Challenge Completed
I have a funny relationship with challenges. I keep complaining when I have some and I seek more if I don’t have enough. After working six years in the nonprofit sector in Turkey and additionally leading a national environmental campaign for the last two years, Hubert H. Humphrey fellowship that brought me to the U.S. for 10 months was the challenge I was seeking for. (Let’s assume building a career in the nonprofit sector in Turkey and working for a women’s rights organization where President says he does not believe in gender equality is not a huge challenge itself.)
As you can imagine, all the new experiences I was heading made the challenge very appealing. Although I traveled abroad many times, I had never lived, studied or worked before my mid-career fellowship. So my initial idea was that it would be a huge professional challenge and learning opportunity for me. What I did not realize at that time was that I was actually committing to a sum of small and big size challenges by leaving my job, family and friends, country as well as my routine and comfort zone. More importantly, it was not just a professional challenge, it was a cultural, social and even political one as well. I was not only the one who was challenged. I guess in a way I challenged people I met as well.
I am not sure if that’s the case for everyone new in a country, but the differences between Turkey and USA stroke me first. When I arrived to Phoenix, Arizona; “dry heat”, empty and quiet streets, car addicted lifestyle and desert landscape were among hundreds of differences I could count. In time, my selective perception stopped pointing only differences and I surprisingly discovered many unexpected similarities. Let me give you an example from politics, an area both Americans I met and myself would love to discuss. When I left my country, the top political issues were civil rights and freedoms, political polarization, and rising conservatism. As I immersed into the academic life at Arizona State University, while talking to locals and following U.S. media, it fascinated me how the challenges at large were similar. I guess I also surprised many Americans by pointing those out.
Another interesting contrast I have noticed was the leadership culture in the U.S. vs. “president culture” in Turkey. I developed a lot of prejudice towards the concept of leadership before my Humphrey year. It had sounded me as the leadership is only about a hierarchy between those who lead and are led. The huge power distance that I have seen and criticized in my country shaped my distance to any article or book on leadership. I made my peace with it as I realized all along the year that there is not just one way of “leadership” and it is actually about “bettership”. My conclusion from all the readings and presentations on leadership was that I should not just aim to become a leader, I should aim to find ways to do better. I should fınd ways to improve.
When I was first told I should find an organization to work with for six weeks, I thought of applying to an international nonprofit. Then, I wanted to something different than I expect myself to do and I ended up at Twitter Headquarters in San Francisco! Just a few weeks before I start to work, I saw on my Twitter timeline Turkish people tweeting about Twitter ban in Turkey. It was ironic, sad but true. During those days just before the local elections in Turkey, I realized how much Turkish people depend on Twitter to practice and save their democratic rights. I was convinced once again of the importance of social media and impressed by its impact on the way we react, act and communicate. This is a revolution, opposition and challenge that I wanted and achieved to be a part of it.
It has been more than one year since my adventure started and broke into small, medium and big sizes of learning, excitement, frustration, fun, panic and many other state of minds. With the pleasure of a year full of personal and professional learning and reflection, what I can say is: What challenge is next?