“Diversity isn’t just sound social policy – diversity is the engine of invention. It generates creativity that enriches the world.” – Justin Trudeau
I very much like the way the University of Maryland defines “diversity”:
“Diversity is “otherness”, or those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the groups to which we belong, yet are present in other individuals and groups.”
Two years I was offered an interesting job opportunity abroad. I decided to go for it, thus I relocated from Moscow to Amsterdam.
It turned my world upside down!
Changing the place of living (even if you move from one apartment to another in the same town) and changing jobs are on top of the scale among the most stressful events in one’s life. Even when all these changes are positive and are for the best, you go through a lot of stress. I know this is normal but nevertheless it is a good reminder during difficult times.
In part one of my article I focused on the practical sides of moving to a new country. Now I will take you through the emotional challenges you might face on your exciting journey: Continue reading
by matheen
I couldn’t agree more when C.S Lewis said: “You’re never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” That is a fact. The only constant thing in this world is change. Not only is change — a way of life; but change is healthy for us. We need to embrace change and be able to adapt to where life leads us every single day. And change means reinvention. Every time, a major adjustment occurs in our lives —losing a job, moving to a new place, separating from a partner, getting sick — we must be in charge of who we will become when such a major shift happens in our lives. We need to go with the flow. We cannot resist change or we will be miserable and unhappy in our lives.
What happens when you realise your path is entrepreneurship rather than employment? Lindsay takes up the challenge and shares an account of her journey as it unfolds…(you can find previous parts of Lindsay’s story here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9).
Taking stock: we now have a business idea with expert business partner support. Here’s the idea (after several iterations) …
‘Mirror Mirror’ is a structured way of capturing how people in teams perceive the internal and external context in which their team operates, including how each team member’s values and preferences tend to shape their perceptions and the way they respond. The combined data is reflected to the team in one whole picture, providing powerful insights that lead to improved engagement, teamwork and business unit performance. Continue reading
I never had a plan to change my country of living. But when an interesting job opportunity came up, I felt that I would certainly regret it if I didn’t give it a try.
For now I am living and working in Amsterdam for a bit more than 2 years, and if you ask me “how is it?” I would answer: “absolutely different from what I ever imagined.”
No matter how well prepared you are, how many hours you spend surfing the internet: reading, researching and studying the peculiarities of the new country (of course the more – the better!) – still there will be moments you feel like a student who was asked an absolutely different question from all he has been boning up. Continue reading
by matheen
Self-expression is essential to our lives as sun, water and air — it’s how we convey ourselves to the world. We express ourselves through communication, our hobbies, our passions, our choices in life, the way we speak, the way we think, the way we live and the way we work. We express ourselves through how we design and furnish our homes, the car we drive, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, and even the way we style our hair. Everything is an indication of our feelings, spirits and characters.
However, when it comes to expressing ourselves, expect some roadblocks. Are you afraid of sharing a piece of yourself to others? Or perhaps you’re shy or an introvert? Do you find that you’re often misunderstood and lack communication skills? Sometimes, life gets in the way and we don’t have the time to express ourselves. Or we simply couldn’t care less. Whatever it is, please don’t let these roadblocks stop you from expressing yourself. There’s a lot of human value in self-expression — it’s a celebration of life itself. It’s an homage to truth, creation, feelings, thoughts and consciousness. When we share a part of ourselves to others — we are being generous to others. At the same time, self-expression is healthy for us — it promotes well-being, happiness, creativity and freedom! Continue reading
Femflection is excited to run its first interview with blogger and businesswoman, Lindsay Uittenbogaard. Lindsay has been writing the story of her transition from employment to entrepreneur with Mirror Mirror in Femflection for several weeks. Now, we get to hear more about where she’s got to, how her business concept is taking shape, and how she is handling these developments.
So, you’ve been blogging in Femflection about setting up your own business. Tell us, where are you with that right now?
It took several weeks to land the idea I’m working on right now. It felt like quite an unusual position to be in actually – to know that you want to run a business but not have an idea in mind.
Once I’d investigated various concepts – from an art promotion business, to a one-stop home maintenance service – I have landed on something that is fundamentally about communications for the corporate market, which is my area of expertise. It also covers HR, learning, leadership and business improvement.
So here we are… it’s called Mirror Mirror – it’s a structured team situation assessment tool that helps team leaders with engagement, teamwork and performance. It’s also a perfect team leader onboarding tool. We’ve finished the design and are currently testing and refining it. Continue reading
by Lindsay Uittenbogaard (you can find previous parts of Lindsay’s story here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8)
So, Miss X and I had decided to circulate the blueprint I had written up to 10 – 15 experts in the field as our “Alpha Testers”. They were each asked to review the document and respond with their thoughts on these aspects:
From Hong Kong to Pakistan, England to Australia, that pack – with an NDA precursor – went out to the most accomplished and well-respected OE, HR, Comms, Learning and Leadership experts I had ever met. Continue reading
During my studies in Business Administration, I started an internship in Human Resources at the head office of a large international company. Once graduated, I was offered my first job at this same company whereby I entered the field of Compensation & Benefits. To be honest, during my studies I was never aware of this type of job but as I never had a very specific job choice in mind and therefore chose a more generic type of studies, I was more than happy to take on this opportunity. Continue reading
The Voice always makes me tear up. Yes, that reality TV shows that aspires to discover the newest talented voices, and which has already been franchised across various countries. Every week, I turn on the TV just in time for The Voice’s broadcast, eager not only to listen to mind-blowing voices, but more intently to listen to contestants’ stories of hope, passion, persistence and determination. Continue reading
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