International Congress of AIESEC just finished 2 days ago in India. It was the third international congress that I attended, although this time I was one of the organizers.
Many people say it was the best congress in the past years. Good to know and perhaps it is beneficial especially for the image of AIESEC in the media, however to me it makes no difference whether it was the best or not, what matters is the influence it had on the current leaders in the organization and the amount of questions it sparked. Meaning: often the most challenging or “worst” events in life make a positive impact on us in the long run; other events might seem to be “the best” at the moment thanks to the level of motivation it created, although lacking a lasting effect on people; often we ask: did you like the conference? And we hear: “I loved it!” Here is the question: what does it mean? Does liking mean agreeing and if agreeing is always needed? How about this: “you like something, because you do not agree with it, but it was extremely thought provoking and influential for your next action?” and lastly, I spoke to many participants, and everyone of them has his or her personal opinion of the conference, depending on their role in the organization, the approach to their experience throughout the event, and the amount of previous international events they visited. So it’s quite difficult to form the common opinion on the congress for 600 participants.
Therefore I think everything is relative and we should concentrate on the take-aways and real value of the congress - for each individual.
What are you really feeling? Sorry but “Excellent” is no longer an answer, that roll call should stay in old days, especially with a new competency model that says that one of the core competencies of young leaders is to be the emotional intelligence.
I was observing the scene happened in the plane on my way home. A Russian family of 4 (parents and 2 sons) were arguing with each other:
- Why are you so slow? Put the bags up and sit down, we are almost taking off!
- Who are you to say this? Shut up, I know what I am doing!
- What?! Okay, I will shut up, and you will not hear a word from me during the trip, I will then see what you will say.
- This does not matter to me. I am fed up of your talking for 10 years.
- Have some shame, children are here.
- …
They went on and on…
Sadly, it is the usual case to hear such arguing when I travel with Russians.
Another highlight: my neighbor on the plane, an elder lady, asked me about my trip. I briefly mentioned where I work and where I traveled during my life so far. She didn’t think much and gave her comments right away: “oh India… you know I don’t want to go there, I don’t know why… UAE is a different thing, I loved the sea in that country, I almost worshiped this sea, it is so wonderful. Many relatives travel to Egypt, but I don’t want to go there either, nothing to do there for me…”
Then I understood what the relevance of International Congress is for me. It is the unique opportunity to become a better person by creating awareness about one’s self and other people from different cultures. It is the chance to acquire values that could be with a young person for life, so that when we all become elder, we spend time on the important and mind what we say.
Are you ready for this mission, generation 2015? Do you understand what you are committing to by having been a part of that congress in India?
Being master of ceremonies for the Youth to Business Forum was one of the key highlights of the IC for me personally. I’d never enjoyed speaking on public before, and was very surprised of how I got into the flow of the event and valued each second of it. I was lucky that Tristan involved me in the forum on early stages and suggested to lead a part of it. Thanks to this, I discovered a new passion. I was thinking – have our participants discovered their passions at the congress as I did? Did we as organizers provided them enough opportunities for this and did they themselves sense the environment and their experience to make it happen?
I certainly have more questions than answers after the conference.
Thank you everyone who shared their personalities and sparkled authentic discussions: many of my AIESEC International mates, the chair, organizing committee and conference participants.
Now it’s my turn to ask: What is the question that each of you is taking home from this IC?
It was Tuesday afternoon, and my task list was growing to infinity, with most of them being highly creative. One of them was to create an interactive online space for members of our organisation. By that moment, I had been sitting near my laptop typing all day and suddenly realised that I am am not going to design the layout if I continue it this way and went for a walk.
On the street, instead of walking, I decided to cycle on my bike for about 15 min - to clear my head - and went to take a coffee from nearby cafe.
By the end of the trip I had a full plan of the online platform ready in my head! When I came back to the office I just put it on paper and send to my colleagues :)
What is more interesting, I came up with such ideas that I would not have created if I was sitting near my computer in the office.
Starting from that day, I do short cycling trips for a coffee (and - ideas :) every day, and it extremely increased my innovation and well-being in general.
I also started to notice that the articles I read from Harvard Business Review (one-two every day) give me more ideas for my work, than actually doing it.
Another observation: meetings that I have with my colleagues again highly stimulate my creative process, more than if I manually sit and “work” hard all day (read - type).
Question I am asking myself: What really matters for creative and productive output of what we do and how can we create such opportunities in the office?
I went for a walk this evening, the walk went near the beautiful canal here in Rotterdam, right next to my house. At some point I sat on the bench to look at the water.
When I lived in Moscow (some 2 years ago), I used to spend my evenings in the trains. It would take about 1,5 hours to travel from the office back home, and I thought is was normal. It really was, as I didn’t know that there would be a time when it will take me just 5 min by walk, and the rest of the evening I could enjoy doing everything else what I like.
When I was deciding whether to travel to Pakistan, I asked Tanya about her internship in India. One of my questions was: Do you think that going to Asia you experienced rather “past” of the world than the future? Only later I learned that Asia and East in general has a lot (I mean a lot) to teach the West, and the level of technology/economy is not always the main criteria of how to live.
In the university I learned that when I graduate, I should strive to become a senior management consultant in the short run. Recently I read that my friend Tori from Australia is making a film about child traffic in Thailand; she just completed a peace course over there. Who said that people should be management consultants? My friend Pinaki devotes his life on writing stories of people from villages in remote corners of the world. I asked him why he does it, and he said that can not not to do it, it’s what why he lives…
I always thought that the more I do, the more will get done. Later I learned, that sometimes the less I do, the more other people will do, the more I see their true talents, rather than enjoying my solo; the less structure I create, perhaps the more people’s personalities will emerge. I read this line: Do nothing and there is nothing left undone.
I was (and - am) often concerned about my strengths and weaknesses and contribution to the team. One day I was quite upset about myself, and I wrote to my friend asking her what strengths in her opinion I have. I was shocked with her answer: Katya, what are you talking about? I am not thinking of you as strengths and weaknesses. You are who you are… :)
If I were in Moscow, I would never go to the office by bicycle. In the Netherlands, I see people in their suits and girls in little skirts riding a bike.
Sometimes I am thinking… What if during my life every year I would live in a different country? What if one day I move to a small town in Russia and organise my whole life over there? What if I marry when I am 40? What if I marry next year?
These are the thoughts from the same box. All of them are about the models that I and many other people have. These learned one day models strongly guide our lives. It is breaking the models when it becomes far more interesting :)
It reminds me of standing on the head and seeing the world upside down (I used to do that in yoga). First thought - fear. Second thought - freedom :)
On my first day in this city I took part in the game that was organised by the previous team of AIESECers. They called the game In love with Rotterdam.
That day, I explored my new surroundings and was totally impressed with where I was. I knew that I was going to experience the most of the WorldPort WorldCity.
After several weeks I made much progress:
* Got a bike to discover further parts of the city;
* Went to Euromast, the highest tower in Rotterdam, and sipped a hot chocolate on its up in the sky restaurant;
* Learned about the nicest fruit shops at the local market, all of the shopping street and, most importantly, 7-floor bookstore;
* Visited World museum with historical items from all over the world;
* Had a tomato soup in Hotel New York near the river;
* Experienced a foot walk across Erasmus bridge;
* Enjoyed reading Peter Senge near the lake in Kralingse park;
* Found the best coffee places in the city;
* …
However it happened only today when I really fell in love with Rotterdam.
It was a rainy day, and I pushed back my original plan to cycle to Kinderdijk and went to Rotterdam history museum instead.
As usual in the Netherlands, people took care of the smallest details of tourist’s experience, and I enjoyed a wonderful guided voice tour starting with facts about Rotterdam from 19th century, and many pictures and films about the everyday life of its citizens. Among other places, I traveled to Coolsingel in 1906, when this street (where I go almost every weekend) was posh and bright, and people would come there to showcase their nicest clothes, enjoy the walk and get luxury gifts for their friends in one of the best shopping centers in Europe.
I also went to Rotterdam port where people would come to from different countries…
In 1940, life in the city has changed, and looking at the pictures from those times, I could hardly recognize Rotterdam I know now. During the war, many buildings were destroyed, parks vanished, shops closed. One of the biggest tragedies for the citizens was to loose Laurenskerk, an old church in the city center, which was largely destroyed. These days, it is being renovated again, and will open in September 2010.
About the modern times they say: Rotterdam is the city which daily life is being created by its citizens.
Rotterdamers are about 10 families whose lives are depicted in the museum. They are real people who shared their stories first in 2000 and then in 2010, and these stories are showcased in special film-cubicles.
Family Betti, family Choy, family Khargi, family Senyurek, family Ravel, family Leito… Only after a while I realized that all of these families have come from different places: Italy, China, Turkey, Congo, Central America… their children call Rotterdam home, get along with their peers at school even if they look quite different; some of these children work as shop assistants, some dream to become architects.
Surprisingly, I didn’t see a story of any natively Dutch family among Rotterdamers. Knowing that at least half of the population is native Dutch, they forgot to mention about themselves. (I already noticed this interesting habit before in the Worldmuseum where items are from all over the world, excluding only one region - Europe).
Next part of the museum is called Unbuilt Rotterdam, or what kind of Rotterdam we would experience today if people in power approved futuristic plans of architects. These are some of the images from Rotterdam we would probably never see:
When I walked outside on the street, it was heavily raining so that I couldn’t take my bike for a while. When sun appeared again, I cycled back to the market, looked at the church that was destroyed in the war, and the main city street, and felt warmth.
I know this feeling: it appears when I know about the object or a person something more that I can see from the first glance, I know where he/she/it comes from and what is behind the appearance they have today. This feeling usually brings me peace and silence - it’s like I am looking at them after they have finished a one-hour story that I listened with an opened mouth, and now I do not have to say anything, I am just looking at them and understand, and love, for what/who they are.
The same feeling came to me today when I cycled back towards my new home in Rotterdam.
Erasmus Bridge (pictures taken by Carolyn R.)
Ducks near the office (picture taken by Marina R.)
Mint tea (yes, here in the Netherlands it IS in the menu and I don’t have to clarify: “mint with boiled water please, yes, without a tea - just mint and hot water:) picture taken by Emily J.
It’s been a month and a half since I moved to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to work in a multinational team of 20 young people from 16 different countries.
June was a takeover month for our team, where we got the update about organizational performance in the past, created bonds between each other and prepared to perform in our individual roles and responsibilities.
This month of the transition was one of the greatest learning experiences that I have ever had in my life, despite the fact I’d had enough of them to compare:)
This experience taught me of how to be fully present(not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually) so that to be able to engage in the situation and contribute in the best way possible. It also taught me that the time outside of work is as important as work: good rest, investment in personal development, laugh, team dinners, outdoor games - all of them contribute to the well-being and productivity in the office. I know it is quite an obvious thing to recognize, however it is easier to recognize than to act on it. This was one of the first time in my recent life experiences, that I can say I am creating a great balance between all important elements of well-being.
Second powerful thought that I had is about being human.
So many times in my life I was trying to achieve, to do more, to do even more, but what I am realizing now is that I myself is a great value for the world, regardless of what I achieved and where I travelled.
If I am happy, kind, helpful and contribute to the conversation with the input that makes people see the bigger picture and learn something that didn’t think of before; if I am a friend, a loyal daughter to my parents, a facilitator rather than ultimate decision maker, an enabler, - this is the most important that I am striving for, and this is what makes my life meaningful.
Another thought relates to the contribution to the well-being of the whole.
I have always been a person who is very independent in nature. I like making decisions on my own and pioneer new ideas for the projects I am leading, however it has been challenging for me to share my discoveries and ideas with other people. Maybe it is because I am too shy to share an idea before I try it on my own, maybe it is because I like being recognized for ideas I implement and know that sharing an idea means sharing the recognition as well.
Aman (President of AIESEC 09-10) used to tell his team: there is no I and My here (my country, my region, my project), there is only We and Ours (our country, our region, our project); on AIESEC International, if you succeeded, but your team didn’t, it means you failed as well.
It is very relevant in my new roles where I am in charge of the region, however not directly coaching all entities in that region and need to have enough trust to other team members to do their roles. There are also five other people who are in charge of leading different regions, and it does not make sense to pioneer my own ideas without sharing it with others, as the impact of implementing it for all members of the organization would be much, much higher if I share the idea with my colleagues.
This thought has already brought me the peace of mind in a few situations in my new role.
I feel very happy and privileged to be in the environment where I am right now, be around young people from so many nationalities and every day search for answers on the most powerful life questions: what do I stand for? What is the world calling me to do right now? What does friendship, trust, success mean for me?
I am also excited to lead the Middle East and North Africa region, and be a coach for countries in the Central Asia and Caucasus, and create powerful learning experiences for talented young people from these countries. I could not imagine anything greater at this point of my life.
Thank you everyone who contributed to who I am today and what I am going through!
Mendi is a special rice that is cooked in the Middle East, and usually served with chicken, fish or shua (meat prepared with Omani recipe).
Mendi is not Omani dish originally, however it is quite popular here.
There is Al Maida Yemeni restaurant in 5 min drive from our house, and all reception dinners of our international interns take place over there. “Lets go to mendi” - this is something you could hear often in our house:-)
The concept of mendi is very interesting.
First of all, everyone sits around a “table” which is in fact a piece of cloth put on the floor, and the food is divided between the group from the common plate. It is amazing way to connect with people around and feel something in common with them.
Secondly, people eat with hands. There are two reasons for it:
1) when you eat with a fork, you never know who ate with the same fork before; however when you eat with your hand, it is your hand therefore you do not have to worry about it.
2) there are special “fluids” in our hands, and when we eat with hands, they come to the food and make it better (at least that’s what people here say).
Thirdly, there is a special way to sit while eating mendi (see the person on the left on the picture).
When a person has finished eating, there should be a place left for the water and breathing. Apparently, this pose keeps the stomach in the best condition for eating such heavy food such as rice and still making sure extra space is left :)
And fourthly, some awesome additions to the rice and meat in Omani/Yemeni restaurant are soup, salad and honey bread…
First of all, as my friend Thamim says, 1000 apologies for not writing in this space for a bit and poorly following the promise of at least one TIO fact per week.
However I am clearly improving and today I’d like to tell you one of the most impressive TIO that my international team and I experience every so often, and still have troubles getting used to, although it seems very easy.
So last night we were talking about it in the car. Tristan remembered how a year ago Carlos (his predecessor from Colombia) wanted to get a cultural gift for one of his friends, a senior executive in London. Carlos went to get the gift at the souk, a local market in Oman where they are selling various handicrafts, including silver khanjers, meaning Omani knife which is one of the symbols of Oman and usually the decoration for dishdasha, an Omani male dress.
To understand the drama of the situation you need to know that silver khanjers are handmade and therefore quite expensive (prices usually start from 40 EUR). You should also know that souk is the first place where tourists in Muscat come to visit, so there are always a lot of people around and most of them are about to buy their gifts and leave Muscat for good.
So Carlos didn’t have enough money with him. At the same time he was desperate to get a gift for his British friend whom we would meet at the conference abroad the following day.
Imagine what? The guy selling khanjers gave him khanjer worth 40 EUR without taking the money nor anything else and believing in Carlos’s promise to bring the money back some time soon.
Isn’t that impressive?
I also experienced the generosity of Omanis quite a few times. When I first arrived to Oman in February 2009, I went to Starbucks for a cup of coffee and was frustrated to realize that the money I had with me was not enough for even half of the cup.
Guess what happened? The guy gave me the coffee for free! And, when I came back in two days to pay the money back, he didn’t even take them:)
This is the most inspiring fact that for me defines the attitude of Omanis. And this is not just about the money. It is a strong generosity and desire to give before they take, and - in many cases - not expecting anything in return.
I notice this attitude in every Omani home I go, in almost every conversation that I have with Omanis. This also explains to me why they are so keen on corporate social responsibility. Of course, CSR initiatives have also to do with recognition by larger society , however natural willingness to share and pay back are strong factors as well.
Just because they care of the person they speak to right now and the larger legacy they leave behind.
I have experienced this attitude so many times, however every time I am surprised again.
It is easy to get used to and accept as a fact, but it’s not the best strategy.
Instead, I choose to use this opportunity to learn and show the same - contribute open heartedly to those who are around.
PS I have two weeks left in Oman and I am going to make sure that by the end of May all blog readers will become experts in the TIO:)
In one of the first evenings in Oman, Tris saw the fire on the Sultan Qaboos Highway.
It was a car that got into an accident. Surprising observation about this situation is that many people were either passing by (not very interested) or standing and discussing the accident right on the road.
Fortunately, noone got injured and this is the only event of its kind that we saw in Muscat. At the same time it shows that there are two types of people in Oman: those who are totally keen on participating and contributing to solve the problems of others, and those who are interested only in their own deeds.
Another TIO fact that is connected to the road safety: at AIESEC’s national conference in June we had an external day where company representatives did their presentations and workshops. One workshop was supposed to be about entrepreneurship for one hour. The speaker began his presentation with a lesson about using seatbelts in a car and what happens if people don’t do that, facts and figures, so a good half of the entrepreneurship workshop we talked about road safety! :)
This all started almost a year ago, when I first arrived to Oman, and began to experience different strange things happening (or appearing) here and there, in most cases - completely unexpectedly.
As a European person, I find a lot of Omani / Middle Eastern “features” very interesting, fascinating and totally out of the box.
Tristan called it TIO = this is Oman, getting an inspiration from TIA (This is Africa) in the Blood Diamond (meaning go with the flow/don’t expect anything to run on schedule/enjoy life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIA)
After 9 months in the country it is a good time to start telling the world different TIO facts. Sometimes they are not easy to be told, but need rather to be experienced, however I will do my best to illustrate them with pictures, stories and music.
From time to time (at least once a week) I am going to publish TIO fact(s) on this blog.
I am counting on the help of Tristan, Anjali, our interns and other foreigners in the country who are experiencing TIO every day along with me.
Who knows - maybe this small TIO project inspires some of you to visit Oman, or at least smile and make your day :-)
To get started, I’d like to show you some observations from the first weeks in the country (Copyright - Tristan Watkins).
