In retrospect to the year 2020 and how it has become one of the most challenging years in modern times, EO Melbourne Past President Kym Huynh recalls how it has affected the Chapter and highlights the lessons that the experience has brought to him.
“Think of that one thing that when you achieve it, will make you want to jump up on the table, pop open a bottle of champagne, and start dancing.” This was the picture that Kym painted when he wanted people to consider what needed to happen for the 2019/2020 year to their best year yet. It also coincidently happened to be the EO Melbourne’s 2019/2020 theme.
“Our Best Year Yet!” provided a singular focus for Members to select one high-impact item that would make a difference in their own lives. Similarly, Kym applied this idea to his Board as he asked each Board Member to focus on the single highest impact item in their respective portfolios. As President, Kym saw his role as making sure every Board Member focused on the highest impact item. But who would have anticipated a pandemic to take place midway through the 2019/2020 term, causing the entire world to collectively halt and slow down?
Five lessons to remember
Maintaining focus is a challenge in itself. With COVID-19, the pandemic forced the world to shift gears as it shocked the world and affected so many lives. Kym acknowledged the crisis as both a difficulty and an opportunity for great leadership to emerge. He witnessed, and is grateful, for how the EO Melbourne Board and management team stepped up to look after the well-being of its Members. When asked to reflect on the year in five words, he shared: (1) stronger together; (2) methodical; (3) progress; (4) stronger; and (5) connected.
Strong Together
“Witnessing how invested the Board and the management team was in the well-being of the Members it serves was both inspiring and humbling,” says Kym, who has been a Member of the Board for six years. An example he cited was the appointment of a Resident Psychologist that was completely supported and funded for by the Chapter. He also acknowledged the Member-to-Member reach-out that took place during COVID-19. “During crisis and times of difficulty, we must focus on the relationships that we have with one another, and witnessing so many Members reach out to check and support one another made us collectively stronger together.”
Methodical
“Before COVID-19, the Board were already intentional in achieving milestones and delivering on promises every month. During COVID-19, the Board increased their cadences and were increasingly methodical in coming together, planning the response strategy, planning the communication strategy, and delivering on the execution strategy. What impressed me most was that the Board also placed a high degree of importance on not only managing the current COVID-19 situation but also managing what happens after COVID-19.” For Kym, witnessing the Board utilise the three lenses of short-term, mid-term and long-term planning when it came to Chapter guardianship was inspiring.
Progress
When it came to the Chapter’s programs – the Key Executive Program, the Accelerator Program, the Mentorship Program, the Significant Life Partner Program and the NextGen Program, Kym is satisfied with what the Board and the management team achieved during the 2019/2020 term. “I subscribe to this idea that when we have the opportunity to lead, we must leave things better than how we found it,” Kym professes, “and these programs were left in a very strong position for future Boards.”
“Whilst I am proud of the progress of the Board, the management team, and the Chapter, what I am most proud of is the progress in our humanity. At the end of our lives, I don't think it's our accomplishments and achievements that determine whether or not our lives have been that of substance, success and meaning, but rather, I think it is the quality of our relationships that we have with one another that make our lives meaningful. The progress in our humanity gave me a lot of meaning, gave me hope, and makes me feel incredibly proud because we exited 2019/2020 and COVID-19 as kinder, more caring, and better humans.”
Stronger
Going through the difficulties together has made the Chapter stronger than how it was before. “I, our Board, and our management team were tasked with looking after the Chapter. We had to make sure that as we rolled off our term, the Chapter was left stronger and better. It’s an investment of our time and energy into our Members because strong Members make strong Forums, and strong Forums make strong Chapters.”
“We also expanded our capabilities of delivering virtual events. Moving forward, I expect that these new capabilities will augment live in-person events.” Kym states.
“There's also greater inclusion of significant life partners and the family because it's the totality of the entrepreneur that makes us strong. These tools that we learn to master our businesses can also be used for our personal lives and the lives of our families and children. Now, that’s where the real power lies,” explains Kym.
Connected
Highlighting the value of relationships, another word that Kym wanted to describe his term was being connected. “The idea that we feel safe enough to reach out to one another when needed, and we have the environment for that, means that we are more connected as a Chapter,” Kym remarks. “I believe in this quote that says, “If you want to go fast, you go alone. But if you want to go far, go with others.” By ensuring that we are connected, we will go further,” he quips.
“Our Best Year Yet!”
When reflecting on the 2019/2020 year, one singular thing stands out for Kym. “The thing that we have achieved, that made the 2019/2020 year the best year yet for me, is the growth in our humanity. As Board Members, entrepreneurs, family members, parents, community leaders and as a Chapter, the growth in our humanity is our best achievement. It gives our lives substance, gives us meaning and means that we can all go out into our respective businesses, communities and families, and lead our lives that are better, kinder, and more compassionate.”
Moving forward
After a year of leading the Chapter to navigate through one of the worst global crisis in modern times, Kym has grown and learned from the experience. He made a conscious effort of leading himself first so he could lead others, and then he looked after the Board as leaders of the Chapter, and then made sure that the Members were looked after as well. “Once I knew that I had those three foundation pillars in place, I knew that then was our opportunity to make decisions that would make a lasting and positive contribution,” says Kym.
But for Kym, the greatest compliment a leader can receive is when they're not needed anymore. “We have built such a strong foundation and structure and systems and processes for the Chapter. There is an opportunity for incoming Presidents and Boards to stand on the shoulders of what we have collectively built, and to look further into the horizon to see what's possible, just as we did when we came into our term and stood on the shoulders of the Boards that came before us. I am incredibly excited about the new perspective and the new vision future Boards would have.”
“As for me, I would like to one day become Global Chair of EO, and so I will be taking my next steps into that pathway, but also mindful that my roots come from EO Melbourne. And so, EO Melbourne will always hold a soft spot in my heart,” Kym reveals.
Since stepping down from his position as President, Kym is approaching life with more wisdom, courage and humility, mindful that he does not hold all the answers. He looks back to the years he has served as a Board Member and leaves an excerpt of a poem he loves that sums up about the value of our humanity, the most valuable thing that can make us celebrate “Our Best Year Yet!”
"The Paradox of Our Time"
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology has brought this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference or to just hit delete...