Chapter 11: Fostering Forgiveness in a Conflict-Affected Country

On my first visit to Afghanistan in 2003, I spoke at a business seminar at Kabul University to a crowd consisting of 200 men and four women. I was inspired by the resilience, hope, courage, and desire of Afghans to learn and create a future different from the past, so I moved from my home in Austin, Texas, to Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2006. I launched Silk Road Solutions, a business that would empower Afghan leaders through transformational leadership development, skills training, coaching, and consulting.

Many Afghan leaders with whom we worked helped us to identify some of the mindsets that were keeping their nation from achieving the greatest possible results, such as a survival mentality and a zero sum view of power. Shifting some of these mindsets and opening up a different way of seeing the world gave many clients a breakthrough to results that previously were not possible.