I was invited to attend the World Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Dubai last week. I must admit that, despite the incredibly talented and accomplished speakers, I found the whole summit to be rather disappointing. I expected to be stretched and to be challenged a lot more than I was. What did stand out for me were two themes:

• The Self; and
• Collaboration Communities

There was a wonderful presentation by Swami Parthasarathy called “How can we awaken the intellect” where he spoke about the difference between Intelligence and Intellect.  Intelligence, according to the Swami, is the process of information being inputted into your brain. We glean intelligence from others, we glean it from books and lectures and discussions. Intellect, on the other hand, is something completely different. It is the ability to process information and think for one’s self - to come up with solutions and further questions. It is the process of thinking. He goes on to say that the only way to have intellect is to know one’s self - to spend time conquering one’s self and understanding one’s self. Meditation and self-reflection are the best methods to develop intellect. I wonder if the Swami read my email from two weeks ago J. Raizcorp focuses equally on the development of self as it does on the development of business skills. I urge those of you who have not signed up for your learning, specifically the personal development learning, to reconsider your decision. I encourage those of you who do not fully take advantage of your time with your executive coach to reconsider your priorities.

The second theme was that of collaboration communities. Here, again, I feel that Raizcorp has understood the power of collaboration. You all know how lonely it is to be an entrepreneur or working in an entrepreneurial environment. The constant newness, the constant stress of garnering new business, makes this life quite taxing. The power of working in communities is ageless. We, as human beings, only survived the age when we lived in caves because we remained in groups, clans and communities. No one individual had all the knowledge or power. We hunted mammoths in packs, we gathered berries in groups. Our differing skills and talents were used collaboratively for the benefit of all. Raizcorp is trying to create this type of environment; an environment where we work together to solve problems, to find more work and to create more success. Do join us at our networking events, do chat to others in your learning sessions, do use each other’s services and products. And, if you do not know what they are, do make an effort to find out. Do make an effort to talk to the people from Endeavor. It is through this effort to be part of a community that you will learn and grow and thrive.