This will probably be my last post from Davos as we are reaching the end of the conference. I have to confess that for all my love of travel, and for all the places that I have been, the fact is that I don't travel well. I often pack more stuff than I need. I am more often than not late to arrive at the airport, literally minutes before they close the gates. And I always manage to get sick. I get bad colds, I get mosquito bites, I fall and hurt my ankle, I am always jet lagged and suffer from insomnia and in my last trip I even got the shingles. Most of all, I miss everyone back home, especially my mom and my boys if they are not with me. So why bother? First of all, as they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder. I come back home from my travels with a renewed sense of appreciation for home, family and friends. Most of all, I always learn something new when I travel and I meet incredible people often by chance. So what am I taking away from Davos?

 

I have rubbed shoulders with some of the brightest minds and thought leaders of the world and listened to them speak on the global economic crisis. There are no clear solutions yet, but I keep hearing that a new sense of transparency and responsibility in leadership, government, and the private sector is needed. This is also the time to pull together and help eachother and those most in need.

 

Jet Li, Martial Arts expert and famous actor, the Founder of the One Foundation, gave one of the moving speeches I've heard last night at the cultural leadership dinner we attended. He talked about the experience that made him want to start the One Foundation. He was standing at the beech with his two young daughters when the Tsunami hit and while he was holding his four year old, the babysitter and his one year old daughter were swept away by the waves. He said standing there helpless, he thought that being a master of Martial arts and a movie hero for so many years, he was unable to help his daughter. Some one else helped rescue his child though and that experience made him change his life. That very night he thought about starting the One Foundation: one person had made a life-changing effect on his life. If each person gave one hour of their time, one yen a month, think of what difference they could make worldwide.

 

So, I am walking away from Davos, hoping that these crisis are not a beginning to an end but that they will provide the opportunity for many new businesse ideas and innovations, selfless acts, and a catalyst for all of us to make world a better place for the next generation.