The Entrepreneur’s Corner is one of the new and exciting initiatives of the European Professional Women’s Network. Its objective is to ensure that the needs and interests of the entrepreneurs in the network are being met – which is certainly especially important given the current economic climate.

To support this initiative, EPWN invites you to a brainstorming session on 28th of April facilitated by Ursula Brinkmann. The session is intended to gather and collate all ideas, needs, interests, concerns that you as a self-employed EPWN member, as one of our entrepreneurs, have identified, and to communicate the outcome of the session to the EPWN board.

Ursula will guide you through the process of Silent Brainstorming, conducted in groups of about 7 participants. Whatever comes up during the brainstorming session we will then cluster together and prioritize in an engaging, commitment-building process. Ursula has used this approach several times in her own training interventions and just the method alone is worth trying out!

Ursula is co-founder and director of Intercultural Business Improvement Ltd, a consultancy and training firm specialized in intercultural management development.

Ursula has been delivering courses and presentations for a number of public and private organizations. One of her recent assignments consisted of workshops on Managing Dutch-German cultural differences for the integration teams involved in a major cross-border acquisition. In 2007/2008 she was responsible for an integration program for a European corporation; the program combined training, individual assessment, coaching as well as networking events for 180 managers.

Together with Oscar van Weerdenburg, Ursula developed the Intercultural Readiness Check (IRC), a questionnaire assessing four key intercultural competences. The IRC has been widely recognized in the academic and business communities, and its database by now is one of the largest sources of information on intercultural competences world-wide.

BLINQ
Kleine Gartmanplantsoen 5
1017 RP Amsterdam
Leidseplein
Tel: +31 (0)20 330 4000
http://www.blinq-amsterdam.nl/

Anita and I will meet in the bar around 19:00 and when sufficient folks arrive we will move upstairs to the restaurant. Just ring if you think you’ve missed us.

OBA (the Bieb)
Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam
Oosterdokskade 143
1011 DL Amsterdam

Happy New Year
This is your chance to come borrel with the Amsterdam board.
Ideas, brainstorm, feedback, questions are welcome.

We’ll all be on hand to talk with you about the organization, logistics, planning, future board positions, what’s happening with the federation, and how you can help to grow and to sustain the organization with your participation. “Club business” and updates.

We will meet in the New Library – next to Amsterdam Centraal Station
(same as last year). Join us on the top floor at the bar for tapas and beverages in the La Place Restaurant.

We have also reserved a meeting room – on the 6th floor.

We really enjoyed the productive discussions last year in this format.
Please join us again!

New Year, New Chances.

Proost!

Misunderstandings, irritations, feelings of exclusion and a sense of inferiority, are daily challenges for non-native English speakers trying to communicate in the language of global business. What exactly happens and how can global organizations help employees become more effective in this intercultural language and its various communication styles?

Vast amounts of skill, expertise and knowledge remains hidden in organizations because of language and cultural barriers. Native Spanish, German, Dutch, Turkish, Chinese or Bahasa Indonesia speakers all make a daily effort to understand, speak and write English. Native English speakers try to understand the many variants of non-native speakers.

Together we try to get used to each other’s accents and accept the language mistakes inevitably made. We try to figure out what a good translation would be for a particular expression and how the words are to be interpreted and valued in our own language. We get lost in translation.

On many occasions the native English speakers form the majority at international meetings. They patiently watch how non-native speakers demolish their native language and still praise them on their command of English. Are native English speakers aware of the difficulties non-native speakers face and how this affects their feelings and the dynamics of a discussion or debate?

Download the poster

A recent survey of global CEO’s found that leaders in every industry and in every part of the world are emerging from a period of retrenchment and moving towards a vision of sustained growth, and that innovation is the preferred path to achieving that growth. Innovation has regained its central place in corporate life.

Dr. Fons Trompenaars will show how a winning team is made up of individuals who can demonstrate different strengths and, in fact, if a team does not embrace these different strengths, then it will not have the important dynamic to move forward and to innovate. For twenty years Fons Trompenaars has been interviewing leaders around the world, conducting seminars and advising their companies. His conclusions demonstrate how successful leaders have developed cross-cultural competences, the ability to ride what he calls “the waves of culture” and to reconcile the dilemmas involved.

Fons Trompenaars will show how to make culture work for your business. Listed regularly as one of the world’s most influential management thinkers, Trompenaars is recognized internationally for his work as consultant, trainer, motivational speaker and author of bestsellers on culture and business. Captivating and thought-provoking in his presentation style and backed by rigorous research, Trompenaars has contributed many breakthrough ideas on the deeper understanding and reconciliation of inter and intra-cultural diversity, creativity and innovation. Participants will learn how to deal with cross-cultural challenges and dilemmas as well as how to embrace an evolving innovation culture. Leaders must adopt new approaches to make them, their teams and their business more sustainable in these ‘whirlwind’ times.

Fons Trompenaars is author of the seminal book ‘Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business’. His latest bestseller ‘Riding the Whirlwind’, is a blueprint for developing a supportive culture that reinforces creativity and innovation for long term sustainability.

Participants are welcome to network from 19:00 to 20:00. The program begins at 20:00.

Registration and Guest Policy: Registration is required for members (no charge) and guests (guests are welcome at a cost of 45 Euro or ladies can become a member for a little extra). Snacks and drinks included. Guests are allowed to attend two EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam functions per year.

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Watch Fons Trompenaars on Innovation:

From NRC on October 22, 2009, pointing to the list of “100 Most Powerful Women” from Opzij magazine, covering areas such as public works, politics, sports, law, business, healthcare, education, culture, media, and non-profit:

• Zapkliklees: De honderd vrouwen met meeste invloed
• De 100 Machtigste Vrouwen van Nederland

RaaR beginning 19:00 in the Hague

How to Improve Your Relationships at Work Using ‘The Work’ of Byron Katie by Sagar Simon

“My Boss doesn’t listen.”
“No one does what I ask.”
“My boss doesn’t appreciate me.”

Thoughts like these enter our minds throughout the day and cause us to experience stress, anger, fear, depression, and other negative emotions. When we live with these thoughts, our lives become difficult, painful, and confusing. Whether you are having difficulty with someone in your life, or simply tired of feeling anxious about seeking love, approval, and appreciation from others, this workshop is for you.

This workshop is designed to give you the experience of applying the work of Byron Katie’s four questions and turnarounds to your stressful thoughts in your work place, about relationships with co-workers, employers and employees that lead to anxiety, anger, depression, and an inability to act with clarity.

The Work, is a way to end confusion, miscommunication and frustration in the work place. Through 4 simple questions and a turn around, you will learn to free yourself from stress and feelings of being unappreciated or the daily unhealthy frustrations of work situations. You will learn to apply this technique to any situation that arises. Come and join me for this evening if you want to challenge your thinking.

This workshop is about identifying and recognizing thoughts that cause us stress at work. Most of the time we recognize the emotion or the feeling but you don’t recognize the thought that drives you.

PLEASE NOTE: This evening is not for everybody. Some people don’t agree with the work of Byron Katie. To find out if it is something for you, please download and read the excerpt of her book, Loving What Is , before you sign up for the event.

Also, if possible, fill out the Judge Your Neighbor worksheet before you come to the workshop. And there will be time to fill it out at the workshop.

You can find valuable information:

• about me at: www.changeyourmindchangeyourlife.org
• on The Work at: www.thework.com
• additional resources found here: Byron Katie - More Resources

Join us for the 5th year of on the beach dining at

Take Five Restaurant at Zandvoort aan Zee
Easily reachable by train from Amsterdam.
Gorgeous walk along the boardwalk.
Parking also nearby.

From outside of Amsterdam area? Stay the night also – make a date of it. Lots of B&B’s in the neighborhood.

www.tfaz.nl

Please update your reservation – this restaurant “sells out” on a regular basis. Chairs are a bit of a commodity at dinner time.

ONLY TWO TICKETS TO THE OPERA LEFT
CALL ME IF YOU WANT TO JOIN FRIDAY NIGHT

We’ll arrange the boats in Akkrum. We’ll host you at our home or nearby (depends on the number of folks that want to sail). Please indicate if you are qualified to skipper a boat yourself or if you prefer to crew. Both Mireille & myself are qualified sailing instructors so the two of us can manage a total of 8 folks ourselves: more if we get more skippers.

Come for the weekend to Friesland.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON (21 August)
We’ve picked an out-of-doors Opera in a nearby nature preserve for Friday evening. You are responsible for the tickets independent of the sailing. Please contact them directly before the 20th of July in
Amsterdam and do let us know you need a sleeping place.

Opera details:
De Parijse schilder van Domenico Climarosa 18:15 arrival to Friesland means you need to be out of the city by 15:30

*Dutch* Language Opera – performed out-of-doors in the Nature preserve Rottige Meente in Nijetrijne.
Produced by Yvon Scheper

Make your own reservations on line www.opera-nijetrijne.nl
Email : info@operanijetrijne.nl

TEL: 020-6646454

Voor 20 juli graag bellen naar: 020-6646454
Na 20 juli graag bellen naar: 0561-481690

tickets (including some refreshment) 62.50 paid directly to the Opera folks

SATURDAY (22 August) Mid Day SAILING 12:00
We’ll begin with an easy brunch and walk over to the harbor.
This will also give folks a chance to arrive from Amsterdam (2.25 hrs by train, 1.75 hrs by car).

SATURDAY Evening Dinner

SUNDAY Morning sailing again for the die-hards.

SUNDAY Afternoon/Evening departure back to Amsterdam