Episode 26: Beyond Borders: The Power of Human Connection in Leadership
Trina Sunday: I’m halfway through a Cambodia leadership experience and I’m coming to you from the capital of Phnom Penh. In this episode, we will unpack the power of connection through travel and shared experience. We’ll talk about how these bonds form, why they matter in leadership, and how we can take what we’re learning here back into our professional and personal lives.
Trina Sunday: Welcome to Reimagining HR with Trina Sunday, the rule breaking podcast where we challenge our thinking and our current people practises. This podcast is for time poor HR teams and business leaders who are feeling the burn, lacking laughs and not feeling the love. I’m Trina, your host and I’m here to cut through the bs, explore different m ways of thinking and create high impact HR functions because happier, healthier organisations are better for our people and our bottom line. So if you are keen to flip traditional HR on its head, hit the follow or subscribe button so you’re the.
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Trina Sunday: So let’s get started.
Trina Sunday: Right now, I’m speaking to you from Cambodia, where I’ve been hosting a leadership experience with seven incredible women from Australia, all accomplished professionals, many are business owners and interestingly, all mums. This journey’s been more than just leadership development. It’s been about human connection, about stepping outside our comfort zones, immersing ourselves in a different culture and reflecting on what truly binds people together across geography, language and history. In this episode, we’re going to unpack the power of connection through travel and shared experience. We’ll talk about how these bonds form and why they matter in leadership and how we can take what we’re learning here, back into our professional and personal lives.
Khmer Rouge genocide left lasting scars in Cambodia; resilience still visible today
So let’s set the scene. Cambodia is a country with a deep and complex history. The population today is about 17 million people, I think, and more than 65% are, ah, under the age of 30. That’s because in the late 70s, Cambodia experienced one of the darkest chapters in human history. The Khmer Rouge genocide, where nearly 2 million people, a quarter of the population were killed. And the impacts of this trauma are still visible today in the resilience of the people, in the way families are structured and in the way that communities come together. And yet, despite this history, Cambodia is one of the most open, warm and community driven places I have ever experienced. There is a spirit of generosity here and of deep relationships and finding ways to rebuild and move forward together. And so for our impact team, this has been a really powerful and emotional backdrop. As leaders, we often talk about resilience, transformation and connection. But to see it in action in a place where survival itself was at stake, it’s a really humbling experience. And one of the biggest themes that’s already emerging from this experience, and, we’re only halfway through, is the undeniable power of people coming together.
There’s a power of connection through travel, right?
And there’s a power of connection through travel, right? Like something happens when you travel with a group, especially in a place that’s so, rich in history and culture, the usual barriers of connection seem to dissolve somehow. And I’ve been reflecting on the reasons why. Like, why do we create such strong connections with the people that we travel with? What is it that makes it different to the connections that we form at home? And I think one of the things is that we explore together, right? So every new experience we share brings us closer. So whether it’s navigating a bustling non pen market, or sitting learning about social enterprise, or reflecting on the genocide at the Killing Fields and at Tulsling Genocide Museum, these moments bind us through shared learning and vulnerability. And we’re stepping outside our comfort zones. In Cambodia, many of us have confronted discomfort, whether it’s an unfamiliar food, a difficult story, or a really different way of doing business or organising events. But being out of our element removes the usual masks that we wear in leadership. It makes us more open, more real, and that allows for deeper, connection. And the other thing I’ve been reflecting on is I feel like when we travel we see people first, not roles, not status. Back home, building networks or, God forbid, networking can sometimes feel really transactional. But here in Cambodia, we’re engaging as people first. There’s no hierarchy, no competition, just genuine curiosity and shared purpose. And one of the conversations that I had with one of the women on this trip was, along the lines of, you know, they came here expecting to learn more about leadership, but what they’ve really learned more about is people and how at the end of the day, we all want to be seen and heard and connected. And this is where the real transformation happens, right when we take these insights and apply them beyond the trip itself. And so I’ve been thinking about how we are going, to bring it home, people? What do we do with this experience when we return home? And again, at the time of recording this, I’m only halfway through and I’ll ask the team that very question when we are back in Australia. So watch this space. But I know already from the conversations that I’ve had with the impact team here that we don’t want to just say, oh, that was a great trip, and, and then go back to business as usual. Like, we want to integrate what we’ve learned into our own leadership, into our own professional networks. And so that begs the question of, yeah, how, how do we do that? And so I think a big thing for me that’s happening in terms of the connections that are being built here is that we are building on these relationships with intent. Like, the bonds we’ve formed here don’t just stay in Cambodia, or they don’t have to just stay in Cambodia. We can create a support network back home, not just for business, but for life. Who do you want to stay connected with? What can you learn from each other? And it’s not about everyone being besties, but we have a shared experience that at the end of the day, means that we have each other’s backs. We have a shared experience that we all came into with the same intention of helping others and serving others. That means that we have something that is really inherently similar to each other and that bonds us together. Right. Like, our intention is bonding us together. And I think we need to then bring more of that human connection into our professional spaces. Like, what if we approach networking events and leadership meetings and even our teams with the same openness that each of us have here?
What if we listened more deeply, asked better questions, and sought to understand before we sought to impress? Listening more than talking. And I think for me, the other thing is around leading with purpose, not just performance. Like, Cambodia has reminded us that impact isn’t about titles or profits. It’s about the people that we lift up along the way. So how can we take what we’ve seen here, the resilience, the generosity, the sense of shared responsibility, and apply it in our workplaces and our businesses? Because even if we can positively impact one life, it’s a life worth impacting. Right? It is life changing, even if that’s not our own. The challenge I’ll leave you with is who do you want to stay connected with? And how will you nurture those relationships with intention? Because connection doesn’t just happen. It’s built brick by brick over time. And when it’s done well, it can transform not just our careers, but our lives. Imagine that. Before you go, I am getting a lot of messages from people who are following our journey here in Cambodia and interested in learning more about the Cambodia leadership experience. If that’s you, head over to the website as we have a Cambodia page, and if you have fomo, fear of missing out and you want to learn more about what we are doing in 2026, then register your interest and we’ll keep you updated. Also, if this episode resonated with you, I want to hear from you. How has travel shaped your leadership and connections? Send us a message on LinkedIn or visit reimaginehr.com to stay connected.
Trina Sunday: Thanks for tuning in and leaning in to this week’s episode. As we look to reimagine how we show up for our people, organisations and community, reach out to us via our website, reimaginehr.com.au with your host, horror stories or suggestions of people you’d love to hear from or topics you want to explore. It’s all about people, purpose and impact and we are here for all of it.
Until next time, take care team.
