My arrival in Shanghai, was met with an interesting "encounter" with taxi driver at the Pudong airport. Offered me a cigarette in the cab, i declined, he then light up his. Sitting at rear seems like my mistake of that day as the smoke was blown from the front to the rear.
Patience, patience, patience. Showed my displeasure indirectly.
Checking in the hotel that cold morning was another "encounter".
First impression is crucial, especially for the very first encounter. My thoughts started to wonder, that i should get out of this city ! Been a cold encounter. A dose of human warmth certainly would have done wonders.
Checked the training room and setup the day before training day. Setup seems all good. The next morning, i was shocked when told only 1
flipchart was allocated to our training room. No table for myself and my laptop.
What to do then ? Shall i lose my temperament ? Shall i give my piece of mind strongly to the guy wearing bow tie and crumpled jacket ? 15
mins to training.
Being mindful of my words, i chose them carefully. Mindful of my different mandarin accent and possibly incorrect mandarin, i spoke slowly to ensure clarity yet assertively and humbly requested for his kind assistance. Perhaps that generated some sympathy.
Voila !
We eventually had 5
flipcharts, a small table for my laptop. My first session in Shanghai went on smoothly. How would it be if i had been rude, i wonder ?
A lively group after warmed up, with diverse job functions and experience. Some functional groups are : HR, manufacturing, customer service, supply chain, field operations.
The highest speed of my travel on land so far. Between Shanghai and Hangzhou.
This was only possible with the assistance of my 2 students, Zhang Meng and Ding Yi. Thanks guys !
The bullet train. Impressive isn't it ?
This training session had some awesome learnings. Some real explosive emotions showed during role play sessions. Happened during a group to group role play session and a role play between 2 individuals.
