Shilpa and Kapil are co-authors of their International best seller book “Play It Full” that is creating waves around the world. “Play it full” has become a new norm today. Let us take this opportunity to get a peep into the story of their lives and how did they get to where they are today.
Shilpa- through her own eyes
As part of the Corporate world for 16 years, I had worked with start-ups, top consultancies and financial institutions.
Known as someone with a Midas touch, I started my corporate career as a high flier, a national level ranker, with a huge fire in the belly and soon enough, I stood out for the outstanding results that I always produced.
However, life does take everyone on a roller coaster ride.
10 years down the line, all that fire got dried up. The challenges of life started to show up one by one. Pregnancy, kids, multi-tasking, conflicting priorities- all started to test my patience.
As the monster of work-life balance roared loud in the corporate workplaces, gobbling up excellence for many, I fell a voluntary prey and before I knew, I landed myself in the average game.
Money was not an issue. Fat paychecks were finding their way in my bank account and I was successful in the traditional sense.
Sailing through with ease, I continued to do my bare minimum and my average game continued. As I satisfied myself with small wins, somewhere my heart knew that I could do much more. But what more and why especially if I was comfortable and happy?
Life continued to push me to a corner and I started becoming more and more aware that probably I had stopped blossoming at work.
My wakeup call was a restructure in my company, as a result of which my position became redundant.
At that point, I realised that I had fallen down, pretty badly and reached my bottommost.
I decided to press the pause button; to reflect and evaluate where I was going and this time, I decided to create a pivot in my life.
And I did…
I realised that my life could be much more. And I was capable of creating a much larger impact.
Having been an outstanding performer earlier, I had understood by then that although there is a huge difference between an average, good and outstanding performer, the jump from one level to another was not difficult.
And for a higher jump, all that is required is a thought-through, well-structured approach to attract growth, rather than wait for it.
You can attain incredible results across all aspects of life- Achievements, Health and Relationships. You can have it all!
Today I am on a mission to impact 1 million people move from the role of creation to a creator.
Kapil- The Guy Who Never Fitted In
Throughout my corporate career, I was a misfit. Every single job that I worked for, across a corporate career of over two decades.
I am dramatizing it a bit but I am also 95% correct.
Why 95%? Because I once wrote down all the time in my career, when I was on top of my game. The “top of my game” added up to about 5%.
For most people, it will probably add up to 20% – and that is acceptable. “Life is not all rosy, there are thorns as well”.
Whether it is 20% or 5%, that is not important here.
What is important is that with my 5%, I achieved amazing success. With names like Microsoft and Cognizant, I was in that elite group of people who could look at statistics, compare against college friends to get a rough idea of their salary and be satisfied by being somewhat ahead.
That should have made me feel good.
Only, it didn’t. I knew everyone around me, including my dad told me that “don’t think of how many are ahead of you but think of how many you are ahead of”.
But I couldn’t.
Perhaps because, for me, a comparison with others was almost obscene. Perhaps it was because I didn’t really care.
I continued to be a misfit.
And that impacted my personal life immeasurably. I was a misfit with friends, a rebel, who had to be so because that is the only image, I could find some comfort in. Even when I ended up faking it at times.
I literally ran away from my first job because I got into a good business school in India.
So, without resigning, I just left. Even when I was there, I still remember that after six months, when the probation time came, the boss actually said, “Hey, I was considering not to confirm you, but last one month you worked very well. So, I will confirm your job”
You can probably guess, I worked hard in the last one month. because I knew that probation was coming.
And from that job to my MBA, where again, I did not fit in. I had an All India rank and got a scholarship. I was probably the only one who lost his scholarship that year because I couldn’t maintain healthy grades.
Didn’t fit in.
I went back to the workplace. For the next 2 jobs, I was relieved the day I resigned. I believe, THEY were relieved that they didn’t have to fire me!
Then I worked for a start-up, where after a 1 year of great work – probably 3-4 months of REAL good work and remaining was just riding the wave of good work, I left with a week’s notice.
I was definitely improving. From same-day relieved from the job to 1 whole week!
And then, I landed at Microsoft. It wasn’t luck – I worked hard, blew the interviewers away and got myself hired for one level higher than what they had originally planned for.
It was a dream come true; I was at the best possible place in the world!
For the first year, it was absolutely fantastic because there was a variation in what I had to do. I set up their IT operations for a BU in India and everything was phenomenal. People in Redmond, USA called me “a powerhouse, a force to reckon with, etc, etc, …”
1 year seemed like a norm and after that the work, focus, commitment, everything tanked down.
Till 2.5 years later, I got myself fired.
This was so embarrassing. If you are in India, this is like THE worst thing that can happen! Fortunately for me, the push led me to Cognizant, an excellent company, where I stayed for the next 12 years.
Once there, I discovered a pattern that 1 year is all that I could manage – I HAD to change. Fortunately, all my managers noticed it as well and kept on giving me really good stuff to do.
It was good until 2012, when it all came crashing down and I hit my second career crisis. This time, instead of firing me, the company arranged for a coach for a day. It took him hours but he changed my perspective.
I survived but I became aware that this pattern of 1 year was not about getting bored but something deeper and more sinister.
It took me 5 years to figure it out.
And when I did, the unimaginable amount of gratitude it has created inside me for all my coaches and managers, including the one who fired me. The rich experience of feeling like a failure and actually jumping in each pothole I could put my eyes on, made me realise that the only way to not jump is to take the road less taken.
This is what I did in 2017. Be it my 20 KG weight loss, or be changing people’s lives, or be it having a deep, authentic Personal Power, all the accomplishments that I am proud of have meant that I have cracked the code of turning the 5-95 to 95-5.
Remember what I shared earlier. 5% peaks and 95% lows. I have managed to turn it around for myself and I have managed to enable others to do the same.
Since 2017, the patterns that defined my life are gone. The richness of happiness, the lack of boredom, the ability to impact lives, the purposefulness and the associated financial rewards I have received have been a gift.
Touching a million people as my goal, will take a lot of time, but I know exactly where I’m going and WHY I exist.
On top of it, because I have a partner who understands it, a partner who’s IN the journey with me, a partner, who is my best mate, life is absolutely smashingly awesome!
We are rocking life together, changing lives with fulfilment and an awesomely sound sleep each night.
To get a copy of our book, here is the link:
Let’s list out how many roles a woman plays- professional, mother, wife, grandmother, daughter, individual, …and the list goes on!!
Burn out has to happen if all roles are to be played with the overwhelming pressure of giving the best to lead to perfection. Researches are claiming that womenfolk are more prone to burnout in comparison to men. If you are a woman reading this article, do check out if you have any matching symptom for burnout and take note of steps to follow to keep burnout away and how to recover from burnout!
Yes, friends, in the rush of life we start our day with the to-do list and then this list goes forever thus creating that heavy feeling on the chest of every woman wondering HOW CAN I COMPLETE IT IN 24 hrs?
Take a deep breath friend! Stop overwhelming yourself by continuous reminders. What you have to do is just get mindful of minutes which can be used mindfully to finish the task list as and how the day goes by. What has to be done is that instead of focusing on the ultimate result of finishing the whole list and coming under pressure, you have to keep telling your self whatever you do you do it 100% and with full presence. It is all about how you take out blocks of ‘TO DO LIST’ period while you are standing in the queue, or waiting for the lift, or even if you have to visit the doctor. Block a little time after lunch. Thus start focusing on squeezing out different chunks of a period where you can finish up all the points, which needs to be done digitally.
Burnout happens when you are over-demanding yourself, you are not having rest period for yourself, you are overwhelmingly involved in social media activity or also you are not at all focusing on your physical activity. Allow your body to breath. Give some time to reflect. May be 10 mins in the shower. The body is the tool, which if used smartly can help you to achieve amazingly. If you are aware how you can have your happy hormones in between by just saying hello to you colleague, asking about his or her wellbeing, then your body has got a dosage of my time with all chemicals within, which can help you to jump back in your excel sheets again.
Burnout, however, isn’t easy to spot. Defined by Herbert Freudenberger, who described burnout as a severe stress condition that leads to severe physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. It is considered worse than fatigue as people suffering from burnout find challenges in delivering day to day activities! There is no enthusiasm in you, you feel slow most of the time, you have to put lots of efforts to get yourself to work.
There is always a pessimistic feeling within you which you try to overcome by either overeating or indulging in other self-harming activities. You begin to withdraw from the family and friends. Due to burnout you start neglecting your needs and this if it is left untreated you can suffer from other illnesses and it can overall lead to mental and physical collapse.
“Burnout is the result of too much energy output and not enough energy self-invested. In other words, it’s burning too much fuel than you’ve put in your tank.”- Melissa Steginus, Self Care at Work: How to Reduce Stress, Boost Productivity, and Do More of What Matters
The activities mentioned in the list below can help you to be mindful to prevent yourself from getting into habits, which can cause burnout-
- 1) Be mindful about managing your time with discipline. During night time take out some time to go through the whole day and see what are those activities which involved your time and which could have avoided.
- 2) Start giving back to society. Volunteering for social causes activities can help you to enhance your empathy quotient and help people who require your support. We are humans and we have to feel like humans, not like robots performing the same set of work mechanically every day.
- 3) Indulging in mindset strengthening activities like journaling, practising mindfulness, doing meditation etc can help you to lighten yourself to prevent the burnout.
- 4) Start loving yourself. Forgive yourself and come out of the guilt with which you have overburdened yourself.
- 5) Find time to involve yourself in certain creative activities over weekends, which can help you achieve self-harmony like painting, dancing, learning to play some musical instrument of your interest, etc.
- 6) Fill your day with joy like by giving a surprise call to your friends, saying thank you to people around you etc.
Once you take responsibility for your well being and start leading an active life with mindfulness of indulging in self-care activities, burnout will never happen to you. Start living life with a PURPOSE!
Are you looking out for physical health and mindset health strengthening tools to be the best version of yourself? Subscribe to weekly powerful updates of online magazine https://www.womenlines.com for free. Click SUBSCRIBE.
Let Excellence be your brand!
Charu Mehrotra
Founder of Online Magazine Womenlines (https://www.womenlines.com)Present on six social media and listed in the top 40 Women’s online magazines to follow in 2020!
Womenlines welcomes Dr Tazeen Siddiqui as a guest contributor at Womenlines. She is the Managing Director at Mansha Educational Society, India. In her heartfelt sharing this month Dr Tazeen is reminding parents what to focus on when their kids are going to appear for examinations-
Dear Parents,
All the Best for your ward Exams and fasten your seat belt as the Exams take off and kindly follow the rules that you can read and watch below …You have to wear oxygen mask of Tolerance when your child is angry, anxious and stressed, In case of Emergency of your child’s Low grades in examination, do not forget to wear the life jacket as it posses three most important elements to save you and your child to drown in life and they are love, care and justice …In our journey of examination, you will be provided with the delicious cuisine of Guidance, Tips to stress-free examination and lots of love which would make your journey calm and composed.
In case you need to do Emergency landing to the examination without preparation of examination, we will be providing you enough time to prepare and also an opportunity to land at safest place in Examination whenever you are prepared, This journey of Examination will not give the assessment of your intelligence, it will be the assessment of your Behavior to deal with all situations and come out as a great winner with safe landing …”Let your child Take off this flight of Examination with ease and happiness …And let it land with safety, courage and immense success.
Best Regards,
Dr Tazeen Siddiqui,
Managing Director
Mansha Educational society
http://www.jaimansha.org/team.php
I love sharing knowledge and help everyone to rise with Excellence.I am an Educationist and Educational consultant Hyderabad, presented paper at Harvard University on Multiple Intelligences 54, Blogger Times of India, Long term economy blog, GGA Global Goodwill Ambassador Director India.
Are you looking out for physical health and mindset health strengthening tools to be the best version of yourself? Subscribe to weekly powerful updates of online magazine https://www.womenlines.com for free. Click SUBSCRIBE!
Womenlines takes pleasure to welcome Chrissy Sykes in ‘Entrepreneur of the Month’ show.
Chrissy Sykes has had a successful career as a recording artist and songwriter. She started her career in South Africa when she entered the Rand Show Talent contest and won a recording contract in front of 60,000 people. Her singing career in South Africa won her many nominations
Best Country Artist
Best Record Of The Year
Best Record Of The Year
Best Female Vocalist
Best Album Of The Year
In Nashville, USA, Chrissy decided to put her songwriting skills into practice by writing the ‘My Body is My Body’ Program.
The program was developed in conjunction with various Departments of Education and Departments of Human Services in the United States of America. The course is Free of charge to everyone.
Introduction to child maltreatment-
Under this course, these topics are covered-
1. Why we need to teach about Maltreatment
2. Worldwide Facts about Maltreatment (from ISPCAN)
3. How Child Maltreatment affects a community’s quality of life and economic prosperity
4. Different Types and Signs of Maltreatment
5. How to react if a child discloses their abuse to you
6. Basics on how to report child abuse
7. How to teach the My Body Is My Body Prevention Program including tutorials on all 6 songs, with lesson plans, Children’s workbook.
The course is split into 2 parts:
Part 1: Introduction to Child Maltreatment
Part 2: How to teach the My Body Is My Body Prevention Program
After watching the first 8 videos (Total time 23 minutes 11 seconds) you will be asked to complete a few questions before continuing to Part 2 where you will learn how to present The My Body is My Body Program.
Please click on the links below for course materials for Part 1 and Part 2
https://www.mybodyismybody.com/gga-education-my-body-part1
https://www.mybodyismybody.com/gga-education-my-body-part2
Here is the youtube link to the ‘My Body is My Body’ Song.
https://youtu.be/lGC0cbB0NAM
Youtube ChannelYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjvBZpu-utdWbqO2-U_yd6Q
Please share this with Parent’s, NGO’s, Teachers and other interested parties in your community.
Chrissy Sykes
Creator of the My Body Is My Body Programme
www.mybodyismybody.com
Twitter:@MBIMB1
Member of ISPCAN
Global Goodwill Ambassador (Vice President of Child Advocacy)
FAAVM Global Goodwill Ambassador For Child Welfare
Are you looking out for physical health and mindset health strengthening tools to be the best version of yourself? Subscribe to weekly powerful updates of online magazine https://www.womenlines.com for free. Click SUBSCRIBE!
Womenlines takes pleasure to welcome Monica Rajiv Batra, Nutritionist and founder of Diet Point -Nutrition and Healthcare Centre as a guest contributor at Womenlines. In the video above Monica has shared How to use Sunflower seeds /Pumpkin Seeds/ Flaxseeds to regulate one’s hormonal profile naturally!
At Diet Point, we provide a one-stop solution to all Nutrition and Weight loss related problems. We believe in treating every customer with a unique approach and offering them services which suit them the best. As a sign of our expressed belief, we provide a one on one diet counselling for every individual keeping in mind their requirements.www.dietpoint.co.in
Subscribe Womenlines for free for powerful weekly updates related to physical and mindset health. Click SUBSCRIBE!
Womenlines takes pleasure to welcome Sindu Sreebhavan as a guest Influencer at Womenlines panel. Sindu Sreebhavan is a Growth Mindset Consultant and Content Developer, a Design Thinking consultant and the CEO of As Many Minds. Sindu is the founder of the International Youth Leadership and Innovation Forum (IYLIF). She is also the founding editor of The Kidz Parade magazine – a publication that helps children develop a growth mindset and showcase their creativity. She is the author of Infinite Possibilities , 77 Thoughts to Kickstart Your Day and the lead author of Breakthrough. Sindu is sharing inspiring information reasoning out that why you should take out time to write a book-
There is a Book Inside Every Person- Change your tag from Aspiring Author to Published Author
I often come across many people who talk about their aspirations to write a book. In my experience, eight out of ten people want to write a book. Ask them after a few months or even years, most of them would say, “I am still finalizing the topic”, “I am working on the first chapter” or “I am waiting for the right time to start writing.” Sadly, almost 90% of aspiring authors do not become published authors, they remain aspiring authors. Are you one among them?
I believe there is a book inside every person, if not more.
From my experience in writing, publishing and coaching book writing, there are many reasons why aspiring authors do not become published authors. Their thought process goes in the following lines:
- “Who am I to write a book?”
- “My message is very generic, many people write on the same topic.”
- “My message is not valuable enough”
- “I am not qualified enough to write on this topic.”
- “I don’t know how to organize my thoughts for a book.”
- “I don’t know how to find enough content for a book.”
- “I am not a writer.”
- “I don’t have enough time to write a book.”
- “I’m not good in language.”
- “Is all the effort and money really worth it?”
What you read above is just a fraction of the reasons people usually have for not writing their book. Are these valid reasons? It is true that these are reasons that many people find very valid. However, if you want to change your tag from “aspiring author” to “published author”, you need a simple shift in perspective.
Firstly, these are not valid reasons for not writing your book. These are your limiting thoughts.
There is no benefit in letting your limiting beliefs limit your potential and growth as an author.
Secondly, even established and successful authors were challenged by these fears. They went ahead to write and publish their books beating their limiting beliefs. Before I wrote my books, I was also chained down by my limiting beliefs.
Now, let us take a look at what aspiring authors are missing as they hide behind their limiting beliefs. As a published author, you can look forward to these benefits.
1. Your book can help you build and boost your brand
You can add the tag of “author” on your brand, which is always valuable. You can also use your book as a marketing tool for your brand. You will be searchable based on your name and book title on the World Wide Web – another way to expand your online presence.
People build their own brand whether they are employees or entrepreneurs. Today, employers are looking for people who are more than their job profile.
2. Your book will help you establish yourself as an expert on the topic
People give more value to your expertise when they know you are an expert on the topic. In the knowledge economy, your book serves as a preview of what you could offer to people. As Manoj Vasudevan says, “Author is authority.” A book can tremendously help you to establish yourself as an authority in your niche.
3. Your book will help you share your message with a large number of people
Your message matters. People have access to a lot of information. What they lack is the know-how on how to apply it in their lives. You will be able to give your unique perspective on how they can apply the knowledge in their lives, which will be transformative to many people. A book is a tool to talk to a large number of people. If you don’t, who else will share your opinion?
4. Your book will leave your legacy
A book is your contribution to the world that will last beyond your lifetime.
5. Your book will help you get ahead of your competitors in grabbing opportunities
With your book, you can differentiate yourself from your competitors. Being an author with a unique view is your opportunity to stand out, especially when there are many others who work in the same field.
6. Your book will fetch invites for you to speak
Conference organisers will have more confidence in you and in promoting yourself as a speaker when you are an author.
7. Your book will help you with one more stream of income
Your book not only provides you with additional income but also opens up opportunities to create more products and services out of it.
8. A book is a gateway to many products and services
Many people convert their books into games, Apps and cartoons. Many establish training programs, coaching businesses and Podcasts based on the book.
9. You can generate quality followers with your book
People who like your book will become your ardent followers and would be willing to buy more from you. The difference between these followers and others is that they are quality followers looking for quality content, products and services in your niche.
10. Writing a book will boost your self-awareness and self-confidence
Writing a book provides you with more insights into your knowledge, your abilities, your learning potential, your resilience and your growth mindset.
10.5 Last but not the least, you won’t regret not trying
Enjoy the kick from ticking off ‘become an author’ from your bucket list.
The year is still fresh. You can still include your book as one of the goals for this year. In today’s connected world, you can get help from any corner of the world to make your book a reality.
The right time to write a book is when you tell yourself, I can’t simply continue to be an aspiring author.
Once you give yourself permission to write, your ideas will coax you to find the time.
What if I tell you it is possible to finish writing your book in two weeks? Yes, it is the decision making that takes time, not the timing itself. The bridge from “aspiring author” to “published author” is the commitment to dedicate two weeks.
Do you need help to write or publish your book? Take a look at www.asmanyminds.com/publishing
After reading this article, could you please do the two simple steps below?
- Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules.
- Do you have any insights or tips that you use? Would you like to share that? Please use the comments section below and let me know!
A version of this article is also available on www.AsManyMinds.com/why-you-should-write-book
Subscribe Womenlines for free for powerful weekly updates related to physical and mindset health. Click SUBSCRIBE!
Sindu Sreebhavan-Consultant/Author/Speaker on Innovation | Growth Mindset | Design Thinking | Education Reform | Women Leadership|Youth Leadership|Publisher|Book Writing Consultant
Womenlines takes pleasure to welcome Leadership Agility Coach Yeo Chuen Chuen as an Influencer at Womenlines panel. She will be sharing incredible content every month with Womenlines’ readers, which can help them to develop agility mindset. Listen to her interesting journey in her own words in the video above!!
Yeo Chuen Chuen is a multiple award-winning executive coach based in Singapore working with clients in both government and private sectors. She has served clients from more than 30 countries across 5 continents since 2013. She has extensive experience working with a wide range of business leaders from various industries, coaching them to develop the agility mindset. This empowers them to be agile which in turns enables business success in the VUCA world.
| Subscribe Womenlines for free for powerful weekly updates related to physical and mindset health. Click SUBSCRIBE! |
Her coaching effectiveness is proven with her long-term relationship with returning clients, referrals and highly satisfied clients. As one of her clients said about their work together, “Chuen Chuen’s program is the only one leaders need to do.”
Yeo Chuen Chuen was named one of “Asia’s most talented coaching leaders” in 2019 and again named “Top 101 Global Coaching Leaders” and “Women Super Achiever” in 2020. She is also an author and her book, 8 Paradoxes of Leadership Agility, is a collection of stories of transformation using her Re4 TM coaching model which she has developed.
Prior to becoming a coach, Yeo Chuen Chuen led the training and communications in a global franchise with a presence in 20 different markets and implemented many large-scale changes across organisations.
Subscribe Womenlines for free for powerful weekly updates related to physical and mindset health. Click SUBSCRIBE!
Womenlines takes pleasure to share about Ms Ketki Vinayachandra as an ‘Influencer of Health’ at Womenlines panel. Ketki is sharing articles and videos related to excellence in health through Naturopathy at Womenlines. Ketki is a trained Naturopath and she is quite passionate about creating awareness about Naturopathy across the world. In ‘Health is Wealth’ show Ketki is sharing some powerful ways to build immunity against Coronavirus!
“As a Naturopathic health practitioner, I strongly believe that we need to invest wisely in our health. The everyday choices we make in terms of our lifestyle and how we treat our body can either create healing or disease. While ageing is inevitable, diseases are not.”
Talk to me to customize a treatment plan for you today! http://www.askketki.com/
Subscribe Womenlines for free for powerful weekly updates related to physical and mindset health. Click SUBSCRIBE!
Womenlines takes pleasure to welcome Zoe-Anna Bell, Relationship/Intimacy Coach from Australia as a guest Influencer at Womenlines. Zoe is sharing thought-provoking video and content questioning the readers about are they really living in Integrity and what is the purpose of Integrity-
Integrity will become more talked about as we shift into 2020, the year of Transparency. There is no hiding from covering up what may happen behind the scenes as this is a refreshing change for women. The performing and pretending get us so far, and yet blocks us from feeling free and living with happiness.
Enjoy the video, please comment and I love to all feedback. Yes, learning and growth are never-ending, so be raw-real and transparent. We learn together, women supporting one another, as Tribe.
Take away tips:
- Be brave – this is your life to live the best life ever
- Be willing to speak your raw-real and uncut Truth
- Observe your actions & reactions – keep a journal
- Reflect upon your journal insights with loving kindness
- Nothing shifts over-night- so be patient with progress
- Most vital of all- learn to laugh and have fun!
Social Media Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-anna-bell/https://www.zoe-anna.com
E: info@zoe-anna.com
Subscribe Womenlines for free for powerful weekly updates related to physical and mindset health. Click SUBSCRIBE!
Zoe-Anna Bell Bio
Zoe-Anna, Relationship/Intimacy Coach. ‘Raw Feminine Power’- Facilitating connection to your true self. Access Flow State Mastery & E.I Excellence. She is a 3x published author on Amazon with RAW- A key to a Woman’s Heart & Soul reaching No.1 Bestseller. Her Trilogy is soon to release.
Zoe-Anna runs three on-line coaching programs, The Potent Blueprint & Restore & Reset. She is balancing her purpose with being a Mum to two beautiful boys in Sydney, Australia.
Womenlines is delighted to share about Anjalika, an IITTI (CANADA) certified professional Image Branding & Lifestyle Consultant, as an Influencer for Image Branding at Womenlines. Yes womenfolk, gear up to learn the tips and tricks to carry yourself with excellence and make excellence your brand. Check out incredible tips to avoid glitches while having cross-cultural interactions-
Over the years, the world feels like it has gotten smaller as travels have been made easier. People of different backgrounds get together, communicate, interact – socially or professionally much more rampantly than it had ever before. As people of the world get more in touch with each other, there might be some cross-cultural glitches in their day-to-day dealings.
From experience, here are the few things that we need to keep in mind; to keep up with cross-cultural graces.
| Subscribe Womenlines for free for powerful weekly updates related to physical and mindset health. Click SUBSCRIBE! |
Let us first look at greetings; the words used and actions did have to be taken into consideration when you are dealing inter-culturally. Something that is acceptable in one culture might not be to another. In quite a recent spate the media had witnessed, the unseen happened when an individual of certain religious belief refused to shake the hand of someone of the opposite gender. This happened in a professional setting and it caused so much embarrassment and inconvenience. This could have been avoided if both parties understand the common greeting gesture of each other, coming from different parts of the globe. Many countries have their own sets of greetings; it will be really helpful if you know and are aware of those before the big meet-up. Research, know the words and gestures that are frowned upon so you can avoid them.
Years ago, when I first stepped into the professional world, being on a first-name basis with someone more senior than me, in terms of ranks, was a definite no! These days, however, it is widely accepted. That said, there are still a handful of other places on the map, where people in certain ranks prefer to be called Miss, Madam or other titles that show that they are more senior than you and if this is not practised, one will be considered unprofessional or even rude. When you first meet someone, pay attention to how they are being introduced to you and then use that similar form of address. Bear in mind, across many cultures, people with academic degrees such as Professor and Doctor would usually prefer to be addressed as such.
Wearing an appropriate piece of clothing is really important to set the tone for your meeting. It is always necessary to know what is acceptable or not in the country you are visiting – do not just assume. In certain places like Japan, a professional ensemble like a skirt suit is always expected, while in Scandinavia for example, professional settings are more relaxed. It is always wise to find out all these before embarking on the meet-up.
It is said, one way to see the credibility of a person is through her punctuality. Being punctual means you are respectful of the other person’s time. It is important to understand, while in certain places being ‘fashionably late’ is acceptable, in other places however, it might be something that is frowned upon. If you are caught in something unavoidable and indeed going to be late, do call to inform the other party. That said, its always never a bad thing to be on time; if anything, it is commendable – so, why not just do that.
Always maintain good space between yourself and the other person. Although not carved in stone, I personally feel spaces of between 1.5 to 2 arm-lengths is most appropriate for business dealings and co-workers. Ensuring a comfortable space between yourself and the other party allows you to be more fluid and relaxed in the conversation.
If we are completely honest; even the best conversationalist might, from time to time find it a challenge talking to a person of a different cultural background. This is because subjects or words that might be considered okay in one place might be a taboo to another. So it is always a good idea to read up on the place you are visiting beforehand; get an idea of what is accepted and what is not.
Zu Anjalika Kamis Gunnulfsen is the Editor (Singapore) for Marketing In Asia and certified Image Branding & Lifestyle Consultant. She was also crowned Mrs Singapore Globe 2017. Born in Singapore and blessed to have lived in a couple of other amazing cities in the world, Anjalika is currently expatriating in Kuala Lumpur. Follow her on LinkedIn, Instagram and blog www.zuanjalika.com, LinkedIn –https://www.linkedin.com/in/zuanjalika/