During my life and nearly thirty year career in public service, global business and sports, I have been fortunate to have had some great experiences that shaped my worldview and met mentors/friends who have helped to further refine it. The inherent beauty of today’s technological revolution is the ability to reconnect with friends and share experiences and knowledge to enhance — not replace — our face to face relationships. I hope this blog also serves as unique thought leadership that assists the many journalists, friends and young professionals that are periodically referred to me for insight as well.
During much of my professional life, I have always been an in-house strategist or even spokesperson for various governments, elected officials or corporations for whom I was working. Now after forming the Manager Global Consulting Group in 2009 after departing my corporate role, I have enjoyed working on select transactions and serving as a Fortune 500 corporate director. It has also been a journey discovering my own unfiltered voice on the variety of issues in public policy, global business and sports in society.
As I mentioned earlier, it has been a great life thus far: I never take for granted moments such as meeting Nelson Mandela a short time after his release from Robben Island and transition into the South African presidency (photo above); meeting Mikhail Gorbachev (years after I chiseled my own Berlin Wall keepsake while in Germany) walking the streets of Ho Chi Minh City with then President Bill Clinton as the first US President to visit there since the Vietnam War; or, having lunch and foreign policy discussions with then-candidate and now President Barack Obama. I have even sung a few bars of “My Girl” on stage during arena show with The Temptations and shared a table with Bootsy Collins to round out this diverse range. Of course, beyond these unique moments, I have immensely enjoyed quietly reconnecting with many existing friends and meeting new people through various means.
Every day is a new challenge and opportunity and I awake daily in an enthusiastic manner to meet that challenge. With abiding faith as an anchor, it is my modest desire to be a respected father, husband and professional that inspires achievement in my kids, deliverables for my community and foments greater understanding for the increasingly complex world in which live.
With that introduction, welcome to my blog. I’ll do my best to add thoughts and observations as often as I can while welcoming your feedback as I learn so much from my friends and associates. I am also expanding my personal use of Twitter, FaceBook, Linked In and other social media tools — as I have previously professionally participated in successful corporate endeavors where these have been amazingly effective.
One of the catalysts for this inaugural blog entry was reading the commentary of the many journalists, fans and prognosticators speculating about the LeBron James “Decision” and subsequent post-announcement analysis. Having spent some 12 years in a senior in-house capacity in the sports business and still a practicing business strategist (including some limited interaction with LeBron and team over the years), I thought this would be an appropriate time to launch the blog. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you!
Peace,
Vada
