Meet Clifford Garstang

We recently connected with Clifford Garstang and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Clifford, thank you so much for joining us today. There are so many topics we could discuss, but perhaps one of the most relevant is empathy because it’s at the core of great leadership and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your empathy?

After college, I joined the Peace Corps and served for two years as a teacher in South Korea. Korea is a rich country today, but back then, it was only twenty years removed from the devastating civil war that had left it impoverished and undeveloped. Following my time there, I also traveled through Southeast Asia and saw more examples of people making do with very little. It made me realize how fortunate I am and, more importantly, that the world is full of people who face far different challenges from my own.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I write fiction–novels and short stories. The opportunity to invent people and their stories and to tell those stories in a meaningful way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking is incredibly exciting. Although I wanted to be a writer when I was in school, I got sidetracked by another exciting career–international law–that gave me an avenue to live and work abroad for many years. Happily, that first career provided me with a treasure trove of experiences and observations that will continue to feed my creative imagination.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Curiosity, Courage, Collaboration. I believe I have continued to grow in my career because I am inherently curious. Curiosity is the key to accumulating both knowledge and skill. I read constantly, because there is always more I want to know. I have also dared to take leaps of faith, such as when I left my legal career to pursue writing, I had a job that I actually enjoyed, but it wasn’t as fulfilling as I needed it to be. Along the way, I also learned that nobody succeeds in isolation. We can learn from others and share that knowledge with others just starting out.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

My parents, who did not have the opportunity to attend college, valued education and pushed me to achieve in school. They committed to paying for my college education, even when the university I chose was one of the most expensive. They celebrated my success in college and graduate school, and passed on to me the love of learning. My education has always opened doors for me, and I owe that to my parents.

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