
Politics and Society Articles on Social, Political, Cultural Awareness and Historical Issues

Every aspect of global communication is influenced by cultural differences
Business leaders know that intercultural savvy is vitally important – not just because they have to deal increasingly with globalization, but also because the work force within their own national borders is growing more and more diverse.
Culture is, basically, a set of shared values that a group of people holds. Such values affect how you think and act and, more importantly, the kind of criteria by which you judge others. Cultural meanings render some behaviors as normal and right and others strange or wrong. (The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help – or Hurt – How You Leaddevotes two chapters to the nonverbal aspects of cross-cultural communication. On my next post I’ll cover some of the body language nuances of global business meetings.)

Contemporary Wedding Photography Tips
1. Tell us briefly about yourself
My name is Andreas Schroeder. Born and raised in Berlin, in what was East Germany but have now been living for the past seven years in London with my wife Nana and our ginger cat Mopsi.
2. How did you get into photography?
I started getting involved in photography at the age of 14 with a real SLR, the EXA 1B, manufactured in East Germany/Saxon. As the model used celluloid film, I explored the world of darkrooms. Due to the laborious nature developing the negative to print, I took care from the moment I pressed the shutter button, following the process of putting the film into in all the chemicals until I had the final picture in my hand.

A friend of mine laments that work would be great if only there were no other people there!
No matter where we work, we will work with others. Often, those relationships are cordial if not friendly, but there can be challenges. You will not love all of your business co-workers, and some will be downright nasty.
Bullying doesn't just happen in schools. More frequent incidents of co-workers who bully others are being reported. When co-workers turn nasty it can make for an uncomfortable, if not dangerous, working environment; but there are ways to handle the situation so that it doesn't get out of hand.
So what to do with a nasty co-worker? Here are some tools:

Unless you are planning to become an actor, I see no reason to try to get rid of your accent as long as you speak clearly
This is a prerequisite for success. It does not matter where you live or what language is your mother tongue.
Along with your education and experience, your communication skills are paramount in securing a job. Assuming that you are qualified for the position you have landed, your communication skills will take precedence over everything else. No matter how great your abilities, if your words are not being understood the first time you say it, then your lack of clarity in speaking will place you on questionable footing with your company.
Let's say that you are living in Germany but were born in China. Unless the company for which you are seeking employment is an international firm, the chances are likely that Deutsch will be the language you will be speaking. If your accent is so heavy that your Deutsch is hard to understand, than the firm will probably hire the candidate whose articulation and pronounciation is better than yours.

Coco Chanel said: "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."
Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel had a wonderful taste for luxury: in the way she conducted her life, in clothes and hats she created, in jewelry, in furniture she surrounded herself with. But she was also known for her extraordinary sense of smell and her love for perfume.
"When someone offers me a flower, I can smell the hands that picked them," she said. "A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future." These words of a French poet Paul Valery would become one of her famous slogans. She believed that the droplets of perfume applied behind the ear, on the back of a wrist and in the hollow of a shoulder, were a must for any elegant woman.