SLATE.COM gives the reason behind Globond's Tectonic Leadership Summit!

SLATE.COM gives the reason behind Globond's Tectonic Leadership Summit!

Globond prides ourselves on having Serendipity, Synergy and Synchronicity as the 3 main drivers for our business. Today we found another validation of that model when we went for our daily reading on www.slate.com and found the following article by Daniel Gross: "Davos Man, Confused... Why the world's economic leaders blame the catastrophe on the system instead of on themselves." The entire article is a must-read for Globonders (http://www.slate.com/id/2210081/). Gross discusses this year's World Economic Forum, where the world's "great men and women" traditionally gather once a year to discuss and solve the world's biggest problems. Gross says that this year the elephant in the room is the global meltdown and simultaneous failure of so many systems and sectors. Somehow, though, he comments, the WEF attendees, used to "imposing themselves on history" are not wanting to discuss their role in the crisis. He says, "Success is the work of Great Men and Great Women, while failure can be pinned on the system."

The serendipity is that we had just picked Slate.com as our choice of media partner for the Tectonic Leadership Summit to be held for the first time in DC this April. The synergy is that Gross wrote this article without even knowing anything (yet) about what Globond is working on: The issue we have been discussing is the dysfunctional pattern in which we routinely hold up individual leaders as superstars and/or monsters, lionized one day as the solution to the world's problems, and demonized the next when things don't work out as planned. We then replace them with the next super leader. The root issue is far deeper than one of accountability.

In fact, Globond has learned from our own deep thinkers that great leaders need to learn that their biggest responsibilities are to empower those under them and to embrace the paradoxes. Furthermore, leaders need to understand that they do not have to shoulder all of the responsibility themselves, and that they too can sometimes be followers, learners, listeners. In fact, yesterday I listened to a presentation at the Boston CEO Club given by Alan Gregerman, CEO of Ventureworks and a successful author. He told us that rubber boots were first invented by the Mayans 900 years before an American inventor figured it out and commercialized them. Likewise, Indians in the Brazilian Amazon were swimming the freestyle stroke thousands of years before the Europeans "caught on" and learned it....before that, they only knew how to do the breast stroke. Gregerman's point is that the solutions were there all along but were overlooked by the so-called powerful.

In fact, the solutions to many of our current problems are all around us but our leaders, for the most part, are not looking or listening. They are too busy trying to figure it out for themselves. And getting sick in the process. Oprah Winfrey, God's gift to so many people, for example, is out of shape and depressed because there is no "Oprah" for her: the people who solve her problems are paid by her to do so. Oprah should have a shoulder to cry on and be able to just be a real person, but we put her on this pedestal too high for her to jump down.

Going back to the serendipity, last week I happened upon Slate.com's Change-o-meter after someone connected to me on LinkedIn and asked us what we thought of it. Change-0-Meter turned out to be the daily score that Slate's Chris Williams and others give to the Obama Administration for how much change they are actually doing rather than discussing. I had stopped reading Slate but now realized that Slate is not drinking the Kool-Aid and is the most objective, savvy, sage voice out there right now. They are keeping it real and keeping it honest. And it dawned on me that Slate and its sister companies Washington Post and Newsweek would be the perfect media partners for our summit.. Today Daniel Gross's article articulates what it is Globond wants to accomplish in those three days, and then on a regular basis.

The Tectonic Leadership Summit will be the place where people used to having answers will go to ask the questions. Rather than getting paid huge sums to speak, they will be the paying attendees. The answers to the big questions will be provided by Globonders, people from all over the world and every walk of life, who have been working on these problems and questions for decades. One is a Brazilian Amazonian Chief; another is a Kenyan Masaai Warrior; a third is a tennis coach and author in LA who taught tennis to Oprah Winfrey. Still another is a Lebanese woman born in Senegal who was a pioneer in telecom and is now one of the world's foremost authorities on fiber optics but who is also into Physics and Philosophy and especially paradox. And we have others from a variety of cultures and backgrounds but each one is a different piece of the puzzle we have decided to call Tectonic Leadership. Tectonic Leadership means Benevolent Intent (Etsko Schuitema), Stepping Into the Crack (Samia Bahsoun), "eating the Zebra alive" (Yusuf Ole Petenya) and using the "precision principle" (Al Secunda). It is "The Me I Couldn't See"TM (Elyce Monet)And many other ideas woven together into a methodology and set of strategies that will allow these great men and women attendees to go back out into the world as an army of Tectonic Leaders to fight the good fight and have a normal life at the same time. Alongside President Obama who is in fact a Tectonic Leader already. Most of all, however, Tectonic Leadership means getting out of the trap we are all in which divides the speakers from the listeners, the learners from the teachers.

One Tectonic Leader is too young and too besieged at the moment to even realize that she is one. Her name is Masuda Sultan and to read her memoir:

By Daniel Gross

What is wrong with this picture?

Many of us are still basking in the glow of the recent Presidential election, while also now trying to step back now, and to be"objective" to see whether or not President Obama can back up his words with actions. We are all giving President Obama "the benefit of the doubt" but now want to see if he can actually perform the miracles we need for him to achieve in order to save us all from the disaster which looms over us. What is wrong with this picture? 

The answer is that the picture is distorted and we are setting up our new President to fail, unless we all make fundamental and profound changes in the way we think and act. The reality, as explained by South African thinker, philosopher and management consultant Etsko Schuitema, is that "what we are looking at now is the result of a turn we took 10 millenia ago, when we moved away from hunter-gatherer societies, which are fundamentally co-operative in nature to one of agriculture and with it the capacity to produce surplus. He says, “As a species we have pursued increasingly complex strategies for the pursuit of self interest since we started cultivating crops and producing surpluses that the select could control. It is as if the anthem of homo sapiens over the last 9000 years has been one of an increasingly complex and entrenched song called ‘I am here to get’. This fundamental intent rule has delivered us, as a species, to a place of globally catastrophic proportions; those who control the surplus control other people and the world, and as Etsko explains, "the burgeoning of greed and unbridled self-interest has produced a world on the brink of complete failure."

Etsko is not just theorizing or hypothesizing but has studied the issues of Leadership and Intent for more than 25 years, in a wide variety of cultures and sectors, as part of a larger quest to find out what causes the kind of commitment and unconditional loyalty necessary to create a profitable company, a winning team, a thriving country. He became astonished and then over time, convinced of his findings when he got the same answers to the questions he was posing no matter where or in what context he was doing the research. In fact it turned out that there was no company, no country, no team that could command the kind of loyalty needed to get a surplus or a winning score. Surplus or profit by definition means that the workers or team members are giving more than they receive. But paradoxically, Etsko found, people are not loyal to institutions; instead people commit to other people, more specifically, to those who lead them but with a Benevolent Intent, meaning that the leader is concerned with their well-being and development. Etsko refers to this as The Care and Growth model of Leadership.

It does not take a rocket scientist to look at our situation here in the United States to see then why our banks are broken and our entire system is bankrupt. John Thain, the former head of Merrill Lynch, spent over $1.2 million to decorate his office, and yesterday he tried to excuse himself by saying that the renovations were done "more than a year ago, in a different economic environment." Thain's complete lack of introspection should not be too much of a surprise, but if we don't change this way of thinking we are in fact doomed. What kind of a leader spends his resources in such a selfish way and how can he then ask those he leads to make the sacrifices necessary in any organization to create a profit? The economic environment in which Thain thrived last year was directly responsible for the mess he and the rest of us find ourselves now.

John Thain also made outrageous statements yesterday to defend the infamous $4 billion in bonuses that were paid out to Merrill Lynch employees right after they had lost $15 billion in 3 months and were going to the Government for a bailout. He said "if you don't pay your best people, you will destroy your franchise. Those best people can get jobs other places, they will leave. “One can argue that Thain's definition of "best people" is way off, given the fact that these are the same people who drove their bank to ruin. One could also point out that right now, jobs are hard to come by in any sector even for the so-called “best”, making those bonuses excessive at this time. But in fact, there is a deeper truth that we need to hear and to understand if we are to get out of this hole and not ever fall back in.
The truth, as discovered by Etsko, is that "whether or not you pay your workers the top rate for an industry or the bottom rate is immaterial and will have no bearing on the extent to which they trust you." Yes, loyalty is driven by things other than money and this makes sense if one just stops to think about it: Once you get paid a huge bonus from a bank for work already done, what is to keep you from moving to the bank that promises you a higher bonus the next year?  Especially when the culture you are in encourages self-interest and greed. Only one example illustrates the veracity of Etsko's finding: Google is a company often cited as a best place to work and they are famous for having pay below industry standards.

President Obama is in fact the kind of leader which can command the commitment and loyalty of his followers to give more than they receive and do the work necessary to solve these huge problems we are facing. However, that means we need to listen to him, to follow his lead, and to make the hard choices,putting the greater good ahead of our individual interests. Paradoxically, this is the only thing that will save each of us from the abyss. Instead of chanting “yes we can!” it is time to answer the question “Yes, we can what?”

We are the “Super-Conductor for the Super-Connected”: a Connection and Transformation Engine for global, influential, well-connected and interesting people from every country and sector in the world, exponentially multiplying the power that we have individually.

We see the world like a big puzzle, and each new Globonder is a piece which we recognize because Globond sees the whole picture. Working together in such a community brings unlimited potential to us and to our members. The three business drivers that enable us to find the right pieces and unite them are Serendipity, Synergy and Synchronicity.

Why be a Globonder?
Globonders are globetrotting, influential, well connected, sophisticated, interesting, ethical, and humble. They have huge goals, brands to manage, curiosity about the world, and the desire to have a big impact and the willingness to give.

Why choose Globond?
Globond will help you create a brand if you have none and strengthen and manage it if you do. Globond will introduce you to people that you might not otherwise meet. By doing the hard work of networking for you, Globond allows you to have more time to manage your professional and personal life, hence creating a better balance.

Globond offers to help you achieve your goals with less time and energy spent, with more fun, and exponentially multiplying the results. We reinforce what you have already done well, and help neutralize where you need improvement. Globond can get you exposure: We are not a PR firm but are known for our taste, judgment and selectivity. We tell your story in a way that gets you the attention you deserve. We're just as focused on your goals as you are, and our persistence will hold you accountable to their achievement.

Globond offers a place where information, noise and people can be filtered; you will feel loved for who you are and not what you do.

What does it take to become a Globonder? You must meet at least 75% of the criteria:
Good reputation, highly ethical and trustworthy;
Humbleness and tolerance for differing points of view and understanding of cultural differences around the world;
A desire to help others achieve their goals and dreams,
Intellectual curiosity
Multi-lingual (or willingness to learn new languages);
Lived in or have traveled to foreign countries
Have held senior positions in business, government, or third sector;
Have established business, government and/or social networks throughout the world;
Resourceful, creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial;
Proven leadership abilities;
Commitment to improving the social or economic welfare of people around the world.

If you would like to discuss you and Globond's future together more in depth, please contact:
Kirstin Elaine Myers, President and Founder
c/o Lisa Reed, Executive Admin
857-222 9343
lisa@globond.com

Globond...because the world is huge

Contact us:

• you can send an email to Kirstin Elaine Myers, Christopher Lawson, or Luiz Ojima Sakuda. Our emails are kirstin(at)globond.net, chris(at)globond.net, and luiz(at)globond.net. We are all IM (Skype, Gtalk, MSN) users.
• you can call Kirstin at +1 (917) 523.9163.
• you can also follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/globond

What are Globond’s special assets?

• The trust and insider information given by Globonders to us (we know everything about them and about what they want/need)


• Strong relationship skills, tact and thick skins. We know how to get the attention, curiosity/interest and trust of high profile, successful people with big personalities.


• Full circle business model which benefits all 3 parties simultaneously (both parties we bring together and hence Globond): No one way requests.


• Flexibility of all soft and hard approaches. When appropriate, a combination of “Kissing Ass” and “Kicking Ass” to get members and prospects to go somewhere, meet someone or do something they otherwise would not, often for reasons which they do not fully understand. But they get intrigued and do it anyway!

Satisfying Marketplace Needs

Satisfying Marketplace Needs

At the Nantucket Conference in April, 2005 British Petroleum CIO John Cross said that he would not pay for information anymore because it is a commodity but that he will pay for access to the right people. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that Google wants to create a search tool that tells us what we should be looking for. The Killer Application which includes both ideas is Globond.

The current popularity of social and business networks in a bewildering world of virtual and real-life meetings is well-attested. Networked organizations are more powerful than individuals working alone; no individual can be equally connected, comfortable and competent all over the world. A well-organized networking group can help solve problems that may have seemed insurmountable in the past.

However, services offered by current providers in the networking market lack privacy and quality and relevance for the niche that is our target. Globond therefore goes one step further by solving the Adverse Selection problem as part of the business model, providing many benefits to the members. From Market Analysis, we have seen how Globond is ideally positioned to grow in the current marketplace. Globond provides:

· a connection engine, a superconductor for the super-connected who often do not have time or energy to manage their existing network, much less grow it globally with the same care and attention.
· access to the exclusive and selected resources and connections of the entire Globond network.
· Promotion and Advocacy of Globonders and their interests, on both personal and professional levels

Gap in the Market: Adverse Selection

The majority of networking companies and services suffer from the problem of “adverse selection”, the phenomena first noted by Nobel Laureate George Akerlof in 1970: In a market where buyers cannot accurately gauge the quality of the product that they are buying, it is likely that the marketplace will contain generally poor quality products.

The popular social and business online networks (LinkedIn, Ryze, Friendster, Orkut, Ecademy, etc.,) are inundated with people looking to find “good” contacts, which are those seen as having more connections and resources than others. These people are “takers” as opposed to “givers”, and are using the network to get something they need or want. This constant bombardment of cries for help causes the most sought-after contacts to pull away and discontinue their interest in the network, if they even join in the first place. For that reason, the most successful and famous people often do not appear in LinkedIn, etc. or if they do, it is with a minimal profile and little activity. The quality of the network therefore continues to go down.

Because Globond has a strict membership process, we solve this “adverse selection” problem by ensuring that members are of a certain quality and with complementary interests. These members will exchange benefits with one another on a mutually beneficial win-win basis at each interaction. They therefore remain involved and interested in Globond events and introductions. Their experience then creates a buzz and word of mouth which further increases the quality and quantity of the membership.

Specific measures with which Globond solves the adverse selection problem:
• Third-party screening and adherence to quality criteria
• Signaling through superior branding
• Signaling through superior reputation
• Standardization of quality throughout the organization
• Distinction of service levels offered to members

We also monitor our members in an indirect way, quietly keeping our eyes and ears open to make sure members are doing right by one another. If we learn of any bad faith or lack of trustworthiness by one member to another, we remove them from Globond immediately (this rarely happens due to the care with which we choose members).

Hello Globonders!!!!!!!!!

I hope that you all had as relaxing, enjoyable and productive (yes it is possible to work and play at the same time!) a holiday as I did. Mine was spent in warm and sunny Florida where Chris' parents and my dad and his wife live, within a 2 1/2 hour drive of one another. In between games of pinochle, family gatherings and longer sleeps than usual, I took the time to reflect on 2008 and plan for 2009. Each of you will be getting an email in your box today with a list of things that you can do in order to get the most out of your membership and enable Globond to leverage you and your talents, experience and contacts to their maximum potential. Please take time to open and read that email and let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise I am going to expect you to just "get it done"!

Ok now before I end today's blog with Globond's resolutions and predictions for 2009, I would like to introduce you to a new member of the Globond team. Lisa Reed has agreed to join us as my Executive Admin. Lisa will also be in charge of day to day customer support and will be the go-to woman for help getting you on the website, Facebook, Twitter, etc. and for helping us make sure we are taking proper care of you. You can reach Lisa at lisa@globond.com or call her anytime at +1 321 422 9256. Ok now for my Resolutions and Predictions for 2009.

Globond's 2009 New Year Resolutions

1. Keep Our Priorities Straight...God, family and then Globonders!

2. Do a video for Globonders and post a blog once each day to give Globonders a reason to visit the website
3. Know who the Globonders are and what you want, striving continually to help you get where you want to go with less time and effort, more fun on the way!

4. Celebrate our Globonders and your accomplishtments to each other and the outside world

5. Find and maximize opportunities for Globonders in a way which stretches you individually and grows Globond as an organization and community

6. Always tell the Globonders what we really think and what we believe you need to hear as opposed to what you want to hear

7. Maintain privacy and trust with our members, giving you a place where you feel safe to be yourselves.

8. Engage in the world around us, participating and impacting the global transformation taking place in a measurable and meaningful way.

9. Count our blessings and treasure every moment of every day.

10. Go to the gym 6 days a week (ok this one is personal and my own resolution but if Barack Obama can fit it in, so can I and making it public here will ensure my follow-through)

Globond predictions for 2009 (The predictions below are very bold but based on firm conviction and supported by our knowledge of the capacity and track record of the Globonders mentioned)

1. James Peck's algorithm will be proven to work and will start to revolutionize transportation in various sectors

2. Etsko Schuitema and his work on Intent and Leadership will get the attention and credit he deserves in the US media, academia and even by the new US Presidential Administration. Business Leaders will study and apply his insights.

3. Leong Ying will get media attention and start to have successful debate events over his Proof of God (Universal Laws of Thermodynamics)

4. Jacqueline Wales' latest book "The Fearless Factor: Thriving Beyond the Jungles of Life" will be a best-seller, as will Al Secunda's next book (do not know the title yet)

5. Julie Dennis will sing the soundtrack for a motion picture, possibly for a James Bond movie!

6. Ravi Srinivasan's new company ProCompare will get the funding it needs

7. Dr. Dan will get a new major professional athlete as a client and be able to talk about it :-)

8. Yusuf Ole Petenya's Maasai women will make sandals and bags that will be worn by Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama.

9. Marjorie Rothstein will get Boomer Babes launched to great fanfare

10.Tashka Yawanawa will get his fashion line relaunched with the endorsement of a major fashion celebrity.

11. Philip Berry will end 2009 with his brand-new company on the verge of profitability and with a nice portfolio of blue-chip clients

12. Samia Bahsoun and her Tectonic Leadership will start to become a household name and be recognized by thought leaders and in the media. She will finish a book.

13. Tung Bui will get his break as a martial arts actor in a major film, though the part may be a small one to start

14. Dahn World will enter Brazil officially and with lots of media and other attention!

15. Globond's Tectonic Leadership Summit will be a HUGE success

16. At least one Globonder will appear on Oprah

17. The dysfunctions in our world systems of finance and government will complete their process of total collapse. Out of the ruins we will help to create a new world order and a strong foundation laid for the new systems which will take place of the old.

18. We will continue to see the glass as half full

19. Continue our work with Etsko Schuitema to mature and develop our Benevolent Intent and the Care and Growth Model of Leadership. This means to give everyone and everything their due and to get in order to give.

Globonders' To-Do List

We request each Globonder to:

1. Go to the Globond website at least once a day

2. Maintain close and frequent communication with Globond regarding your goals, accomplishments, disappointments, etc. so we can help you continually progress

3. Read the email you will receive today, January 5 and do what we ask of you to the best of your ability.

4. When in doubt get in touch with us!

5. Think big and give your dreams the benefit of your doubts, dismissing the doubts as saboteurs and sending them away.

6. Treat all Globonders as trusted friends because they are. If you have any experience that causes you to think otherwise, call Kirstin.

7. Have fun!