Greetings one and all,
When I was growing up, I lived in northern New Jersey near a place called Sterling Forest. Playing in the woods, we often came upon old stone fences and ruins of Revolutionary War period homesteads and other installations. I was fascinated to learn about a 1778 incident which occurred in the area and on the near-by Hudson River which was a strategic military focal point at that time. While British ships were headed up the river to create a water-way link between New York and Canada, ironworkers in Sterling Forest and the region forged dozens of links and smelted a gigantic 75 ton chain which was pulled across the river, effectively blocking the ships. The whole improbable story caught my young imagination - and ‘forged’ for me an early appreciation of links!
Being now an avid networker, I get enormous personal and professional satisfaction from all kinds of linking activities. That’s why I have started this weekly ‘connect’ in order to
link with people personally;
link people to helpful resources;
link people with each other in mutually beneficial contexts.
A recent opportunity I had involved all three of these. I gave a presentation about learning strategies for cross-cultural communications as part of a monthly series with my local ATD (Association for Talent Development) chapter.
I had three goals for this webinar reflecting the three linking activities above:
to connect with participants, guiding them through several culturally focused activities
to direct participants to relevant culturally focused resources
to collaborate with participants using cross-cultural perspectives and strategies which are the core of my Global SKILLs learner training kit
Fondly reminiscent of that early introduction to the value of links, I want to introduce you this week to Global SKILLs’ “LINKs” which is being set up to help empower you to be effective cross-cultural communicators and global community builders by providing resources, culturally relevant insights and networking opportunities.
And to get started, I offer you the following LINKs:
Person to person: A free 30 minute consultation session (via zoom, WhatsApp or phone) to explore how Global SKILLs might serve your cross-cultural needs - contact me by replying to this email.
Resources: check out lots of great business development resources on the ATD website:
3. Intercultural Communication: I'd be happy to share my PPT slides and more details
from my ATD presentation with you. Email me.
4. Collaborating: I’m really excited about several global community building initiatives which are taking shape as we all move forward beyond surviving the initial covid onslaught to thriving in this new world we are facing...let me know if you’d like to join in.
AND, if you’re interested, here’s a link to one account of the “Great Chain” story I shared!
Have a great week, linking in whatever ways you enjoy!
Until next week,
Betsy
Elizabeth Barbour
Consultant, Global SKILLs
betsy.barbour@gmail.com