Trust Fall, Or What I Learned During My Social Sabbatical

It’s funny how quickly time flies on your social sabbatical. It seemed like I had only just unpacked my suitcase and just like that, my social sabbatical was over. By the end of four weeks in Kigali, it felt I’d been there for months. Kigali was incredible. It’s a beautiful city with great restaurants, art galleries, and places to dance.

But it’s also a city of contrasts. Lushly landscaped areas with great bars and cafes sit next to neighborhoods that still have dirt roads and people carrying water home in large containers because there’s no running water. When you go outside of Kigali, the differences become even more stark.

That puts a finer point on why me and 11 SAP colleagues were matched with four social enterprises to help them solve specific business challenges. Each of these organizations is dedicated to improving the lives of people across Rwanda and the region.

My team supported Starlight, an organization that makes STEM fun and relevant to students, encourages girls to pursue STEM further education and careers, and trains educators in experiential STEM learning methodologies.

In our original scope of work, the client asked for a communications and marketing strategy. But we soon discovered that the organization was at a critical juncture. As we begin asking questions of the founders and their partners, it became clear there was more work to be done. We jointly agreed that in four weeks we would help to refine Starlight’s vision and mission, define a portfolio of offerings, create a business plan, deliver a business pitch, and provide guidance for communications and marketing activities.

That brings me to one the most important lessons I learned from my time spent in Kigali. Embrace the unexpected.

Before going I was told our original scope of work will change. Having been in PR and communications for 20 years, I felt reasonably prepared. But after talking with our client and understanding how the pandemic had impacted their organization (effectively leaving it at a standstill), we learned that a communications and marketing strategy was actual the icing on the cake.

First, we had to bake a cake which included: a competitive analysis to drive differentiated positioning and products; a short-, mid- and long-term plan for sustainable growth; recommendations for strategic alliances and funders; and a pitch deck to use with potential investors.

As the kids say, I’m not gonna lie. It was scary. Tackling all those deliverables in such a short time frame was daunting.

But it was the best opportunity to grow quickly. As a team, we had to quickly assess our skills, figure out the gaps, then divide and conquer. We filled in the rest by leveraging the knowledge of our new and existing colleagues, creating new contacts, and searching the almighty internet.

One example, I cold called the founder of a social entrepreneur who also started an organization that taught experiential STEM education in Kigali. The next week our team met with him and gained invaluable insight into key funders in the education space and the credentialing process to work with the local public schools.

Being outside your comfort zone is one of the cornerstone experiences of a social sabbatical — you’re shaken loose from your regular day job, routine, and family obligations. There’s nothing scarier and more thrilling than that. It freed me be resourceful and flexible in my approach to work and day-to-day life in Rwanda. Strengthening that emotional muscle has helped me enormously whenever I’ve taken on new challenges since returning.

Besides embracing discomfort, one of the best lessons for me in Rwanda is that your team and network is everything and collaboration is the best way to succeed.

Having worked mostly remotely for years before the pandemic, I’m used to working by myself. So I was nervous (and excited) to work in person with people full time. I lucked out and had incredible teammates. We each came from very different professional backgrounds and countries, but together, our skills and workstyles were complimentary.

At first, working in such a small team every day is a bit like a trust fall. But as we learned about each other’s skills, we began to move around each other more gracefully. By the end of the month, we were woven together into a tight knit group. It became easier to allocate tasks and divvy up according to our areas of expertise. But we also developed understanding and trust in each other — knowing who would be late (me), who created PowerPoint decks fastest, how to read signs of stress in the others’ faces, and when it was time for more coffee.

So if you’re planning something new — whether it’s a different job or newly volunteering with a community service organization — remember two things: embrace discomfort and you’re not alone. Take the trust fall, have faith in those around you to buoy you up, and you’ll emerge on the other side with new skills and friendships you couldn’t have imagined before.

For more on the volunteering projects in Rwanda visit the SAP Social Sabbatical site on Medium. Learn more about the SAP Social Sabbatical pro-bono consulting program here.