabitants of Haiti. Perhaps unwittingly, they raised me as a “Steel-Wool Entrepreneur”. The type of entrepreneur who, like a steel wood pad, will tirelessly sand and dust off thoroughly anything that life throws at me. They also raised me to hear the collective growl of the hungry stomachs around me over the growl of my own stomach, to see beauty beyond trash, to see prosperity beyond poverty, and to see myself beyond my current circumstances.
I am from Mom and Dad, The Leaders I Most Respect.
I love and honor them by standing for what I believe in life and in business. I believe that …
- Each of us is whole and perfect, yet we don’t live like we are. Discovering this makes growth natural and improvement unnecessary.
- To value the present gives us the freedom of limitless wonder.
- Humans, humanity and life itself are magnificent.
- A vulnerable, caring leader is a courageous leader.
- Achievements are temporary and finite. Authentic success is perpetual and infinite.
- No one person is smarter than all of us. Only the collective can reach unimagined potential.
My Invitation To Practice
If you’re reading this, I want you to know that I don’t take your time and attention for granted. This article is my way of saying hello, introducing myself to you. This is my invitation for you to join me on a yearlong journey designed for us to discover The Leader We Most Respect.
Once a month, throughout 2021, I’ll introduce one of the Practices for Being The Leader You Most Respect. Together, we will …
- Define each practice (i.e., what it IS, what IT IS NOT, and the context it creates).
- Have conversations, inside the context of the current practice, to explore and discover the barriers to Being Fully Expressed as The Leader You Most Respect.
- Create enquiries to discover what it looks like in your life and business to be The Leader You Most Respect.
- Speculate on what’s possible from practicing for the sake of practicing.
- Create occasions in life and in business to be The Leader You Most Respect.
- Share what we discover, good or bad, win or lose, failure or success.
What You’ll Get Out of Practicing
Business growth, profitability and sustainability are your responsibility. You will always be able to show a direct link between practicing and your bottom line. When you practice, you will …
- Have time to be proactive. With that time, you can innovate and curate with a high level of productivity.
- Communicate effectively. With that prowess, you can build and nurture lifelong fulfilling personal and business relationships.
- Use your emotions and feelings to propel growth and development. With that kind of personal power, you can minimize and mitigate stress and frustration.
- Receive actionable feedback, without bias and without personal motive, with clear techniques to accelerate the fulfillment of your personal, business and financial goals.
Start Practicing
Let’s start the journey with this question: “Who is the leader you most respect, and why”? Send your responses to squettan@exeqfit.com with “Be The Leader You Most Respect” as the subject line. To follow me, and engage in the conversation for Being The Leader You Most Respect, go to:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saurelquettan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saurelquettan/
- LinkedIn Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/exeqfit
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/saurelquettan
Saurel Quettan, CEO & Founder of exeQfit, Inc. | squettan@exeqfit.com
