Networking

As professional mentors our primary responsibility is to make sure our project leaders are developing their leadership skills and keeping the project rolling at 100%. Being someone who is not generally a leader, this role as the supposed authority on the subject is a challenge. I have definitely surprised myself with how well we are handling ourselves. It’s a very different thing to watch from the outside and make suggestions and gives you the opportunity to react logically and with a full view. We try not to direct anything, we just ask questions to get them to think about what they are doing and comment on the effectiveness of their approach. Our goal is to allow them to develop their own styles and work together as co-leaders. I’ve learned that leadership is not about being in charge but about guiding and setting an example by being the person you would like to work with. Our input has always been very well received and appreciated. There are no big egos here. This has been a very rewarding and exciting experience. I feel like I’ve learned so much from this.

A secondary function of ours, as professional mentors, is to establish connections in the community for SealNet for future projects as well as eliciting continued support for the current project. We met with the Sabah Tourism Board who had some really great and useful insights on the environmental problems and also on why the Wetlands Center has such poor attendance. The center gets about 1,200 visitors a year, we plan to increase that significantly next year through student campaigns. We went to the University of Malaysia Sabah to meet with a researcher and lecturer in the Borneo Marine Research Institute who gave us a tour of their facilities. Our conversation was very enjoyable and enlightening. Sabah takes their environment seriously. They know that there is a cost associated with not taking action and that what they are preserving can pay them back many fold if maintained responsibly. Tourism is their third largest industry.

One common theme that comes up, when talking to any Sabahan about the issue is that they see the illegal Philipino population to be the biggest offenders against the environment. This transient community does not have to live with the results of the damage and need to feed their families immediately, as well as saveing enough to send back home. Even when the speaker tries to be politically correct and not point the finger directly, they make it clear who they mean.

On a personal note, I am coming down with a cold, headache runny nose, a bit dizzy. I hope it passes quickly, I don’t have time to be sick right now.