Leadership – MsBizWiz

Three Tips for Cross-cultural Networking

Featured January 2024 University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies CuriosityU Blog: https://learn.utoronto.ca/curiousu-blog/career/three-tips-cross-cultural-networking

“Don’t think you’re the smartest person in the room. Listen more. Have a beginner’s mindset.” – Jean Chow, SCS instructor

The Platinum Rule vs The Golden Rule

Most people know The Golden Rule – Treat others how you want to be treated. Yet it’s not always the best way to approach people. You only know how you want to be treated, your background, your cultural upbringing, your standards.

The Platinum Rule is an important shift in perspective which challenges you to treat others how they want to be treated.

So how do we know how they want to be treated? Applying the Platinum Rule involves understanding and respecting the unique preferences of individuals in various contexts, (including cultural context), developing meaningful relationships, and offering helpful collaboration.

Humility helps.

Don’t think you’re the smartest person in the room. Listen more. Have a beginner’s mindset. In Japanese, the word “shoshin” means “beginner’s mind.” You may find it refreshing and freeing when you learn to let go of your preconceptions and have an attitude of openness when learning

Be culturally curious and sensitive.

Do you work on a multicultural team and/or work for a multinational company? Often, the answer is “Yes!” Look around. In our professional and personal lives, we may all speak the same language but this doesn’t necessarily translate into engagement and collaboration. Communication is not so straight forward. English is widely spoken in the following countries: Canada, U.S., U.K., Ghana, and Australia, and our cultures are different.

As an emerging or an established leader, learn more about your own communication style and discover how it can be further developed to facilitate successful professional networking and meaningful relationships. Through a range of highly interactive activities, SCS 4100 is designed to help you level up your relationship building and intercultural competency.

#crossculturalcommunications #interculturalcompetency #interculturalcommunications #internationalbusiness #multinationalteams

Super connector and SCS instructor Jean Chow is currently focused on her successful professional coaching practice, aptly known on social media as @MsBizWiz, she also hosts the “Dream Network”, a highly diverse, international professional networking organization, which she founded in 2018. Jean knows instinctively what could be and is excited by the prospect of connecting people, ideas, and projects to get things done or to create something bigger and better. No longer active on the squash court (now Pickleball!), she is delighted her squash network continues to thrive and help others. Jean enjoys spending time as a volunteer mentor helping youth recognize and realize their potential and is writing a field guide about her intelligent approach to successful networking.

Networking Knows No Boundaries in Business and Science

Celebrating Women in Business and in Science

Last week I attended two back to back in-person events – University of Toronto – Rotman School of Management and WSTEM TO ‼️

Dean Susan Christoffersen hosted hashtag#InsidetheCSuite hashtag#ceos Heather Chalmers GE and Penny Wise 3M who shared stories on their successful career paths, and thoughts on hashtag#innovation, informative and inspirational. Thank you!

WSTEM TO event was a celebration of their hashtag#mentorship program and partners Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO) FLOW Coaching Institute . Each group of hashtag#mentors and hashtag#mentees , proudly presenting at the podium,
Guest speaker Jackie Rafter, MBA CEO Higher Landing shared her successful career path, offering hashtag#motivation and hashtag#inspiration .

Many thanks Daphna Mokady Anna Khimchenko and Sowmya Shivanna for your kind invitation. Extraordinary progress from inception to celebration 👏👏👏

hashtag#daretoshare one event hashtag#science and hashtag#business ? 🤔 hashtag#cometogether
hashtag#communitybuilding

hashtag#csuiteleaders
hashtag#allyship hashtag#mentorship hashtag#leadership
hashtag#womeninbusiness
hashtag#womeninstem Activate to view larger image,

About Last Night …

Welcome back event — Welcome Back Event for Students and Faculty – Sep 6, 2022

About Last Night …

I’m from the dark ages so forgive me. What I’m about to share is not new but worth repeating. Nothing beats meeting someone for the first time, face to face, shoulder to shoulder, live and in person … especially when that “someone” are our students and faculty. Special thanks to @TRP Student Social Committee who hosted last night’s “Welcome” event.

In this 2013 Harvard Business Review article, “Connect, then Lead” Amy J. C. Cuddy, Matthew Kohut, John Neffinger, their research shows unless you show warmth, you won’t be able to make connection no matter how competent you are, and therefore, as a leader, no one will follow you.

I don’t know about you but I still haven’t found the magic keys on my laptop that I can tap out and spell and hit send to transmit “warmth” across the tiles filled with faces to make a true connection with my audience. But we do our best and show up … with our cameras on, hopefully.

Way back when, I remember a world (dark ages) with no cameras, just us. A smile, a handshake, a hug, or a fist pump would create and create a spark and make a connection instantly, in real time, #IRL. You know what I mean.

Don’t get me wrong! I swear technology is like romantic relationships. You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. I am grateful everyday that Mom (age 92), remembers how to activate the video call button on her shiny red iPhone XR. Dad (age 93) would appear with this look of wonder, mesmerized by What’s App.

But savouring and saving the memories from last night, it’s hard to replicate the warmth and magic online but as educators, we try our best to connect, engage, and if we’re lucky, captivate our students virtually in class this new term.

Anne Lamott once wrote in her classic, “Bird by Bird”, “As we live, we begin to discover what helps in life and what hurts.” And every now and again, I wonder whatever happened to the good ol’ days? Trust me, you will wonder one day, too.

What the World Needs now

If there’s anything this pandemic has given us besides uncertainty, it’s the gift of time. How did you spend your time over the past two years?

Was it time well spent? Did you become laser focused on what’s important? You already knew. Did you rise and fall (many times) getting lost in the ebbs and flow of uncertainty? Or did you reach out and connect with someone to see if they were all right?

What the world needs now and always is connectivity, not the virtual kind but the humankind.

“When we meet face to face, we become human. We lift each other up. We need this.” – Rev. Cecil Williams, Pastor

Virtual Connectivity

Technology can be a beautiful thing. I taught my 91-year-old Mom to video call me on her shiny new red iPhone XR. My 92-year-old Dad wanted to touch my face on the screen. We laugh a lot.

We celebrated one hundred days since the birth of my good friends’ beautiful baby boy and raised a glass of Prosecco in one hand and waved at the faces in the little Zoom tiles.

We celebrated the life of our faraway dear friend in Malaysia last week and recorded a message for her to hear in her final days.

And we, colleagues and students, are about to celebrate two years of online teaching next month! Has it really been two years?

Some may ask, what is there to celebrate? Will Covid continue to lurk in the shadows as we make our way onto flights and visit Level 4 countries? How much risk are we willing to take when we share a coffee with a friend or colleague, hug family, or hold the hand of someone suffering?

Human and Virtual Connectivity

Thirty (!) years ago, I was in the computer lab at University of Calgary, updating my resume. I had just returned from a three-year posting in Sulawesi with the University of Guelph and Global Affairs. A young man peered at my monitor and asked, “Do you speak Bahasa Indonesia?” And I answered “Bisa! (Yes, I can!)

That was the beginning of our long-term friendship. His Mom cooked me Indonesian food and he now is in San Francisco. We stay connected with visits and chats and have lively discussions about life in the time of COVID.

Recently he shared with me Conor Neill’s Sep 2020 video on two ways of approaching life, “Freedom from or Freedom to” and also on “making a choice or decision”. Professor Neill, who teaches leadership at the global IESE Business School in Barcelona, has explained with great clarity about the distinction in both. Tune in as he asks:

Do you want to live your life merely to survive and removing pain or live your life making choices with confidence?
Do you want to choose and take full responsibility and commit to making your decisions work or do you want to continually validate and justify the decisions you’ve made and say it wasn’t the core of me that has failed?

I believe wholeheartedly in “freedom to …” and choosing confidently, all in, 100%. Go celebrate! Go for coffee, maybe with someone new! Go hug and smile! Hold both hands, touch a heart, connect a soul.

Now you choose.

I am a high energy Instructor teaching soft skills at post secondary institutions in Toronto, Canada to anyone who is curious about connectivity and networking. My next webinar series starts March 12th https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/courses/3587-fearless-networking-connecting-creatively-confidently

Lifelong Learning is for Life!

I don’t know about you but my parents taught me anything worth having requires hard work.

Hard work may mean a lot of hours which doesn’t fit neatly into this world of fast > faster > fastest.

With no formal #marketing background and the infinite support and encouragement from all my instructors, friends, family, and colleagues University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, I owe a huge debt of #gratitude. It’s no small feat to earn this certificate over four years.

Squinting at tiny source code through my reading glasses, scratching my head at search engines and landing pages, sweating at the possibility of simply not “getting it”, these are the benefits of being a lifelong learner.

I also have the privilege of teaching “Fearless Networking: Connecting Creatively and Confidently” at the School of Continuing Studies and with our learners, my learning has compounded like interest earned.

Our School is not only a place where you can build skills and learn more but it’s also a community and network where we help one another and stay connected. Why not join us as a lifelong learner? It’s hard work but it’s definitely worth it!

Be a Difference Maker? Be an Awesome Mentor!

Introducing our honour roll of “Distinguished Dozen” at our Ryerson Chang School’s inaugural “Mentoring Makes a Difference” Event last Thursday, April 22nd from Left to Right above:

@JackNodel @VanessaDuran @LennoxParkins @KamalSoan @DorisDitner @MikeFedryk @AidenYosefi @JoseGarcia @AlbertChow @RosemaryDietrich @MahdiZageneh @LarissaCarvalho

After pre-matching our “Distinguished Dozen” with our newcomer professionals from two #bridgingpprograms, the speed-mentoring evening zoomed by in four 15-minute rapid rounds of one-on-one conversations.

And a little like love, chemistry plays a big role in matching mentors and mentees together. In my experience in designing professional mentorship programs, I agree with the school of thought that mentoring “magic” doesn’t necessarily come from matching individuals from the same industry and occupation. What’s important is recruiting mentors who are leaders with solid experience in developing people and mentees who are coachable.

What makes a great mentor? To be a difference maker, you set an intention, have shared values, and communicate clearly and effectively with empathy. You #aspiretoinspire

Our “Distinguished Dozen” are solid with a total of 300+ years of experience! As founders and leaders, their experience spans staffing solutions and executive recruitment, law, coaching, international business development, private real estate development, professional services contracting, innovation consulting in sustainability. While some hold multiple professional designations and degrees – PMP, CPA, FCPA, MSc, PEng, MBA, BA, PhD, others graduated from the School of Life. Our mentors also work in multiple industries: renewable energy, oil and gas, banking, insurance, government, retail, and property management, education, Fintech, construction, engineering, and utilities to name a few.

To be a mentee, you are coachable, having humility, respect, and curiosity, asking good questions.

Our mentees are students and alumni from our two bridging programs: “Middle Level Managers with Technical Background” and the “Green Economy” at Ryerson Chang School. From Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, and Turkey, our mentees have also worked in the Middle East, Moldova, Nigeria, Uganda, and the United States.

We are infinitely grateful to our Mentors for their generous time, support, and wisdom and to our Mentees and their willingness to meet new people. Thank you to all who attended and participated. As the award-wining American author and 2017 Man Book Prize winner, George Saunders, wrote “Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness” (2014), here is my parting thought: Congratulations, you all made a difference – an indelible difference!

Peak Leadership: Kyle Lowry at the Top of His Game

If you managed to catch Kyle Lowry, the GROAT (Greatest Raptor of all Time), playing in the NBA playoffs, you can see how much Kyle loves his job.

His beaming smile after Game 5’s long pass to his teammate, OG Anunoby, with only .5, yes point 5 seconds, on the clock saved the Raptors from elimination. And he saved the Raptors again Game 6 Wednesday night.

Watching Kyle bounce back play after play at both ends of the court in a heart-stopping double overtime do-or-die Game 6, Kyle’s leadership is indisputable.

Watching Kyle compare himself to “Sea Biscuit” after being on court for 53 minutes made fans laugh while exhaling a huge sigh of relief after a tension-filled 58-minute game.

Watching Kyle go to work and get ready for Game 7, you can’t help but be inspired by his consistent work ethic, undeniable belief, and limitless perseverance.

Boston Celtics’ Coach Brad Stevens: “He’s an All-star but he might be the most underrated player in the league. He does everything you need to win.”

Will Kyle do it again and get another day at the office? What I know for sure Kyle will show up … early. Let’s Go Raptors!

Love in the Time of COVID-19

Love is Love graffiti — Love in the Time of COVID – 19

Sport unites us. Food unites us. Nature … Adversity … Art … Community … Compassion … Above all, love unites us.

#MotivationMonday #unity #whenweallwinweallwin

Working with Recruiters – How to find Nemo & stay away from the Sharks

“We eat what we kill” was how one shark recruiter described how he made his living. I shuddered. After COVID closed our classrooms, I was looking for a recruitment professional to be a guest speaker for our students. I needed “Nemo”, not a shark. Then I remembered my good friend, Mike Fedryk. He is the Founding Partner of Flex Solutions. One thing I know for sure, Mike is not a shark.

When I first approached Mike back in March, he wanted to be sure he was the right person and asked good questions. By taking the time to ask, I knew he would be perfect. We decided to have an informal “fireside chat” (now “dockside”) followed by Q & A. He also generously critiqued student resumes before our chat so that he could offer his best advice during his live resume review. And because of Mike’s self-effacing manner, he expected absolutely nothing in return…no honorarium, no praise nor recognition, not even something to eat.

Last week I invited Mike again to share again with our students. It’s rare to watch someone do what they love. I’m envious of Mike’s “hip pocket skill” (Indra Nooyi’s definition of super power). He’s able to communicate tough feedback with just the right amount of empathy and compassion so that his listeners know his intention in seconds. As a result, people trust and respect him and listen fully and truly appreciate his feedback. This is how he sets himself apart from the sharks. He is in a pool of his own.

Mike live streaming to students from Ashbridges Bay Marina.

Mike took time off last Saturday and live streamed from Ashbridges Bay Marina for us. He’s so passionate and engaging that when I looked at the time, I had to remind him it was time to wrap up because his sailboat was about to launch without him. Of course, he didn’t leave without inviting all students to reconnect with him on LinkedIn.

Thank you, Mike, for all you have given to help our students. Your generosity of spirit is unsurpassed. On behalf of our students and our faculties, I wish you and your family infinite happiness, success, and clear sailing in the days ahead.

Staying Connected During COVID-19

I have a quote taped above my desk:

~ *Rev. Cecil Williams, Co-Founder* *and the Reverend in the film “The Pursuit of Happyness”.*

But what do we do in this time of COVID-19? How can networking skills help us if we can’t meet in person?

I often ask my students and audiences what “networking” means to them – “connecting, building relationships, meeting new people, making friends, socializing” to name a few. During this Covid-19 crisis, having networking skills will help us because as humans, we need connection. Technology makes it very easy for us to reach out and connect while maintaining social distance.

When I teach my networking workshops, the first networking skill in my “Five Hacks for Fearless Networking” © is to “Show Up”, overcoming the fear of social rejection. It takes courage to meet someone new in person and on-line.

Is setting up a social calendar useful when we can’t gather physically?

I have a friend who keeps a checklist to help her connect with family and friends who are near and dear to her. She also keeps another checklist to help her connect with professional contacts and colleagues.

I always maintain a professional calendar because of the nature of my business and now add to my whiteboard daily a list of my family and friends.

Which platforms are available for staying connected? Phone calls vs. Video chat vs. Social media vs email or snail mail?

I use them all!

Video Conferencing

Most platforms have similar features – share, chat, raise your hand, etc. I’ve use GoToMeeting, WebEx, and Zoom to hold meetings with clients pre-COVID-19 and was a guest panelist on an AGEWELL webinar hosted by Translational Research Project, U of T Faculty of Medicine a year ago on March 14, 2019 on I believe, WebEx.

I’ve transitioned my in-person classes on-line on Zoom quite seamlessly and as someone who is very social. I’m delightfully surprised how much I love teaching virtually. I recommend Zoom because it is simple to start and use and you don’t have to be a member to join a Zoom meeting.

Video calling and phone calls

I had planned an Easter visit to be with my 90+ year old parents in Calgary but of course, my visit has been postponed so I call now them daily, sometimes twice a day instead of our usual Sunday weekly call. This ritual provides all of us tremendous comfort and assurance. Hearing them say they love me every night means so much to me. My siblings also live in Calgary so they help connect me with our parents through video calling on Whats App and Facebook Messenger. My Dad loves touching the screen! Use video calling and phone calls if you want to reach someone you love and someone quickly.

Social Media

You either love it or leave it alone! I’m very active on social and connecting and engaging with friends, family, students, mentees, colleagues, acquaintances, and strangers through comments and direct messaging on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter.

My sister who had been a reluctant user of technology now does a fitness class with her soccer friend via video!

I recommend LinkedIn to stay relevant within your business network by posting comments and sharing if you don’t have time to contribute a post or an article.

Email

As a Boomer, we tend to default to email but I’m mindful when connecting with my younger friends (IG DM and Whats App) and my 22-year old niece (FB messenger) by choosing the media channel they use frequently.

Use email to connect with people of a certain age (Boomers) and also to maintain documentation or an “audit trail” on any important issues – business and personal.

Snail Mail

Snail mail also serves a unique purpose if you don’t mind physically receiving mail. I found Easter cards at Whole Foods last week, had stamps from Shoppers Drug Mart (available from cashiers), and popped them in the mail box with a little prayer that they reach my family and friends – so old school but another way to connect and send a little happiness.

Use snail mail because you’re like a mini-Amazon, delivering love, caring, and joy in an envelope or small package to anyone in the world.

What are some things we can do every day to avoid feeling too isolated?

Or what are some things we can do every day to stay happy at home?

Top 10 Tips to Stay Happy at Home During COVID-19

Keeping a journal – digital or paper – gives you a place to off load your thoughts. I also have this blog and contribute and share posts and articles on LinkedIn and other business blogs.
Do something nice for your neighbours whether you live in a condo, apartment building, or a house. Check in while maintain social distance and ask if you can pick something up for thing if you are making a quick trip to the grocery store.
Connect with nature. Walking meditation helps and a good one can be found in “Peace is Every Step” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Meditate even for 5 minutes to help clear your mind.
Learn something new! With so many ways to learn online – YouTube, IGTV, Coursera, etc., most of us have access to so much. We are fortunate because not everyone has Internet access. I’m sad to see on Twitter that people who don’t have Internet access gather around the exterior of branches of the Toronto Public Library trying to find a way to log in if they have cell phones. It also shows us the value of our libraries and social services.
Some establish new routines immediately. It grounds them and gives a sense of control. As a creative, I maintain some routine to get work done while also allowing (and sometimes scheduling) time for my mind to wander and be free.
Move! Make sure you move and not sit in front of your computer all day. Stretch! Jump! Dance! Do the Wonder Woman power pose made famous by Professor Amy Cuddy! With over 56 million views to date, watch her 2012 TED Talk: “Your body language may shape who you are”. “We know our minds can change our bodies but can our bodies change our minds?” ~ Amy Cuddy
Pick up the phone and call someone you love, someone who lives alone, someone you’re thinking of.
Take the initiative and identify someone you can help by introducing them to someone in your network who can help, mentor, share their expertise and experience.
Breathe and be thankful for all that you have this moment. The universe will unfold as it should.

Nothing is forever, not even COVID-19. Keep healthy. Keep safe. Keep connected.