Recently, I was asked if I had some nice Dutch business ideas to implement in Brazil. And do you know my answer?

 

A straightforward “no”.

 

Not that I don’t think there’s anything new to be implemented from one country to the other, but sometimes my brain doesn’t put a filter between my thoughts and my mouth. 

 

The result is that my thoughts come out in a completely different way than I wish.

 

Since I was younger and shorter than I am today, I already knew that my writing skills would be much better than my “speaking” skills. 

 

When I got a little bit older, I was put in a couple of leadership situations that allowed me to overcome my shy side and almost fully control my communication skills – always with butterflies in my stomach.

 

But still, my writer side always shined the most.

 

As you can see, I should have been able to provide a better response., But I couldn’t. Simply because I was confronted with a question that I was not prepared to give a full answer to.

 

This is a typical situation where I miss some communication skills that I only possess in Portuguese.

 

As a Sourcer, my writing skills should translate into nice contact messages to candidates. Which I am good at. But I admit that in English, these writing skills do not always come naturally.

 

Do you know this feeling when you are really busy and new things just keep popping up? In these moments, I always struggle to write good messages.

 

The Dutch business ideas question caught me by surprise in the same way, and therefore I confusingly answered it.

 

I did write some confusing messages to candidates in the past – sorry for that, by the way -.

 

Then, of course, I had to answer their confusion. Sometimes a message that I may judge as a very good one, does not translate like that to a candidate.

  

Sourcing is living proof that a message is more about who will receive it than who is writing it.

 

If you already live/lived abroad or if you are even just surrounded by international people, you know what I am talking about.

 

You will only understand some cultural traits if you live long enough in the same place and have native people in your private circle.

 

However, there are no communication skills to overcome a Dutch native speaker with another Dutch native, the same way that there are not enough skills to overcome a Brazilian speaking with another Brazilian… or a Greek with another Greek, Italian with another Italian (+ the hands) etc.

 

When it comes to Linkedin messages, “I can give my jumps”, as Brazilians say when they need to figure something out. But when it comes to English speaking in real-time, it’s something else.

 

In the worst-case scenario, I can always use the universal language of apologies.

 

And in the best-case scenario, someone will correct me, and I will learn something new.

 

See you next month!

Te vejo no próximo mês!

Tot volgende maand!

Ci vediamo il mese prossimo!

Do zobaczenia za miesiąc!

Τα λέμε σε ένα μήνα!

——-

 

P.S. I asked my husband the same Dutch business question, now in Portuguese, and I received a straightforward “yes”.