|
A Scintillating Sense of Spice
"Miss Nolan,
you seem so like Indonesian people, maybe you should stay here permanently". My dear friend and business colleague Bapak Dharmapoli made this remark on one of our trips to provincial Indonesia, this time to Medan in Sumatra.
It's funny
how some comments stay with you, how they tend to cause you to reflect on the greater inference. How was it that I seemed to my Indonesian friends to be like them... and, what did that say about how I had changed?
My role
was Technical Advisor to Asuransi Jasa Indonesia, a state owned enterprise with branches as entrenched throughout the archipelago as jack fruit and palm trees are on the vast 17,000 plus islands. I was representing my Australian company, the only expatriate, my mission to gather market intelligence and seek potential joint venture partners. Given my success in sales, with people and relating, my CEO said I was the one for the job.
You learn
a lot about communicating over four years in a challenging environment, make a lot of friends in the process and understand well what you don't understand about communicating and don't need to.
My first
week was one of awkward adventure...
The cloud
of clove cigarettes wafted through the dining room, and, combined with the sweet smells of spice and unrecognisable dishes, told me I was definitely in foreign territory. The President Director ushered me in and offered me a seat.
I had
met each of the senior executives beforehand and made a dull attempt to pronounce their names and attune my foreign ear to their unique accents. A soft yet proper friendliness permeated the room and made me feel very welcome. This environment allowed an awkward yet fascinated and dedicated learning to begin. Subsequently this allowed for my slow yet real progress over the next few months and years where I gained and gave trust and information for mutual benefit and understanding.
How did
I seem to become like my friends? Because I was fascinated and could take nothing for granted. I continued to focus on each person, continued to gently ask questions, to listen with more finely attuned ears, to see with new eyes, to appreciate the scintillating sense of spice in the variety of personalities as well as culture.
In doing
so I had not changed at all, but found a new way to release more of my real self, showing my respect and love for people and personality. I came to know that learning about people is a constant and open art. Business results follow as a natural consequence.
This is
a part of my drive, for assisting you to connect with clarity, to be curious, fascinated, and not take anyone or anything for granted in your communicating, lest you diminish your influence.
Whether
it is your closest family member or a corporate colleague, as soon as you make automatic judgements when communicating with others you muddy the mix of messages and compound the potential for conflict and mistrust.
Communication
is a noun, communicate is a verb... one of the continuous kind! By that I mean there can be no end to the art of communicating since it is open to interpretation.
It is less
than ninety years since people throughout the Indonesian archipelago have been speaking one language, Bahasa Indonesia. Three hundred and seventy five different dialects are spoken and cultures within the culture itself are diverse. As they grow together as a nation I have witnessed first hand the way in which they show real respect to and appreciation for each other's differences in the nuances of doing business.
So imagine
if you took a foreigner's perspective, stopped assuming you know absolutely what another person is thinking, that you are right about his/her intentions and motivations? What might you learn about how well you communicate? and... What difference could that potentially make to your business and your life?
I challenge
you to become fascinated with, curious about and scintillated by the people you assume you know. They will feel more important and your authentic influence will begin to permeate with a new and scintillating sense of spice!
Enjoy
the experience!
Noelene Dawes
Listen to a Podcast of this eZine on  or on 
News:
Pearls of Wisdom Jewellery are a Hit!
Order Now for a Christmas Gift of Wisdom
See the Pearls of Wisdom
Join us on
 or on 
|
