Guest Blogs
Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!
To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.
We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!
By Sunita Sehmi, Walk The Talk
In a society that places so much emphasis on cognitive tasks and productivity, it’s easy to experience a major disconnection with your body’s natural, deep intelligence and its relationship with the wondrous world around you. Nilima helps people in their pursuit for a more mindful evolution, expansion and healing. She does this through a process of self-understanding on many levels: physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual. As a certified yoga teacher, her central purpose is to first guide individuals to connect with their Deeper Self and then to live it with authenticity in all aspects of their lives. I was lucky enough to interview this truly amazing woman.
Tell us about yourself.
I have been part of Conscious Capitalism led by people such as Raj Sisodia and John Mackey since 2010 and started my leadership consultancy Roots and Wings in 2004, with my husband, Vijay Bhat. I had reached a point in my corporate career where I began to think what is my purpose? Am I making a difference? I took up the study of Vedanta (Indian wisdom) and yoga and became a practitioner of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother. My husband got diagnosed with colon cancer in 2001 when he was 40 years old. We left no stone unturned, as I looked everywhere for clues: Chinese Medicine, Enneagram, and Jung. We both became students of life, learning everyday. Our first book was born out of our journey, entitled My Cancer is Me. He is happily recovered today.
By Debbie Croft, Croft Coaching
Inclusiveness and gender parity is fortunately a key focus for astute organisations. One strategy deployed considers how to better support professionals during the challenging transition to parenthood; so that they feel it is possible to continue with professional aspirations and successfully juggle family life. This is not specific to female talent. As the next generations of male leaders emerge with clear expectations on the role they want to play as a father, organisations need to demonstrate their appreciation of family values to attract and retain top talent.
All this is great news for parents – there will be a significant positive impact on reducing the stress and overwhelm that is typical of this period, frequently losing to resignation &/or burn-out. The danger is that this stress is transferred to Line Managers and Team Leaders, who need to adapt to frequently changing needs of a team and movement of people within the team. So, how can this group of Leaders be adaptable and agile, to effectively manage and support new flexible working policies?
By Aislinn Delmotte, Settling Here
Are you driving in France on foreign license plates, with a foreign drivers license and insurance? If so, the question many expats ask is: Does a foreigner have to re- register his/her car in France with French plates?
According to the French government information website (https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F10519), the answer is a clear YES, and within a month of bringing the car here if you are a French resident.
What constitutes a French resident then? Basically it's somebody living here at least 8 months of the year. There are of course some exceptions to this status (aren't there always!).
By Sunita Sehmi, Walk The Talk
YIELD is the Youth Institute for Excellence in Leadership Development that focuses on young people in the age-range of 18 to 24 years young. It was founded in 2015 in loving memory of Lauren Anne Roe (1979-1997) as a not-for-profit association aspiring to make the world a better place by accelerating the leadership development of young people. Our vision is to contribute to a significant increase in the number of leaders who are driven by purpose, meaning and vision. In 2016 YIELD aims to run a one month-long youth leadership development program each in Geneva, Switzerland and Cape Town, South Africa.
I sat down with Willem Jan to find out more about this exciting project. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did!
Sunita Sehmi: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Willem Jan Hofmans: First and foremost I’m a husband, father and grandfather. Having grown up in the Netherlands I met my wife, Hilary, in South Africa. Funnily enough, her mother and I had started with HP on exactly the same day in 1982 except that she began in South Africa and I in California. As a family we moved around a lot as a result of my international corporate career. We first arrived in Geneva at the end of 1986 and came back for the third time in 2002. Our son, Paul, and his family as well as our youngest daughter, Emma, live in Cape Town, whereas our daughter, Jessica, and her husband live in Geneva. After 25 years in the corporate world I have successfully run my own business for the past 9 years. In my work I focus on leadership either through coaching or running development programs.
By Tara Lissner, Swiss Gardening School
With the garden centres and DIY shops heaving with beautiful summer annual flowers, salad plug plants and vegetable plants it is understandable that you could be fooled into thinking that it is time to plant up the garden. But no, as the weather over the past few days has confirmed there is still time for snow and late frosts. When temperatures drop overnight to around zero significant damage may be done to immature and tender plants. Local advice dictates that nothing tender should be planted outside unprotected until after the days of the “ice saints”. These ice saints, Saint Mamertus, Saint Pancras and Saint Servatius, celebrate their feast days on 11, 12 and 13 May each year. Each year of course differs from the last and often temperatures are accommodating and we have no issues with chilly nights but when we do we really do. With temperatures due to stay low cover your veggie beds with horticultural fleece and move your pots next to the house for a little protection.
I am frequently asked what do with bulbs when the flowering has finished. Firstly and most importantly enjoy the flowers, whether you leave them in the garden or cut them for the house. The next tip is to dead head all the daffodils, only trim the flowering stem, this prevents the plant from producing seed. Allow the leaves to turn yellow, and I’m afraid this is where patience is necessary, the longer you wait the greater the show next year. When the leaves are limp and yellowed only then it is time to cut them back. Daffodils do very well when left in beds or naturalized in the lawn, tulips are a little more temperamental. In public spaces the tulips are always dug up, and new ones planted later in the year, this is not terribly practical or economic in a private garden. To get the best repeat show with tulips make sure they are well planted by December, three times the depth of the bulb, make a note in your garden notebook as to where they are (you will forget); there is nothing worse than digging up bulbs inadvertently when they are dormant in order to plant something else. Ensure the area does not dry out over the summer and don’t forget to fertilize the space with a general purpose fertilizer later in the year when all signs of the tulips have disappeared.
