Duane Hershberger

Back when I worked in an office, vacationing colleagues would often return saying, “ I need a vacation to recover from that vacation.” They likely ate too much, probably drank too much, didn’t exercise enough and perhaps were with people they didn’t like very much. 

I’ve had a few of those. Not many, thank goodness. 

My first week-long Habitat for Humanity Global Village build was 2009. I led a Vermont church group to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Our twenty person team worked for a week and helped build two homes. We’d have an early breakfast, go to the work site, return at 4 PM, clean up and maybe have wine or tea before 6:30 dinner. By Friday we were tired. But we returned home Sunday with deep contentment and gratitude. And deeply inspired. When we went back to work, school or wherever Monday morning, we smiled.

Since 2009 I’ve led thirty five Travel and Build trips with three organizations to eleven countries in Central America, South America, Europe and Asia. We usually leave home Thursday or Friday, have our first dinner Saturday evening, tour on Sunday, work Monday – Friday and return home Sunday. 

One Friday afternoon in San Lucas, Guatemala, after an especially hard week of digging footers, mixing concrete and carrying blocks, a participant told me, “Duane, I’m so tired but so inspired.”

We’re inspired because of a unique and rewarding routine. Our muscles get a thorough work out. Our clothes and hands get dirty. Each day we see progress as a new home is built.

We’re inspired by new friends. We bring our best selves to our work week. Being present with other travelers who also have a healthy curiosity and openness about other cultures and histories is deeply enriching. Working side by side with someone for eight hours helps get acquainted quickly. I now have several hundred friends on four continents who helped build simple, decent homes with people in need. 

We’re inspired by our conversations. We reflect on how the experience impacts us. We share how our perspective on housing and poverty has changed. We reflect on our experience in the grand scheme of life – yes, it gets deep sometimes. We ponder our deep privilege to experience trips like this. 

We’re inspired because our gratitude is awakened. We’re filled with gratitude for new friends who also share the joy of giving. We find joy in this troubled world. 

Many of us return home with a wish that family and friends could join this experience sometime. Maybe someday they will.

And so, I’ll continue inspiring travel as long as they let me. I’ll return to many of the places where I’ve been and see old friends and visit homeowners whose home I helped build. Join me sometime, we’ll go to Guatemala, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Poland, Armenia, El Salvador and many other places to build simple, decent homes and enjoy inspiring travel. 

In three days I’ll board a red eye out of Newark, NJ for Poland.  A team of us will rendezvous at the Krakow airport prepped to work for a week on a Habitat for Humanity house in Giliwice.  Six will travel alone, four with a friend and there are two retired couples, one with their mid-career daughter.

Most don’t have much construction experience, we’ll do grunt work under excellent guidance of a local supervisor. We’ll eat breakfast at 7 AM, take a van to the work site at 8 AM, work all day and come back to the hotel at 4:30 to clean up and maybe have a soothing beverage before dinner.  We’ll do this for five days and then tour Auschwitz as a cross-cultural activity. A recent GV’er summed it up on her last day, “I’m tired, but oh, so inspired.”

This is how some of us do vacations. We’ve learned there’s something powerful in doing manual labor on a project. Sometimes we have to stop our task to help someone else for a few minutes. Sometimes we remind each other to take a break or drink some water.  Sometimes the homeowner brings their three year old child around and we all just dote for awhile. Sometimes we finish a tough task and pat each other’s backs. One Portuguese homeowner treated us to cheese and her homemade wine every afternoon at 4:30, the best, lousy wine I’ve ever had.  

Sharing tools, learning about the building materials and figuring out how to solve problems awakens something inside of us  I’ve seen retired dads and early career daughters reconnect and create memories they’ll both cherish forever. I’ve seen grandmothers and grandsons deepen their fondness. I’ve seen corporate work teams help each other, laugh together and deepen trust in ways that will serve them well when they’re back in the office dealing with complicated issues. I’ve seen strangers become friends and stay close touch for years after their work week.

This is how some of us do vacations.  Its my twenty something trip leading a Habitat for Humanity Global Village team and I can’t wait for the next one.

There’s a number for every CEO or Executive Director.  The number is how big the organization can be before significant control is effectively delegated to other leaders.  A good ED might manage a $500K operation with hands on control of nearly everything. A really good ED or CEO might manage minute details up to $1.5 million. At Habitat for Humanity, Millard Fuller with his quick wit, gracious manner and steel trap mind led Habitat to well over $100 million, hundreds of employees and global reach before the scope overwhelmed his style.  A friend began leading a small, $500K non profit two decades ago and led its growth to the current $5 million and is still growing. He keeps his finger on the pulse of important things and lets others handle the rest.

At some point, complexities of managing data systems, key relationships, financials, staff guidance, strategy, social media and adapting structures overwhelm any leader’s capacity. I’m not very good with the hands on control thing.  If I were an ED, my number would probably be $500K and then I’d need a lot of help with the daily minutiae.

It falls on the board to identify and monitor the number. And boards don’t usually figure it out until the number is exceeded, leaving budget deficits, declining staff morale, razor thin margin of errors and damaged relationships to clean up. There are plenty of warning signs if board leaders are tuned in.  But it’s a tricky area with difficult truths that boards usually try to avoid.

The path through this thicket varies with the dynamics of every organization but there is a path.

At the next table in the coffee shop two people held an energetic conversation about workplace issues.  A few tables over three people were in an intense, quiet discussion with lots of pauses.  The dialogue was obviously deep and personal.

These people were lucky.  They all had someone to talk with, give feedback and make observations on whatever predicaments clouded up their lives. They were coaching each other.

But coaching from friends is a mixed blessing.  Loyalties can limit perspective.  Friendships can prevent delivery of necessary but tough messages. Friends’ experience and expertise is often limited. Their sympathetic ear is most welcome but may not come with deep insight needed to really impact our next steps.  

Dilemmas from work, family, money and community might only be benign distractions or completely knock us off the rails. Our lives are complex and intertwined; challenges from one life area impact another.  

Coaching does many things.  Unknown doors and untapped resources can be revealed.

Rewarding opportunities often exist beyond the horizon of present problems.  Sometimes we must make internal changes to accommodate a transitioning environment. What are the wise and unwise next steps?  

Try coaching.  Workplace coaching for an org’s chief leadership is usually called “Executive Coaching.”  Guidance through life’s complexities is “Life Coaching.” But we all know, life’s normal complexities and our workplace intermingle.  Find a way forward.  It’s there.