CuppaGemma

Patrick Newell is a long time dear friend and colleague.

At the moment he is in Iceland, having already been to Boston, Massachusetts and soon to be on somewhere else. He is filming a documentary and is hot on the tails of finishing the first ever Tokyo TED meeting last month. (I was almost there, but logistics like an evil stepmother stopped me from purchasing the air ticket.) TED Tokyo happened in large part because Patrick saw an unmet need and was willing and eager to do something about it.

He is the founder and director of Tokyo International School, where I can proudly say my children attended for several years whilst we lived in Japan.

But most of all he is a man with ideas, and he knows how to make them happen. I’ve watched as the school has grown, and outgrown campuses, principals and parents. I’ve watched as he has been told, “Dame…” or “Shoganai” the Japanese equivalent of no way and it cannot be done. Then he politely nods, smiles, builds a team and finds a way to make it so. Timing and relationships is everything.

Part of it is gut, grit and dedication, but the other part is knowing how to let go and build a team who can help you.  His business card identifies himself as the vision navigator.

In this age of slapped on terms where we are all grasping for the latest “on message” “buzz” that could be tweeted, he actually has earned the term.

He has a clear and precise idea of what he wants to achieve and is willing to take risks to make it real. He knows when and how to shift, who to delegate to, and when he should step back and let the experts hold the reigns. That is why he is successful. He not only believes in his idea, but is willing (via skateboard) to find and build the teams to make it happen. He knows it needs more than his hand. He trusts and empowers the people around him to take an idea out of a conversation and actually have something meaningful take place.

That’s the difference between being at the helm and having the appropriate words on a business card (meishi). He actually has calluses on his brain from working the system and pushing through the waters of doubt and conflict.

I remember sitting in the Starbucks at Meguro station- because I must tell you that many good conversations can be had in coffee shops in various places. The company, not the coffee is remembered.

Patrick had his laptop in hand and shared with me, as I was about to ditch on twelve years of Tokyo an inspriational letter that had been sent to him. Effectively he had been told, no his idea would not work and he ought not to think it should. He decided he would remember it, but disagree with the outcome.

He was wise enough to understand this was not the one he ought to listen to. He knew I was soon to head out to the states to start over, again, and he was gracious enough to remind me that this is something we all have to walk through.

The fields of no, the crops of doubt, the clouds of failure that make you go all cold and wondering whether you actually could or should or if on the fly you can  make someone believe you will get the job done.  It is, to use his words, “the combination of passion and commitment.” That’s what separates out the folks who excell from those whom we forget as part of the common maw a few weeks or months later.

He is relentless in his dedication and energy and it’s never about him, it’s always the idea. In this case, it’s for the children he wants to reach. Ones he will never know.
Tokyo International School
21:21 Documentary Film
TEDxTokyo
Living Dreams