写这篇blog的时候，我还在从成都飞回上海的飞机上。傍晚时分，航班上的人并不多，我坐在靠窗的座位，邻座的两个位置都空着。我把包里的pocketbook看完时，两个多小时的空中旅程才过半。想着，还是写些什么罢…

这次特别来到成都，是应邀做一个活动的交传（The event is highly confidential. I am not in the position to write about or comment on the event any further.）

短暂的逗留时间不到一天，飞抵成都后立马投入准备工作，住在豪华的酒店里，却没有时间来享受。把睡眠时间缩短到四个小时，其他的每一分钟都被用来做充分的准备。As full preparation leads to excellent performance, I’m so relieved and assured to end up the intense day with the big task well-completed。

虽然不能写这个活动，但是这短短的一天还是有其它很多值得我日后回忆的地方。因为这次活动，让我再次与有机会与Katherine合作共事。如果你有读过我写的《Mona Lisa Smile》的影评，一定会记得里面的女主角的名字，Katherine。

就如影片中的Katherine对她的学生来说是一位难得的良师，我生活遇到的Katherine也是这样一位女性。

I’d like to dedicate this article to Katherine Chen, an extraordinary lady who has won my respect and admiration since the day we met. I want to thank for her generosity and guidance. As most great mentors, long after we’ve departed, her words continue to teach me for years.

I share her great thinking and advice with you, my readers, in the hope long after I’ am no longer your teacher, these words will still be with you at that time.

Katherine was my leader back to the days I was working as an intern with a world-leading company. Just as every college student who is fresh in the business world, I was thrilled to earn this experience, but at the same time, I was always at loss.

I had never regarded myself as a shy person until I made my first contact with the vendor and media. My voice was terribly high-pitched, and I couldn’t express myself in a logic way. The terrible conversations on the phone really deflated my ego.

At that time, I was working as an assistant in marketing communications, but for me, the thought of communicating became the most frightening subject in the world.

As my students, you might not be able to imagine – Echo, the one who is now quite natural in public speaking once had a lot of problems in communication. But just as I told you, I was not born to be a good speaker. To become who I am today, I have come a long way. 

In a big contrast, Katherine was a tough and strong business woman who was excellent in negotiation and communication. I couldn’t stop envying her ability to communicate with another person, be it a client, vendor, associate or boss. She was so powerful and the message she delivered was always logic and well-organized.

As my boss, she was tough with me in work, and she has trained me into a perfectionist who would try her best to perform beyond expectation.

As my mentor, she was generous and helpful, and I hope someday I would grow into someone that she would be truly proud of.

Katherine has taught me many lessons that I would carry all my life, and the biggest two I want to share with you here are the most valuable ones for me.

“Once a person stops searching information and knowledge, ignorance sets in.”

I am not sure whether Katherine still remembers these words. But it was really a big lesson to me. Real business world requires great knowledge base and most updated information. As an undergraduate who was green in the related area, what I needed to learn was way too much.

Setting a good example for me, Katherine never stopped furthering her learning. As a manager who had been in the field for five years, she was quite familiar with every process. Each task, big or small, could be handled by her with ease. But she often signed up for new training courses to equip with better understanding in this field.

As she suggested, I took quite a few internal online courses at noon when almost everyone else was taking a rest. Katherine said to me: “Make the best use of the resource to learn, and you will be rewarded in future.” Even if in the days I became capable of handling daily business, I never stopped the journey of learning.

Moreover, Katherine let me know – we can learn so much by watching the way others work. In the working place, so many deals are going on, excellent leadership and working styles are just out there for us to learn, but few of us are active learners.

As I said, I was horrible in communication and negotiation at the beginning. But I came to realize that communication skills, such as writing, speaking and negotiating, were the most important specialized skills in sales and marketing, and might be crucial to a life of success. The better you are at communication, negotiation and handling your fear of rejection, the easier your life will be.

I watched very carefully how Katherine talked on the phone and her way of leading the negotiation. And she might not know that I constantly worked on my talking when back home, and I read quite a few books to expand my knowledge in business conversation.

Copying and emulating role models is a powerful way of learning. After years of practice, now when I’m delivering a public speech or having a business conversation, I’m subconsciously acting with Katherine’s power in communication.

A great leader makes the internship priceless. Just as Katherine suggested me, I advise you to seek internship for what you will learn, more than what you will earn. Think about what skills you want to acquire before choosing a specific profession. And get yourself prepared in the internship by being an active learner.

Do you remember a remark in an audio clip I played in my class? “What goes around comes around.”

I have always trusted the principle of reciprocity, and Katherine made me believe in giving, even further.

I see many people grudge the idea of giving, especially in the business world full of wild competition. But Katherine never hesitates to give me advice and guidance. There was a time when she held a small meeting with me and another intern to share her idea about career development. Just as l said, the lessons she gave me will be carried for a lifetime. And now as I began to have my own students, I truly believe -- “What goes around comes around.”

During the 20 hours when I was in Chengdu, Lexi, one of my students from Chengdu who took the summer course came all the way to the hotel to visit me. I was deeply moved to see her waiting so long to catch my break. Knowing that I would have no time to visit the city, she brought me many special local products which by the way I love very much.

We talked for 10 minutes, and I had to go back to the interpretation task. But what she said to me really made my day. She said the days on the summer course always occurred to her, and now as a teacher herself, she took me as her role model to emulate.

As a Christian, I learn from the Bible that “God does not need to receive, but humans need to give.” It’s true that your world is a mirror of yourself.

I mentioned in the class, “smile, and the world smiles with you.” Whenever I feel that people aren’t smiling at me, I simply begin smiling and saying hello, and like magic, there are suddenly more smiling faces around me.

It is the same when it comes to knowledge, business, love and happiness. If you give first, there is so much you will receive. All you need to be is generous with what you have, and the power of generosity stays with you.

As to Katherine, I believe it was her generosity with what she knew that made her smarter. And in my life of teaching, it’s never been a one-way street. I have learned so much from my students in one way or another. It’s truly rewarding.

Dear Katherine, if you happen to read this article, I hope the message in it will make your day. What goes around comes around. You deserve all my respect and love. Take care.

posted on 2006-11-10 15:50 江晓弘 阅读(11015) 评论(55)  编辑  收藏 所属分类: Echo做同传 、讲台之上 网摘收藏