by Puja Singh
Mike Thompson, the writer of the book “The Anywhere Leader,” just finished the Nepal end of his Heifer trip. His quest for anywhere leaders who achieve their goals despite challenging circumstances took him to rural Nepal. In Itahari, Belsi, Shaktikhor and Palpa, he met Heifer participants who – given their limited education, cultural barriers and economic situations – showed individual and collective leadership that changed their lives for the better. His book focuses on developing leaders who can succeed in any environment. In Nepal – a world away from where he wrote his book – he found examples.
Traits of The Anywhere Leader: driven for progress, sensationally curious and vastly resourceful applies to leaders in rural Nepal and the leaders who lead the most successful companies in the US and the world. Leadership – says Mike, the CEO of SVI who also authored another book on leadership, The Organizational Champion — is primarily about the mindset.
In his blog Mike explains how Heifer participants are an embodiment of anywhere leaders as stated in his book. Drawing references to his leadership model, Mike makes an excellent argument.
Stay tuned as this soul searcher, author and the leader of his company heads to China to meet more anywhere leaders.
Puja Singh is a Nepal-based communications officer for Heifer International. You can follow her on Twitter at jade_puja.