My great day at Bridge India…!!!!!Mijn geweldige dag bij Bridge India…!!!!!Min fantastiska dag på Bridge India…!!!!!Mein großartiger Tag bei Bridge India…!!!!!
Often times we surround ourselves with people like us found in ‘likely places’. For instance, if we like biking, we join a group that goes biking. If we like public speaking, we join toastmasters. If we like volleyball or cricket, we join a team or find others who like to watch that on television and join along.
These are likely places to meet people that can be like us. But, we often get tricked into thinking that people in ‘other groups’ are not ‘like us’ because they like baseball and not cricket, or like rock climbing and not biking or like reading books instead of public speaking. However, it’s refreshing when we meet people who label themselves differently from us and we realize we have something in common. Our outside interest may not always match, but maybe something deeper like our mindset and values do.
Vaak gaan we om met mensen die op onszelf lijken en die we op ‘voor de hand liggende plaatsen’ ontmoeten. Als we bijvoorbeeld van fietsenhouden gaan we bij een groep die gaat fietsen. Als we van spreken voor een groep houden, voegen we ons bij toastmasters. Als we van volleybal of cricket houden, zoeken we een team of anderen die dat samen met ons op tv willen kijken. Deze plaatsen liggen voor de hand om mensen te ontmoeten die zoals wij zijn. Maar we denken vaak dat mensen in ‘andere groepen’ niet ‘zoals wij’ zijn omdat ze van baseball en niet van cricket houden, of van klimmen in plaats van fietsen, of van lezen in plaats van spreken voor een groep. Het is echter verfrissend om mensen te ontmoeten die zich anders presenteren dan wij dat zelf doen en we er dan toch achter komen dat we iets gemeen hebben. Onze interesses zijn misschien niet altijd hetzelfde, maar misschien iets diepers zoals onze manier van denken en normen en waarden wel.
med i en grupp där folk tycker om att cykla. Om vi tycker om att tala inför folk, går du med i en grupp av toastmasters. Om du tycker om volleyboll eller cricket, så går vi med i ett lag eller hittar andra människor som tycker om att titta på matcher på TV och umgås med dem.Dessa är troliga ställen att hitta människor som ”är som oss”. Men ofta så luras vi att tänka att människor i andra sociala grupper inte är ”som oss” för att de tycker om baseball och inte cricket, eller bergsklättring istället för cykling, eller att läsa böcker istället för att tala inför folk. Hursomhelst är det väldigt inspirerande att möta människor som tillhör en annan grupp än en själv och inse att man har någonting gemensamt. Våra yttre intressen kanske inte alltid matchar, men något djupare som vår inställning eller våra värderingar göra det kanske.
Oftmals umgeben wir uns mit Leuten, die uns ähnlich sind und die wir an gewohnten Plätzen finden. Zum Beispiel, wenn wir gerne Radfahren,schließen wir uns einer Gruppe an, die Radfahren geht. Wenn wir es mögen Reden zu halten, schließen wir uns Rednern an. Wenn wir Volleyball oder Cricket mögen, schließen wir uns einer Mannschaft an oder finden andere Leute, die sich dies gerne im Fernsehen anschauen und gesellen uns dazu.
Dies sind Orte, an denen es wahrscheinlich ist Leute zu treffen, die so sind wie wir. Aber oft werden wir dazu verleitet, zu denken, dass Leute in „anderen Gruppen“ nicht „wie wir sind, weil sie Baseball und nicht Cricket mögen oder Bergsteigen und nicht Radfahren mögen oder Bücher lesen, anstatt Reden zu halten. Jedoch ist es erfrischend, wenn wir Leute treffen, die sich uns gegenüber als anders präsentieren und wir feststellen, dass wir etwas gemein haben. Unsere äußeren Interessen passen vielleicht nicht immer zusammen, aber etwas tieferes, wie unsere Denkweise oder unsere Werte passen vielleicht zusammen.
Of course, as a cross-cultural coach I live for these kinds of encounters because every meeting is a meeting of different minds; every meeting is a cross-cultural meeting because of that.
Last week, I met people who professionally call themselves ‘marketers’, ‘project managers’, ‘software developers’ and other titles that basically weren’t going by the title ‘cross-cultural coach’ or ‘life coach.’ It was refreshing to meet the entire team at Bridge Outsourcing because regardless of titles, there were people who had something in common with me. I had a lot of interesting conversations with many different people on the team. There was no dearth of topics to discuss. In fact, I felt the time went by too fast and still if there was endless time, I wondered could we talk and discuss topics of interest forever?
Yes, there were many people in Bridge Outsourcing interested in cross-cultural topics. Of course, there would be right? I would not have guessed it from following their blog- but it is true! Of course I am being sarcastic because they of course have many articles on cross-cultural topics. But, these articles are not simply written packed full of good information because someone is paid to write these articles, but the people here writing these articles really believe in what they write. This can be evidenced by reading their blog, but is clearly evidenced by meeting any team member and talking to them. Each person I spoke with seems interested in learning about cross-cultural topics not only because it’s their job- but because it’s their interest and passion.
You may wonder how this passion was evidenced by me? Was it by the blog articles? Without meeting them, maybe. But with meeting them, I’d say this passion was evidenced by people’s authentic behavior. They were patient, good listeners and communicators and asked questions when confused. This of course not only demonstrates great communication skills, but great cross-cultural communication skills- a willingness to learn about other cultures and mindsets by really being interested in the other person.
I only hope I demonstrated my interest and enthusiasm to meet and get to know them even a fraction of their enthusiasm to meet and get to know me! Their passion, enthusiasm and genuineness is contagious. Anyone would love to work on a team or in an organization like that!
Some may say, Jennifer, you have stars in your eyes because it’s your first visit, of course they will be on their best behavior. To this I say, if it was only a first impression- it’s a great one and hard to be tarnished. But, I doubt my analysis is based on anyone treating me good because it was a first meeting. People here are genuinely nice and interested in others. When you meet such people, you know it. It makes you feel good inside. You know they aren’t faking it just to impress you. You know they are that way because it is who they are and it’s natural for them. How refreshing is that!
It was a memorable and wonderful day spent getting to know everyone at Bridge Outsourcing. I particularly thank Sini for organizing it and forgiving my own cross-cultural faux pass. I of course thank everyone else on the team for just being who they are!
Reading this article, one might think that its a bit exaggerated appreciation for the team. But I totally agree with Jennifer as I was part of this team and I know them well :). They are a group of nice passionate professionals! keep up the values guys! :)