If you don't receive Susan Chamber's blog posts - she is quite articulate about collaboration and the value of people, talent and teams. Susan's 1 November 2013 blog is copied below:
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Welcome to
Susan’s Spark, The Global People’s Blog.
As Global People, we have much to share and discuss. To help
us do that more often, you are invited to participate in this blog by
sharing your thoughts, concerns and ideas. Like any blogger, I won’t be
able to answer each post individually. And I won’t always have the answers
to questions. But I will, with my leadership team’s help, always do my best
to address and expand on topics that most interest you and our fellow
Global People associates. Thank you for sparking a difference through the
work you do every day. You inspire me. In turn, I hope this blog inspires
you in some way as we build our Next Generation Walmart.
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November 01
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It’s been quite a dry spell since my last blog, so it’s
fitting that I re-emerge with a personal note about something very
important to me – being open to new experiences. My husband and I had an
opportunity over the weekend to attend the Northwest Arkansas celebration
of Diwali. It is also referred to as the “festival of lights” and for
Hindus is one of the most important festivals of the year. It is
centered on families coming together in traditional activities that
include food, music and dance. It was a rich experience and I felt like I
had left home and stepped right into India without the jet lag.
Saturday’s event took place at Bentonville High School and
enjoyed record attendance, with over 1,200 people
participating. That’s a wonderful representation of the more than
5,000 individuals who make up our local Asian Indian community. I also
learned that 19 years ago Mahesh Pradhan hosted our first local Diwali
celebration in his living room. That’s a tremendous amount of growth.
(Thank you, Mahesh, for being a pioneer, and to all of you who work so
hard to make this event a success.)
One of my favorite parts of the evening was hearing dozens
of children’s voices chirping nonstop throughout the celebration as they
were there having fun and learning about Diwali traditions. The
second was watching Ben Hasan lead a line dance in step with contemporary
Indian music, inspiring many to join in, including me. It was just plain
fun. And it got me thinking. It’s easy to take for granted how
diverse this area has become and miss out on the opportunity to
experience it.
My larger point for writing this is to acknowledge that
our lives are the sum total of our experiences. We should all look for
opportunities to embrace things that we’ve never done before. And
you don’t have to travel the world to know its people – many different
people live in your local communities, whether it’s Northwest Arkansas,
Leeds, or Hong Kong. I guess this could be described as a form of
inclusion – in reverse. Get involved! And it’s a tremendous way to
expand your global mindset. You don’t know what you don’t know, about food
or music or dance or culture – or people, until you’re exposed to
something new and unfamiliar.
I’d love to hear about some of your experiences that may
have been new and taken you out of your comfort zone.
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