If you have never heard of Tegla Loroupe, your inspiration arsenal is not complete. If you have, you will perhaps understand the intense honor it was for me to meet her in person yesterday.
Tegla was born in Kenya and began running - barefoot - during her 10km trek each day to and from school. For all of us non-metric folks, that is over 12 miles! She has gone on to become one of the most celebrated female runners of all time and a global ambassador for peace.
Her panel's topic at the Horasis Annual Meeting in Zurich was titled "Thriving on Risk - Ensuring Inclusive Growth." Tegla was the only non-business person on the panel, yet she embodies perhaps better than anyone both of these ideals in a very real, very practical way. I felt, from the moment I met her and shook her hand, that she is a warm, passionate, compassionate, and incredibly intelligent woman. As I absorbed her story and her thoughts on Risk in Sport, I learned she is also courageous, strong, collaborative, humble and diplomatic. She saw a very risky opportunity to use something she loves, and is beyond good at - running - as a catalyst for peace. And she is succeeding.
For me, Tegla's panel was the highlight of this meeting, and meeting her personally was a truly inspiring gift. Of the many things she talked about there was one that especially caught my attention: her choice to leave her job in 1994 to move to another country and pursue a career as a professional runner. She stated that this decision opened more doors for her [personally, as well as for the global peace effort] than staying to earn money ever could have. She believed in herself, put her passion front and center, and transformed it into a global tool for good.
I hope we can all find, and seize, Tegla in each of us. If we do, the possibilities are endless.
