Be yourself - everyone else is taken 🫶
It was a cold, early morning in London the day I had my first Skype interview for a role in Singapore. I was bundled up in my home office, with a blanket on my lap when the question came:
"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒?"
Given my work is in comms, I remember my response being something along the lines of getting to grips with the local culture and media. In other words, making sure I could keep pace with my would-be Singaporean colleagues when advising clients.
It didn't seem to put them off. Shortly afterwards, I got a job offer - and off to Singapore I went. ✈️
The first few weeks were a blur - desperately trying to attend every mixer, read every newspaper, wander through the hawkers and food courts to keep my finger on the pulse. What do Singaporeans care about? Who are the influencers? How do I blend in?
Yet the moment I stepped into a meeting between locals, I felt lost. While they were comparing schools and contact lists, I was there wondering how I'd ever fill that gap.
Then a couple of months or so into the role, a simple comment from one of my colleagues changed 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.
We were comparing notes for a project brief - a client had a c-suite executive from the States flying into town, and they wanted to secure some interviews. It would be the first time that executive had come to Singapore, but they would need to give at least some topline pointers on what the business was doing locally.
I gave my colleague my two cents on some of the cultural differences I'd picked up on and what the executive might need to know to hit the right notes.
Afterwards, she smiled and said: "This has been so helpful. I take so many of these things for granted, it's hard to know what's 'Singaporean' versus common knowledge!"
It was my 💡eureka💡 moment. The light at the end of the tunnel.
I realised, all this time, I'd been trying to be Singaporean.
But I wasn't hired for my knowledge of Singapore.
I was hired for my knowledge of the West.
And the best thing I could do for the company was to own that.
These days, I know my way around a hawker (my go-to is minced pork noodles). I find myself singing along to NDP songs. Occasionally, a 𝑐𝑎𝑛 or 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 slips out of my mouth. Slowly but surely, Singapore is becoming a part of my being.
But I remember that the goal is not to change who I am to fit into the crowd.
Instead, it's about embracing everything that I am - all my experiences, all my travels, all the places I've known and loved - and using that knowledge as a bridge to offer fresh perspectives.
I'd love to hear from you - have you ever felt tempted to change yourself to fit into a box? What happened when you let that go and decided to simply be yourself? 💪
#GlobalMindset #CulturalIntelligence #InternationalCareers #BeYourself
