EO Global Board Visits EO Vietnam: Leadership, Connection, and the Path Forward
- EO Vietnam
- Feb 11
- 3 min read
A Night of Connection
Last night we hosted the EO Global Board for dinner at Aiii, a restaurant owned by our member Vinh Nguyen. We met the chef, walked through course after course of fusion food, and simply spent time together.
It was one of those evenings that reminds you why you joined EO in the first place.
I’ll be honest. It’s easy to put Global Board members on a pedestal. These are people elected to help lead an organization of 18,000+ entrepreneurs across the globe. You expect a certain distance.
But there wasn’t any.
They’re just members. They own businesses like we do. They deal with the same realities we deal with. The difference isn’t status, it’s that they’ve been in EO longer and chose to explore the path of leadership.
And that path, from what I can tell, might be one of the most rewarding things EO offers.
Leadership as a “Second Forum”
Jamie, our former Global Chair, described being on the Global Board as something like having a second forum.
You:
Build deep, trust-based relationships
Hold board meetings in cities around the world
Experience intimate, unscripted conversations
Gain exposure you simply can’t manufacture in larger settings
It’s leadership, yes but it’s also connection at a different level.
That perspective reframes what global service actually looks like. It’s not distant. It’s relational.
Setting the Tone For A High Value Evening Between the EO Global Board and EO Vietnam Members
We kicked off the night with a spontaneous Tet-inspired tradition. Each board member shared something unexpected about themselves, and we put a hat on their head for a photo.
Simple & a little silly
But it broke the ice immediately and set the tone for the entire evening:
Open
Relaxed
Human
No keynote. No slide deck. No formal program.
Just entrepreneurs sitting around tables, eating great food, and talking honestly about what it actually takes to lead.
That’s EO at its best.
What That Access Really Looks Like
For Hi, our Strategic Alliance Partner Chair, the evening became deeply practical.
“I had the chance to meet a Global Board member who has been practicing Scaling Up for years across his businesses. For months, I’ve had specific questions about certain parts of the framework, it’s one of my favorite books, and he took the time to answer every single question in detail with remarkable clarity.”
That’s the power of proximity. Not theory. Not abstraction. Real operators sharing real experience.
When asked what stayed with him most, Hi reflected on the leadership journey itself:
“Their journey to becoming a board member, and eventually a Global Board member hearing the path and experiences that shaped that progression really resonated with me.”
There was no mystique. Just a clear progression of contribution and growth.
And perhaps most importantly:
“People show up with genuine vulnerability and sincerity. That’s what I love most about EO, the willingness to be open and real with each other.”
That sincerity is what removes the pedestal.
Leadership and Scale Are Not Separate
Here’s the thing I keep coming back to.
67% of our members in EO Vietnam say they want to become better leaders. 58% say they’re focused on scaling their businesses.
That’s not a coincidence.
Scaling is not just strategy. It’s leadership capacity. It’s the ability to guide teams through uncertainty, to make decisions in complexity, and to evolve as the landscape shifts — especially in the AI era.
That’s why we’re building out our Leadership in the AI Era programming. Not as theory. Not as content for content’s sake. But as a deliberate investment in our members — and in the future of this chapter.
How EO is Shaped By Members, For Members
Because the future of EO Vietnam will not be shaped by “someone else.”
It will be shaped by:
Members who step forward locally
Members who strengthen their leadership bench internally
Members who consider serving regionally or globally
Members who choose to deepen their leadership craft
Last night showed us something important.
Global leaders aren’t different from us. They’re members who developed their leadership over time and chose to serve beyond themselves.
The path is visible. The path is accessible. And the chapter grows stronger when more of us walk it.
Grace spent the evening connecting with several Board members and gathering insights as we close out the year. That kind of access casual, real, unfiltered is what makes nights like this matter.
No keynote. No slide deck.
Just entrepreneurs sitting together, talking honestly about what it takes to lead in business and in EO.
That’s EO at its best.
And the next chapter of it depends on us.
Comments