When Dr. Paul Vanderbroeck (Dutch/Swiss) contacted knowitall.ch about a new publication that he and Jannie Aasted Skov-Hansen (Danish) wrote together, we were curious to know more. This book shares real-life insights into the challenges and opportunities for International Career Couples (ICC). If you are one half of a career couple, you will certainly be interested in getting your hands on a copy of Here We Are – The International Career Couple Handbook. Read on to enter our competition to win a copy!
He has a background of managing talent in multinational organizations, is an Executive Coach, and a researcher and speaker on gender balance and leadership development. She is a Human Resource professional, specializing in global people mobility, and a founder of a global career consultancy. We thought a few questions were in order to understand more.
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
This book is grounded in our personal experiences as partners in International Career Couples, our encounters with the many couples we’ve befriended during our respective stints as expatriates, and our exchanges with talented individuals in our professional roles. From these engagements we learned, first separately and then as a team, that International Career Couples:
- are distinct from other dual-career couples;
- are not getting the support they need and deserve—from employers, publications or coaches;
- provide an opportunity for international talent management;
- are a complex organisation;
- can be successful and sustainable if they apply best practices from organisations.
Every now and again you come across a person that you inspires you. Sunita Sehmi is one of those people. Sunita Sehmi, an Executive Coach, helps clients understand how to attain their goals and guide them to find the solution. Not only is the book full of her own personal anecdotes but invites readers to fill out the workbook pages as well. Sunita started writing for knowitall.ch back in 2012 with her first article, Is that what you really mean?, that has had a respectable 2,672 hits since we published it; other articles getting upwards of 40,000 hits! She has been a dependable contributor and has written over 70 articles! Congratulations to her for now publishing her first book, How to Get Out of Your Own Way.
The book is punctuated by quotes and poignant thoughts and we asked her permission to add a few of them to this article (italics).
I think the most dangerous thing we can say to ourselves is “I have always been that way” or “I am too old to change.” These are auto discounts, self-traps that keep us stuck, wedged in the past. The way forward requires effort to implement, and the fundamental obstacle is our archaic reasoning. Hence, my profound wish is that you meet yourself in this book and come to some acknowledgement and acceptance of yourself.
What prompted you to do this book?
I wrote this book to democratise and demystify executive coaching. Often executive coaching is for top talent, the elite, etc.; I want to reach the other 99%.
Who is this book directed at?
Choosing the topic was easy for me I knew that being the only women in a meeting room was something I felt and my clients felt. Their struggles and stories are so powerful I had to share!
Do you have a favorite quote in the book? And if so, would you tell our readers why you chose it?
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”. ~ Maya Angelou That has been my life long mantra.
Other extraits from the book that we feel well represents its contents:
Pledge your money before 22 August to help the project go ahead!
A new crowdfunding project had been launched celebrating diversity in Geneva!
With less than 2 weeks to go until its completion, project “Geneva” has been created to highlight the diverse mix of nationalities and ethnicities that you will find in a cosmopolitan city.
Providing their own perfect example of cultural diversity, the three organizers for the project are:
- Geni Deli, who was born in Zurich and has Hungarian origins.
- Stefano Pollastri, who is Italian, and is now living in Geneva for his studies.
- Jaumesse, who was born in Geneva and has Latino American origins.
What’s it all about?
Jaumesse told knowitall.ch,
“We would like to raise Fr. 3,000, to help us produce a song and music video, which celebrates the wonderful diversity of cultures that prevails in Geneva. At the same time, we would like to provide financial assistance to the local, non-profit association, On va parler ensemble, which supports the integration of migrants arriving in Geneva and provides facilities for them to learn French.”
He continued, “Until now, our work has been self-financing. However, we would love to take the project to another level and help the association to finance new activities that will provide additional support for migrants arriving in Geneva.”
On 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect across the European Union. After this date, all companies must ensure full compliance with the new data protection laws. Failure to comply could lead to fines and further action, so it is vital that businesses act now.
Data protection is a big deal to consumers, so businesses need to act now and ensure they are compliant with the GDPR. Companies that suffer data breaches where consumer data is stolen will often see catastrophic losses, and a huge fall in customer confidence. Almost three quarters of consumers say they would boycott a company if they felt it did not take data protection seriously.
What is the GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation is an EU directive which is designed to replace the 1995 Data Protection Directive. The GDPR is designed to hold businesses to higher standards when it comes to protecting customers’ personal data. This includes strict rules on keeping IP addresses and browser cookies safe from hackers, as well as ensuring that contact details and account details are protected.
If you’re a woman working in the field of digital technology, it can sometimes feel like you are working alone in a male-dominated industry. As technology advances at an ever-increasing rate, there is a real need to keep up with the latest trends by meeting other digital professionals facing the same challenges - but the opportunities have not always been there, at least not until the association Women in Digital Switzerland was launched!
Recognising the need to help women working in roles that require up-to-date knowledge of the latest digital trends, Digital Transformation Specialist, Taïssa Charlier, created a special group on LinkedIn back in 2013 to help them connect and share ideas. The group became so popular with women living and working in Switzerland that Taïssa decided to create a special association 3 years later – Women in Digital Switzerland (WDS) - with fellow digital specialists, Kelly Hungerford and Natacha Gajdoczki.
The role of Women in Digital Switzerland
Kelly told us, “Our goal was simple: to build a community of women working in digital across Switzerland, and organize events for them so that they can meet and network, share knowledge through discussions and presentations, and inspire or be inspired by others.”
The natural outcome of the association being formed has been the creation of a Swiss competency center for women working in digital roles, who are now being increasingly called upon to speak at special digital events and take up positions of leadership within companies.
