Some ‘OMG, the Sauvé program is over!’ reflections

The last months have been a thought provoking rollercoaster. My days at the Sauvé program were filled with gratitude, joy, excitement, stress, and a lot of work. Time flew. 

To be perfectly honest, I still have not processed the things I have learned, and I suspect I will become more aware of how it impacted me as time goes by. Spending the last few weeks in the almost empty Sauvé house, I have been invaded by the saudade of missing the other Scholars and by the sense of awareness for another beautiful period of my life that just ended. These are some my 'omg, the Sauvé program is over!' reflections.

I spent the last 9 months in a house with 12 people from 11 countries. Describing the program, I have often commented that I feel that every single one of my roommates comes from a parallel universe. Each of us has a distinct way of eating, talking, interacting, making jokes, etc. What blows my mind is that despite the fact we relate so differently to so many things, (from conflict resolution, collaboration, time management etc.), I have NO doubt that every single one of my roommates is a leader in her/hir/his own very unique way. They are leaders in different contexts, with different spheres of influence and battles, but they all share a sense of responsibility to something other than themselves. With this responsibility comes a lot of freaking hard questions.

Some of my daily reminders during the Sauvé Program.

During the Sauvé program I became a lot more at ease with the concept of leadership; I think I understand the term in a more raw way. This year I have seen my colleagues and I go through a lot of ups and downs. In a way, the Sauvé house incubated both our struggles and our successes. Sticking around and sharing the same space with my roommates, each on their Odyssean leadership adventure, I learned to accept more easily that there is not a straight line to achieving results. I have been touched, moved and amazed seeing my roommates battle with their big questions. In our chats what emerged was the pain, dedication, passion, struggle, questioning, compromising, and persevering that comes with the willingness to feel uncomfortable. Living with the other Sauvé Scholars taught me that leadership is vulnerable.

In one of our first tea talks, I remember Tosin mentioned his desire to develop his own definition of success (I forgot to ask if he found his own definition...). Personally, I will keep defining my own with a commitment to enjoying the ride of my epic journey and with more willingness to embrace the disappointments and surprises that come along the way. I step out of the Sauvé program with more courage to remain in this vulnerable place of my own leadership.

- Gioel G.