Now that I think of it, it’s the first time I prepare so thoroughly for a trip to a foreign country. Usually, I don’t have much time to prepare before traveling and end up reading at night when I’m already in place or simply learning things directly “on the field”. In this case,  I’ve spent the last two months acquiring knowledge on all aspects of Malaysia (from history and culture to politics, business and economy) and currently I feel quite prepared on what I’ll find. Probably this will allow me to appreciate incredibly more the country and its people and understand at a deeper level the different cultures that compose Malaysia. On the other hand, I’ve already satisfied part of my curiosity and the sense of novelty and surprise I usually experience in most trips will be less intense.

Nonetheless, this trip is like no other I’ve made in the past. I’m not going for tourism but for volunteering community services, I’ll stay longer (about one month and a half) and most of the time in the same region and, finally, I’ll be exposed much more to local population. This difference makes the experience incredibly exciting to my eyes.

Finally, as I do often, I’ve been “exploring” Malaysia on Google Earth: discovering all the different natural environments that make up the northern peninsula but also getting to know the cities present throughout the land. I always find this “day dreaming” from the sky fascinating and undoubtedly it helps me getting familiar with the country. Looking at the peninsula, I’ll be staying in the northwestern coastal area, specifically on the island of Penang. Below you can find a map which gives you and idea of what I’m talking about.

Corporate Service Corps (CSC) is IBM Corporation’s unique take on corporate social responsibility: it couples community services with business growth and leadership development. In association with nongovernmental organizations, small teams of selected IBM volunteers are dispatched to countries such as Ghana, Vietnam, Romania or Malaysia to perform community-driven economic development projects. Instead of donating basic goods and funds, IBM delivers professional expertise, with a focus on results and capability building, in what could potentially become emerging markets. In addition, the Corporation’s high performance employees are exposed to diverse cultures, global teamwork, non-traditional working environments and sustainable business practices… in a nutshell the context 21st century business leaders have to learn to work in.

During the last two months, together with my team, I’ve trained on a wealth of topics from cultural awareness (Malaysia is a melting pot of cultures!) to international development, capability building and consulting. Two more weeks of preparation and then I’ll be helping health and education organizations in Malaysia’s northern region of Penang.

I’m extremely excited, a bit worried about the challenge, but for sure looking forward to get on the field… so stay tuned for the story on this whole new adventure.

What I appreciate the most in Branson’s story is the mix of entrepreneurship, thirst for challenge and determination that you can find both in his business enterprises and adventurous challenges. Since the beginning of his life you can really spot a huge desire to accomplish new things and succeed (in a good way) and, the more time passed and accomplishments materialized, such desire simply built on itself and grew. It is amazing to see how conviction and determination for one’s ideas (and one’s intuition) can help handle great amounts of risk and overcome obstacles, frequently going against common judgment or others’ opinions.

In today’s business context I find this traits extremely valuable. Western markets’ maturity and globalization require to succeed new ideas, new ways of tackling demand and high flexibility to adapt to ever-changing market conditions. Branson’s entrepreneurship and drive allowed him to spot more than others a great deal of opportunities and pursue them in the face of complexity and plenty of obstacles.

Nonetheless, I believe the success of Virgin Group and his other ventures all comes down in having fun. All the projects he got into started from intuition that the challenge was possible and could achieve something new but my impression is that the final decision was based whether it was fun or not to do it. And since most of the time the venture really implied fun, this drove motivation, enthusiasm and attracted talented and resourceful people around it. A big lesson.

Finally, past all the hype and adrenaline and challenges, I was surprised to find a very thoughtful and concerned man, showing by the way a great deal of emotional intelligence. I guess this and having a loving family and friends, really helped keeping the right balance in his brilliant but also very demanding life.

If you’re interested like I am in both business and adventure, “Losing My Virginity” is really a good read.