Last week I was winging my way back from Canada after dropping my 15–year–old daughter off for five–months.
She’s now going to be there until the end of June – and we will be in Brazil.
Right now it’s +35 degrees here, and there it’s -14 with lots of snow. Another world.
We’ve been planning this school exchange for over a year – and now suddenly, it’s here.
She’s staying with my brother and his family (thank you Zig and Elena), getting to better know her Canadian relatives, walking to school (here she can’t), and learning to take the bus on her own for the first time.
As many of you know, I’m a huge believer in stepping out of the world we know…and then into a lot of unknowns.
It’s never linear, it’s rarely comfortable, and there are almost always tears. And moments when you want to retreat back to life as you understand it.
But then something remarkable happens when you stay with the discomfort.
When you push through, very quickly what felt unfamiliar becomes second nature.
The words start to make sense. The weather becomes not only manageable, but something to enjoy.
You find new friends to sit with at lunch. And slowly, almost quietly, your world expands.
Your brain opens. You start seeing things differently. You learn new perspectives. And new ways of doing things.
You grow.
This is true for a 15–year–old on a school exchange. And it’s just as true for leaders and professionals who choose to step into new environments, new cultures, and new ways of thinking.
At TIE Leadership, this is at the heart of everything we do – creating experiences that stretch people beyond familiarity so they can lead with deeper empathy, sharper insight, and a stronger sense of purpose.
It’s also a core theme in my book Return on Humanity: growth doesn’t come from staying safe. It comes from crossing borders – geographic, cultural, and internal.
Watching Bia take this brave step reminded me of something simple and powerful:
We don’t grow by holding on.
We grow by letting go.
See you soon Biazinha. I’m so so proud of you 
If you’re curious about what becomes possible when teams step outside familiarity – creatively, culturally, and collaboratively – let’s have a chat.
