Learning more than you Teach
As 2009 comes to a close, if you’re like me, you review your year and note the highlights. One of the tremendous perks with being an international consultant and speaker is the opportunity to see very different worlds. My recent visits to Dubai, India and SE Asia have yielded images I wouldn’t have imagined.
Dubai was the destination for my 4-day “Effective Customer Complaint Management” course aimed at executives from around the region. I was excited to be invited to share my expertise in this intriguing city-state.
As I acclimated and took in the sites the day before my session, I was reminded what an amazing life we can create for ourselves. The sunset cruise down Dubai Creek yielded a banquet of sensory confections. Imagine the sky turning soft pink as the sun dips into the Gulf and the full moon rises. The perfect-temperature breeze is enveloping. The mosques broadcast the call to prayer from their 100-foot-high towers. The lights along the creek’s shore twinkle in concert with the sky dimming. Christmas-light-festooned dinner cruise boats float past.
The next day I greeted my course participants. They wore either Western clothing or the women were clad in abyas — robes with hoods or scarves. However, two gentlemen from Qatar entered in full Arab garb — long, crisp white cotton dishdashahs (long-sleeved tunics). One wore a “gutrah” (a white head cover) and the other a “shumag” (a elaborately folded and starched, heavy red-and-white-checked head cover). I learned they could tell a man’s home country by his dishdashah’s style and his head covering’s details.
I’d arranged a private tour for us of the most luxurious hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab, led by the Training Director. At the Burj, the Qataris donned sunglasses and looked like the local royalty, or sheiks (pronounced “shakes”), so we good-naturedly teased that they were our fake sheiks.
The participants were attentive and interactive as I led them through my customer complaint management processes and techniques. During breaks, they kindly endured my endless questions about their countries and customs.
The participants said they learned how to be much more effective with upset customers. But I think I learned more from them about their countries, politics, customs, religion and points of view. When you are a curious training professional, you often learn more than you teach.
As 2009 comes to a close, if you’re like me, you review your year and note the highlights. One of the tremendous perks with being an international consultant and speaker is the opportunity to see very different worlds. My recent visits to Dubai, India and SE Asia have yielded images I wouldn’t have imagined.
Dubai was the destination for my 4-day “Effective Customer Complaint Management” course aimed at executives from around the region. I was excited to be invited to share my expertise in this intriguing city-state.
As I acclimated and took in the sites the day before my session, I was reminded what an amazing life we can create for ourselves. The sunset cruise down Dubai Creek yielded a banquet of sensory confections. Imagine the sky turning soft pink as the sun dips into the Gulf and the full moon rises. The perfect-temperature breeze is enveloping. The mosques broadcast the call to prayer from their 100-foot-high minarets. The lights along the creek’s shore twinkle in concert with the sky dimming. Colored-light-festooned dinner cruise boats float past.
The next day I greeted my course participants. They wore either Western clothing or the women were clad in abyas — robes with hoods or scarves. However, two gentlemen from Qatar entered in full Arab garb — long, crisp white cotton dishdashahs (long-sleeved tunics). One wore a “gutrah” (a white head cover) and the other a “shumag” (a elaborately folded and starched, heavy red-and-white-checked head cover). I learned they could tell a man’s home country by his dishdashah’s style and his head covering’s details.
I’d arranged a private tour for us of the most luxurious hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab, led by the Training Director. At the Burj, the Qataris donned sunglasses and looked like the local royalty, or sheiks (pronounced “shakes”), so we good-naturedly teased that they were our fake sheiks.
The participants were attentive and interactive as I led them through my customer complaint management processes and techniques. During breaks, they kindly endured my endless questions about their countries and customs.
The participants said they learned how to be much more effective with upset customers. But I think I learned more from them about their countries, politics, customs, religion and points of view. When you are a curious training professional, you often learn more than you teach.
Rebecca, It is exciting to read all you are doing. You are an inspiration.
My business in real estate was side tracked a bit with some personal matters and last year’s economy. Business is picking up and I am still enjoying selling homes.
All is well here and I hope with you also.
Best wishes for a fulfulling and healthy 2010.
Ellen Barton