Renuka Naj

I would say I'm very adaptable, flexible, and I listen to people. Understanding human nature is really important, and where people are coming from. I think I'm a great listener and also a strategist. I'm able to live in multiple knowledge systems and talk to people, engage with them on a more personal level. Building that relationship is my superpower, as opposed to just marketing or positioning. When I went to places like Zambia for 2 years or Uganda for 2 years, I built those relationships and local connections with people, and they were willing to work with me. Even though I was a foreigner coming into the country, they trusted me and relied on me. Building that connection that lasts forever is really important, not transactional. People in Africa, I lived there 10 years ago, and they still are in touch with me because of that relationship that I formed with them. If you tell Renuka, she will make it happen. My boss used to say, Renuka's a go-to person for anything you want, just go to her. That kind of trust and understanding is what I attribute my success to.

Last week I was at a huge conference for nonprofit leaders, and I met America's greatest marketing guru, Seth Godin, who has published about 26 bestsellers. His new book is coming out in fall called The Knot. He said what is interesting is that people get stuck because they don't - they are demanding incompatible expectations. One is like, they want to progress, but they're not willing to take the risk. They want to move forward, but they don't want to let go of their old habits. People are in this position where they want to move forward, but they don't want to take the risk. He says you have to let go of one to pursue the other. You can't have both incompatible expectations. That is so true. If you want to move ahead and scale up your company, you need to take the major risk - calculated risk, educated risk. And if you're not willing to do that, that would make you not move forward as fast as you want to. You have to take those educated, calculated risks if you want to scale forward and move forward faster. You can't hold on to your old comfort zone or be hesitant about taking risks. You have to take those safety bets to move forward.

I would say be disciplined, know your inner strengths, your innate quality strengths that you have, and leverage that. My niece, for example, is very tall - she's 6 feet - and she took her innate strength, that she's very tall, and now she's a model for Chanel. I admired her because her bachelor's degree is in environmental science, and I would think she would naturally pursue a job in environmental science, but she saw that she's very tall. That's a natural God-given gift, and she applied, and she got in, and now she's happy where she is. So I would say to young people, understand your inner God-given gift and use that, leverage that to shine and come up in life. Everyone has their own unique story. Not to compare yourself with others, but build your own story. Be the star of your own story. The inner given gift, natural gift that you have - if you're a painter, pursue painting, don't do something in mathematics or geography. When you are a painter, put all your heart and soul into painting. You don't have to be a computer nerd to do extremely well. You could be anything, but just put your 100% in that to shine in whatever field you have. Sometimes what happens is we're always looking around and saying, oh, she's doing very well because she's doing something, maybe I should do that. It's really important to know your own unique story, what makes you happy, and then be fully absorbed in that and come forward. Also, a lot of kids quit quickly. Somebody got a job and in two weeks she quits. Hang on there, be there longer, learn, build relationships, and stick with it. A lot of kids now are not able to handle the stress or have a 9-to-5 job like traditional people. They want to do something easy and quick. But it's important that they stay focused on the God-given gift that's given to them. Absorb all the skills that you have studied well, complete your degree, be disciplined, keep your word, commit to yourselves. If you said something, make sure you deliver on it. That's how you build trust - keep your word and deliver what you say.

I think the challenge right now, particularly, is we are competing as communicators with new technology like AI, which is disrupting the entire journalism communications field. Traditionally, we were hired to think what word to use, the wisdom of our understanding of communications, messaging, positioning, all of that. Now, people take minutes to do that through AI, so our field is now based on people who've got 25 years of experience in the field bringing trust and credibility. I position myself as someone that is reliable and trustworthy, because I've seen it, lived it, and been in different countries to make that judgment. So that's how I feel - how do we differentiate now with AI disrupting the entire ecosystem or industry of communications, marketing, and branding? How do we take the quintessential human value and bring it on board? That's the most challenging part - building that trust and credibility of organizations in the middle of AI disruption.

I think trust is a very important part, whether it's your personal life or your professional life. Being reliable and having a sense of listening is important. When you listen, you learn a lot, and you also respect the other person. What were they saying? Second thing is, how do you build trust? Words don't stick, it's the actions. So make sure that you're able to deliver what we say, even casually, to a friend. If you say something, just make sure that you follow and deliver that. Whether it's your sister or brother, or in the professional life, if you just told your boss I'm gonna submit something by a certain date, make sure you deliver it there. So you make sure with your words and actions you are telling that I respect you, and I like you. That kind of commitment is important. That takes you a long way. Some people, like even in Africa, I lived there 10 years ago, they still are in touch with me because of that relationship that I formed with them. If you tell Renuka, she will make it happen. So that is kind of nice when you build that trust and understanding. Listening is important because we're always trying - you're listening so well to me, and that's a quality that's important. And family values, I always say, make sure that everybody in your family is happy, listen to them, and keep those relationships nourished.