Please read Part IV below before reading this post.
Vignette #4: Iceland’s Deep Freeze
This past week, I had the pleasure and privilege of hosting the only Tuck alum from Iceland, on behalf of the Center for International Business. I am an MBA Fellow at CIB and when I was asked if I can host him during his visit to Tuck, I jumped at the opportunity.
Over the years, Stefan (T’88) has seen it all – the highs and lows of Iceland’s economy – as the former CEO of the Iceland Stock Exchange and most recently as CEO of the Engineers Pension Fund of Iceland, one of the largest public pension funds in the country.
Along with a few of my fellow classmates, I had the opportunity to chat with him over dinner about what exactly happened in Iceland, how things unfolded, and his view of how things are going to move in the future. In spite of having been through the worst economic crisis to ever hit the country, as someone who held one of the most important non-political posts in Iceland, I was really amazed at the level of clarity in his thinking and in the way he explained Iceland’s collapse.
The next day, he gave a talk to the wider Tuck community about the economic implosion that hit his nation. He was witty with a self-deprecating sense of humor and gave us a ring-side view of the domino effect that took down the country’s economy. The audience sat in rapt attention as he described the decisions (or the lack thereof), that were responsible for the collapse of Iceland’s financial institutions.
What was telling was his unwavering sense of optimism during the entire presentation (and I must say, during the dinner the previous night). Even in the face of what he and his fellow citizens have suffered as a result of this dramatic failure of the Icelandic economy, he was hopeful of what the future had to offer and was energized at the prospects of growth that his country was seeing. In his words, “The Vikings never give up!”
In the same spirit, neither should anyone else give up. Setbacks and success are two sides of the same coin and a successful life is that which overcomes these setbacks, celebrates all that is positive, and moves forward with a sense of purpose that brings forth the success side of the coin over and over again. To that, I say, “Cheers!”
This concludes the vignettes from the past few days that I wanted to share with the readers at large. As all of us continue on our own paths to success, here’s hoping those paths will cross at some point, and here’s wishing everyone the very best!
Read the full article: Vignettes of the past two weeks – Part V