Impact as an inside job
As the sun’s heat warmed my face, I stared intently at my laptop screen from my porch, nestled in green space just off a main thoroughfare in San Jose, Costa Rica. A good friend had invited me to attend her virtual Flag Ceremony and I sat in awe as the celebration of international assignments unfolded for her and her ~20 Foreign Service Officer (FSO) classmates. As part of this ceremony by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), each new FSO would receive the flag of their first international post.
The ceremony began with remarks from Samantha Power, Administrator at USAID to launch this accomplished group of professionals into a world of both beauty and hardship. Samantha Power talked about the initiatives that FSO leaders will address, criss-crossing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ranging from renewable energy, clean water and issues impacting maternal and newborn health, this work takes on a variety of forms.
To accomplish the SDGs Administrator Power outlined, these new leaders need to also reflect upon the Inner Development Goals (IDGs): 23 transformational leadership skills that build the inner capacities needed to stay-the-course to address these incredible challenges.
Administrator Samantha Power with my friend Marie Donaldson, new FSO
Two key themes - each of which aligns with an IDG - emerged in her reflections and advice: humble yourself to an experience and step into courage. In the context of serving as an FSO, one shouldn’t focus on being “right” or righteous as an American abroad. Instead, there are ways to work with communities that create a meaningful exchange. These communities have been addressing local issues for millenia and their partnership is critical to success. In addition, step into courage. Question the bureaucratic status quo to create more efficiencies and speak truth to power to make a difference.
About 3,700 miles (or 6,00 kilometers) from this ceremony, Administrator Power inspired me to reflect on my own journey abroad and the ways I’ve been challenged - and grown - in seeking to live the IDGs for the past 18-months in Costa Rica.
Living IDG Humility: Every interaction is an opportunity to practice humility
One Saturday morning in August, I grabbed an Uber to the local feria (farmer’s market) where I am fortunate to relish in an abundance of locally grown produce. My driver - an older Tico perhaps in his 70’s - and I exchanged greetings. After acknowledging that I’m not Tica, the conversation quickly zigzagged into my favorite places in Costa Rica. When I asked him where his favorite beach is, he named a few places he understood to be lovely but confessed that he actually had never been outside of the greater metropolitan area.
Life in Costa Rica is expensive, and trips to coastal communities are a luxury. The high cost of living in Costa Rica is a common thread across many interactions I have with Costa Ricans. In that moment, I was humbled to recognize that as I am dotting across the country, locally and regionally, people here have not had the ability to see as much of their own country. As a White-presenting person from the U.S., wherever you are in the world there is an inescapable position of privilege with, an often correct assumption, that you have mobility. That mobility is afforded by resources and also positional power.
Humility comes in a variety of forms, from appearance like how you dress, to approaching situations like this one with genuine curiosity. That day, I humbled myself in that conversation. I wanted to understand the real issues that people face. These interactions can be incongruent with a fly-over tourist perspective that presents ‘the best of’ a given place. Every interaction is an opportunity to practice humility. Because sitting in the discomfort of humility, I can see my own privilege, biases, and blinders with greater clarity. Also, from this place, I feel passionate about taking important actions like investing in local businesses like the co-working space that I’m writing from, supporting local artisans and entrepreneurs like a personal trainer, and yes, buying local produce weekly from local agricultores (farmers) at the farmer’s market.
In learning Spanish here, I knew that language skills require both listening and speaking. But the longer I stay, the more reminders I have that communication is more than technical mastery of a language. Every interaction is an opportunity to truly hear not just words, but what is weighing on people’s hearts and minds.
My local feria in Heredia, Costa Rica
Living IDG Courage: Courage is taking a leap and trusting (hoping) the net will catch you
I like to describe my 2023 as a year with many capítulos (chapters). I transitioned from the comfort of language learning in a classroom every day for five months, to applying my language skills in relationships and everyday interactions. This is a challenging leap to make. While I benefited greatly from a formal classroom-based foundation, I realized that language learning actually takes on many forms. It can look like self-imposed homework such as writing essays that explore interesting questions like: under what circumstances is it possible to not have a military (quick history: in 1948 Costa Rica disbanded its army. Since then, they have not had a military force), reading local news in La Nación or the New York Times En Español, or even joining an all-Tico hiking group or Latin social dancing class where there is no other choice but to strengthen your communication through these interactions. The learning doesn’t stop, it only changes forms.
In 2023, I also started a new career chapter and moved houses, both of which required a ‘settling in’ time period. My time in Costa Rica started as an “adventure abroad”. Over the last 6 months it has transitioned into an experience of “living abroad.” There is still adventure in periodic excursions to new beaches in Guanacaste, and the occasional elements of daily living, like when you find new, large, never-seen-before insects in your house.
While my story of courage might look a bit different than what Samantha Power was referring to, it’s also a story of taking a chance, stepping away from a conventional career path and humbling myself to a new experience that will add dimension, perspective, and stories.
To end: I’ll join Samantha Power and congratulate the newest class of Foreign Service Officers, and echo the message that outer progress - abroad or at home - requires inner leadership capacities to traverse change, navigate complexity, and inspire others to make lasting impact.
An invitation to explore: Consider leveling up your own personal leadership so you too can create lasting impact in the world. Add your name to the Unlimited Boundaries email list to get more information about upcoming workshops. We have a lot in store in 2024!
Local view working in Costa Rica