I do not have many friends. I think that will remain true, but I have no complaint. It is because I want to keep deep relationships with good people, even if they are few. The word “good” and the standard of “many” are both subjective. I think the word “relationship” carries a good deal of ambiguity.
At the completion ceremony for Ewha Womans University’s professional course for women outside directors
I form relationships in a partial and biased way, and the kind of relationship I like most is one in which we learn together. It does not have to be a relationship where each person can become the other’s teacher. I think I can become my most simple, innocent, and kind self when we simply study together, with nothing at stake between us. Calculated relationships do not appeal to me.
With directors and speakers from the Korean Society for Life Cycle Assessment
The people I remain close to now are people I became close to while learning together. People I meet often while reading and writing, people I came to know while studying a professional field, and people with whom I worked hard on projects and created results together.
With members of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, through a connection from a reading group
This year, while expanding the company I run and widening the radius of my personal learning, I came to have many good connections through learning together. We met at 7 a.m. with rumpled faces, fought off drowsiness together on Saturday afternoons, and solved issues large and small while doing projects. The more we learn together and the more time we spend, the deeper our affection grows.
At an offline reading group
In relationships formed through learning, even when we did not give or receive help, even when we did not particularly like each other, and even when the opposite was true, there were many times when the relationship still became a source of learning and meaning. Sometimes it is important to know and experience what not to do rather than what to do, and whom not to meet rather than whom to meet.
I send my gratitude to those who gave me small and large realisations within communities this year.
Lunch gathering with ECONIANs
Depending on the community and the issues it deals with, I find that I change from moment to moment! In 2024, I had very good luck with communities. I kept a group for reading and writing running throughout the year, and sometimes met offline as well, sharing everyday experiences with fellow CEOs. I think we learned many kinds of work and crossed many hardships together. Communicating with women leaders from many fields, I also felt a very deep loyalty among women. Simply being among wonderful women, older and younger, gave me strength.
Plogging with ECONIANs & people from Ita Seoul
In the coming year, I will make my own contributions, small and large, within these communities.
Writing group at the Han River
Would you like to be my friend? :)