On my way from the Philippines to India, I stopped in Kuala Lumpur and spent 24 hours there.

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It was not just to see the famous Petronas towers.

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I was there to meet the team of a wonderful company that is changing the world (and maybe Malaysia first) : Leaderonomics.

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That’s a good question and a meaningful story. About one year ago, I was attending a « Change It Yourself » Education event with my friend Pascale. It was organized by a French student association called NOISE : a community of passionate people aiming at reinventing education through innovation.

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The purpose of the event was to gather students, professors and professionals to discover innovative projects, discuss and contribute to co-create pragmatic solutions for the education of the future. There were various workshops about entrepreneurship, digital education, interdisciplinary learning, well-being & education, assessment… And there was a focus on how to apply and replicate these prototypes and initiatives.

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At the end of the day, we formed a big circle – we were around 60 I guess. And each of us could share with the group about a project he was involved in or he wanted to promote.

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I spoke about my plans for the next year.

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After that, there was a networking time and a student came to speak to me.

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(Unfortunately I do not even remember her name, even though now I feel so thankful to her…)

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She told me that she had been in a recruitment process with this Malaysian company for an internship, and that I might be interested by what they were doing.

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At the time, I was looking for opportunities, searching for what I would do doing my sabbatical year. I wrote the name of the company in my notebook, among so many others things and ideas.

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One more. Nothing so special.

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Two weeks later, I look at my notebook and start re-reading all the ideas I had written.

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I Googled « Leaderonomics ».

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And when I discover their website I became very excited : I loved the vision, the mission, the values, the mindset !

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Here is what they say :

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« Welcome to Leaderonomics, a social enterprise with the purpose of transforming nations through leadership development. Why leadership? We believe leaders can profoundly affect the social, economic and spiritual health of communities they belong to. »

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They speak about the « science of building leaders ».

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I looked at the video showing Roshan Tiran, the CEO, and other people of the team, explaining what they’re doing and how they do it.

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Their approach seemed very relevant to me, people seemed very dynamic, the offices seemed so cool. But first and foremost : I felt totally aligned with the values and the purpose of the company seemed so meaningful to me. And it corresponded to my skills and passion : developing people’s potential.

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So I can say : I had a crush. (I never thought I would have a crush on a Malaysian company based in Kuala Lumpur !)

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I decided to write to the CEO. I found him on LinkedIn and told him that I would spend some time in Asia the next year and that I was interested to explore if we could figure out something with Leaderonomics.

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He answered quickly and connected me to his team.

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Then a few months passed by and I could not really share with the team – they were busy. But I would not give up and was regularly sending news and expressing my interest.

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We finally settled a skype meeting with the HR manager last September, when I was in Ile d’Yeu. I remember I had to go to the harbour in a café where there was wifi, very early in the morning, the day just after I arrived. But I was so excited. And actually, this early appointment allowed me to see the sunrise light on an empty harbour. It was a calm harmony of seagulls, fishermen and pink clouds. Magic. (It was before I fell sick, before the weather started to be rainy, before the unexpected depressing time there !).

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During the skype meeting we shared about my skills, what I would like to do, and the needs of the company. We agreed that we would keep in touch : she needed to share with a team to figure out on what kind of mission I could work on.

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We kept in touch. It was not really easy to find the right opportunity – and there are also visa issues. I expressed that there was no hurry on my side. I was in the Philippines for some time and did not have to decide immediately what I would do next. I have learnt to go with the flow !

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Later, in November, when I was booking my flight from Manila to India, I realized that the connection was in Kuala Lumpur. I sent an email to the team offering to stop by for a day to meet them ! They agreed and we settled an appointment.

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I thought that it was much easier both for them and for me to decide to work together once we would have met in person. And visiting the office would be great. Going there to meet them would allow me to challenge my intuition.

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I was also very interested to see what Kuala Lumpur (this name sounded so exotic to me !) was like – especially if I would be working there for some time.

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When I was in Seoul in September/October, I had met Anthony in my guesthouse. Anthony was a French teacher at the French Institut in KL (Kuala Lumpur). I had told him that I would come for one day and asked him if he would agree to welcome me at his place for one night. He said yes.

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He came to pick me up at Titiwangsa monorail station, 5 minutes away from his home. He was in a hurry and could not stay with me that evening because he had a formal Christmas dinner with his office team – and they would have confit de canard – he had to be there 😉 !

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So he brought me to his place, a big condominium. I had to leave my passport at the security door for the night !

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There was a huge swimming pool on the ground floor.

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Anthony gave me the internet password, and a towel. He showed me what I could have for dinner, explained to me how to use the Air Conditioning (very important) and where to find drinkable water (very important too), briefed me about his flatmates. And left.

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I had a reenergizing shower (no cockroach in the bathroom, YAY !), started to cook dinner : spaghetti with cheddar cheese and pepper. Asian style, let’s say. And then fresh delicious pineapple. Here the pineapple have a wonderful coconut taste – I love it.

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It was monsoon season and at some times, there are heavy rain or big storms in KL. The windows were open and the noise of the rain was so strong. Wind was blowing from one side of the living-room to the other.

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Suddenly, the atmosphere in the apartment was very humid. There were thunder and lightnings. It was so impressive !

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I both loved it and was a bit afraid (what if a lightning – foudre – comes through one window, goes through the apartment and gets out from the other window ?!).

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I stayed at the window, feeling happy to be inside in a warm and dry place, looking at the unleashed natural elements.

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After dinner I open my laptop and spent a little time on the Leaderonomics website, and look at the LinkedIn profiles of the people I would meet.

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When Anthony came back I was half asleep. He had had a great dinner time.

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I woke up early for yoga.

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I had to leave with Anthony who had an early class. So he called a taxi for me, which brought me in the neighborhood of KL where the HQ of Leaderonomics is.

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The taxi driver was Sikh and we spoke about Malaysia and the mix of cultures – Malay, Chinese and Indian. I had just arrived and knew nothing about the country, the culture. Trying to understand the Philippines was enough challenging already – I was focusing on this first !

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The taxi driver told me that, on the surface, everything looked good and harmonious in Malaysia, but that there were actually real cohabiting and competition problems. He told me that the Muslims were controlling the country and that there was no space and no future for the Indian kids – and so parents would send them abroad.

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Well. I would need to confront this to other perspectives.

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The Leaderonomics team had recommended to me a small lovely café just next door, where I could wait. I ordered breakfast – I tried peanut butter & jam toasts – and soon two young ladies joined me. And this is how my encounter with Leaderonomics started.

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Then I visited the office and I met several members of the team.

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What they do is really amazing.

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They are passionate. They are driven by a meaningful mission and they seem to be also very good and demanding as far as execution is concerned.

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The office is really nice. First thing : you remove your shoes when you arrive – everybody walks barefoot at work !

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There is a kind of artificial grass and there are several open spaces. It is bright, colorful, playful. There is space. There is a convivial place for gathering which looks like at home – a kind of warm, lively, living-room. Employees can work from home or any other place they want, they can come to the office when they want – they are still recommended to be here to connect to the others. But it seemed really flexible.

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It was really great to meet the team and share with them, connect.

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Now we’ll see what happens !

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I feel happy because I really have the feeling to be the entrepreneur of my life. I feel that « I have done my part and I trust life to do the rest » – whatever happens.

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I really appreciate this experience of letting go. It is new to me. I would not see things this way before.

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I have learnt not to absolutely WANT something. Now I have intentions, and I see possibilities.

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And I am confident that if there is something great to achieve with Leaderonomics, it will happen. And that if it does not happen, there will be other great meaningful perspectives and projects for me.

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I went back to the airport. 24 hours in Kuala Lumpur. It seems both so crazy and so natural.

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At the airport I arrived very early. I sat in a Starbucks coffee. I wrote. I sipped a Matcha tea frappucino (very sweet and far too chemical but I love it I love it).

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I looked around in the café.

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There was a family having a vegan organic picnic on one side (quinoa/tofu/seaweed salad and stuff like that). An Asian girl watching series on her laptop on the other. Two Japanese or Korean or Taiwanese girls asleep on the table. A French business man having a meeting with a Asian other business man. A young beautiful Asian lady (many Asians, but we are in Asia) taking selfies and speaking on Skype in the same time. Airport casual scenes.

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I was flying to Chennai in India in a few hours.

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Around 10 days ago, a friend who knows the region has warned me that there have been severe flooding around Chennai. She almost advised to me to reconsider my stay in Auroville ! I could not imagine that so I did not really explore the issue.

And I had been in touch with 2 people in Auroville (including the owner of the guesthouse where I would stay) so I had chosen to consider that if there had been any problems they would have told me.

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But now that I am almost getting there, I am starting to worry a little !

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I look on Internet to see what are the latest news – and I see images of Chennai totally flooded – with 1 meter high water level. Articles mentioning population displacement. The airport was closed. There is food shortage. This was a week ago. I look at the French government foreign affairs website. they say that because of the flooding there is much higher risk of contamination of chikunguyua and malaria. And that we need to be very careful with food.

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This is a bit stressing. I think about my parents and I am sure that they do not know about that – otherwise they would have told me not to go !

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I decide to go to the airport supermarket – in case there is no more food there ! I buy porridge, instant noodles, chocolate, dry fruits….

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And then I take my plane to Chennai.

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