Even though I had learned English at school in Germany for nine years, my English language skills did not really deserve to be called fluent. I needed a dictionary to get my work done. One morning one of the female attorneys was sighing in her office. When looking up the word in the dictionary, I found two verbs – to sigh and to groan. So I just yelled from my office to her: ”Annakaye, why are you groaning”? A second later on, a few secretaries and attorneys were virtually on the floor laughing their heads off. There was no doubt that I had picked the wrong word. As one secretary put it: ”Women only groan in bed”.

Many years later on, after spending loads of years in the English speaking world, I am now more fluent in English than in German. It has taught me another lesson: Again, the lesson is quite simple. If you are keen on really learning a foreign language, you have to live and work some time in a country where the language is spoken. In English classes at school, I learned to read and interpret Shakespeare and Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”. But I did not really become fluent in English there. Just spend some time in a foreign country and you will learn the language more or less automatically.

Anyway, another aspect of my learning to act at an international level in Miami was that the partners of the firm regularly took me to luncheons and cocktail parties. Besides enjoying the entertainment there, I also learned small talk in English and how to make the right joke at the right time. Years later on, all this is a piece of cake.

Johannesburg

Another person who contributed to shaping my values and convictions is the managing director of the consulting firm I worked for in Johannesburg after getting admitted to the bar in Germany. Like me, he is German and a lawyer by background. After graduating from law school in Germany, he did some more studies in London, Paris and New York. Eventually he ended up working for a large international commercial law firm in Johannesburg until he did his own thing and set up his consulting firm. 

Once more, he confirms my impression. Spend some time overseas and you get a little more relaxed and nonchalant. You can be very professional at the same time. It is no contradictions in terms at all.

The outfit he set up in Johannesburg is a legal, business and management consultancy with an emphasis on cross – border mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. My work there revolved primarily around drafting shareholders’ and license agreements as well as other agreements for this sort of business activities. It also included some work on currency and investment details like the Financial and Commercial Rand. Readers who are familiar with the business environment in South Africa may recall that the South African currency was artificially divided into the Financial and Commercial Rand to attract foreign investment.

However, in our little chats every now and then about all sorts of things my boss in Johannesburg once made a remark I now agree with. It is another lesson that I have learned. I even included it in my remarks for a students’ yearbook this summer when students asked my to write something for their yearbook. Again, the lesson is quite simple. But it is beyond many people’s ability to comprehend. It is this: In terms of work, do what you want to do. Do what you identify with. Money will come automatically as a by – product. Do not choose a job or a career because you reckon that it enables you to make a bundle..

Auckland

All the things mentioned above did not really prepare me for my job in Auckland. My job in Auckland revolved primarily around selling and marketing medical insurance to businessmen. A little more precisely, the purpose of the exercise was most frequently to replace insurance policies from companies whose premiums had been skyrocketing with policies that were more competitive in terms of both premiums and cover. 

As the New Zealand business environment is very deregulated, a bunch of insurance companies and brokerages were trying “to get a foot in the door”. Most of them were trying to use income protection or key man insurance as a door opener because there was more money to be made with these products in the short term. As often, I did not follow the crowd and used medical insurance as a door opener because there was a market for competitive medical insurance. Once medical insurance had opened the door, every now and then it also led to income protection or key man insurance. But not always.

Anyway, first I had “to get a foot in the door”. I had to develop my own business of course. When you know how to do it properly, a very effective way to open doors is cold calling. I did it several hours every week and fine tuned it to an art form. When cold calling, do it in an environment where you feel most comfortable. The more comfortable you feel when cold calling, the more relaxed and successful you are. I always did it in my office in downtown Auckland with a choice view at the waterfront – barefoot because I feel barefoot most comfortable.

Quite a bunch of people do not like cold calling. They are afraid of it. It is as often in life. Do not do what everybody else does. Do what everybody else does and you get what everybody else gets. Do what most people are afraid of doing and they want to have what you have got. That sentence has more than one meaning. In a nutshell, sales to new clients – generated by cold calling – is a very sexy niche in sales. You just need a little maturity and backbone. The ability to think on your feet does no harm either.

Colima

The former CEO of General Electric – Jack Welch – wrote and published a book that is worth reading and chatting about. The title of the book is “Jack: Straight From The Gut”. In this book Jack explores what it takes to be a great leader. He uses his career as a backdrop for his ideas. In “Jack: Straight From The Gut” Jack emphasizes the significance of informality and self – confidence. He points out that an informal atmosphere liberates. He distinguishes between arrogance and legitimate self – confidence and concludes that the latter is a winner.

That is more or less how I try to run my classes at ITESM in Colima. My classes are rather small, which makes everything a little easier. Informality is not only about first names and casual clothes. But this sort of thing helps. Self – confidence implies the courage to be open. It implies not being afraid of having your opinions challenged. Based on my teaching experience of a little more than two years so far, it seems to work very well – for both students and my humble self.

The key is sometimes to do things differently and deviate a little from the rule. For example, when you live in the tropics why should you have your classes always in the classroom? Every now and then it creates a pleasant change to have the class outside on the lawn.

Concluding Thoughts

Life is very exciting for some people. Life is less exciting for other people. It often depends on what you make of your life. Life of some people is less exciting because they are afraid. The author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad” – Robert Kiyosaki – speaks of the fear of ostracism. According to Robert, the fear of ostracism is the fear of being different. In New Zealand it is called the “Tall Poppy Syndrome”. In investments the fear of ostracism results in the thundering herd mentality. Just look at the dotcom bubble. We can also call it the stupidity of the crowd.

The point of all this? Do not be afraid of being different. Do not follow the crowd. Do find your own way. My favourite musician put it very well  in one of his songs. His name is Johnny Cash. The song is “I Walk The Line”.