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Neil Miller November 24, 2015 Filed Under: #GreyIsWhite, Podcast, Team Management

Episode 13: Craig Storti

Podcast

As you can tell if you listen to this podcast, I was really excited to get to have a personal conversation with Craig Storti. It was only after reading his book, Speaking of India, that I was first able to pinpoint some of the unique challenges that face anyone working with India.

Craig, who started out as a US Peace Corps volunteer, is extremely down-to-earth, and shares a lot of the wisdom he has gained over his many years.

 

Here are some highlights:

  • Why being an expat doesn’t qualify you for cultural understanding
  • What’s in the new edition of Speaking of India?
  • Virtual working tips
  • How different India is today vs. the Y2K years
  • Why the best advice is still to pick up the phone
  • The current state of intercultural training
  • What Craig still struggles with about India

 

We reference a few articles in this conversation that you can find here:

  • Training tips in India
  • Why I Wouldn’t Spend $500 on Cross-Cultural Training
  • Grey is White

 

You can find Craig’s website here, and all of his books on Amazon here.

http://media.blubrry.com/workingwithindia/p/podcast.learningindia.in/Episodes/Ep13Storti.mp3

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Neil Miller September 28, 2015 Filed Under: #PowerPlays, On the Job, Podcast

Episode 12: Carissa Hickling

Podcast

 

“Bureaucracy is a lot of little people trying to follow the rules as they interpret it.”

 

Meet Carissa Hickling, Mumbai’s own Whisky Lady, and the 12th guest on the Working With India podcast. Carissa runs her own consulting firm, and has been in India for over 20 years.

In this episode you will hear:

  • The benefits and limits to being a foreigner in India
  • How to take 5 years to remove money from a Provident Fund
  • Why ‘suggesting’ something be done doesn’t usually cut it in India
  • When it’s ok to blur the professional and personal lines

 

You can reach Carissa on

  • LinkedIn
  • EverydayAsia.com (her general observations)
  • WhiskyLady

 

You can listen to the show in this player, or through iTunes.

http://media.blubrry.com/workingwithindia/p/podcast.learningindia.in/Episodes/Ep12Carissa.mp3

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Neil Miller August 24, 2015 Filed Under: #PowerPlays, #TimeIsEternal, On the Job, Podcast, Team Management

Episode 11: Patrick De Ridder

 

“Calling me on a Sunday is a sign of…”

Your first answer might be rudeness, unprepared thinking, or an invasion of privacy.

But add 17 years onto your India journey and you end this sentence with “respect”.

 

Podcast

Meet Patrick De Ridder, a student of Indian business and philosophy, and the next guest on Working with India. He came to India in 1997 and has stayed on, starting a business consulting company in 2006 for French, Belgian, and Dutch companies entering India.

Patrick was destined to be a “librarian writing books on philosophy” before India captured his imagination. [Read more…]

http://media.blubrry.com/workingwithindia/p/podcast.learningindia.in/Episodes/Ep11Patrick.mp3

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Neil Miller July 21, 2015 Filed Under: #See1See100, Cultural Adaptation, Podcast

Episode 10: Sven and Charlotta

Podcast

 

Some paths in India are straight, others are squiggly.

Sven Brandelik and Charlotta Osterberg-Mohandas both started their journeys in India with internships through AIESEC in 2007. Eight years later, Sven helps German-speaking companies create the right strategy for deeper engagement with India and Charlotta teaches yoga to individuals and corporations. Both of them have great stories of how they got to this point and open up on this episode of Working with India.

In this episode, you will hear:

  • Why comparing cultures is terrible for your cultural adjustment
  • What Charlotta means when she tells people that “Yoga is not for health”
  • How Indians really don’t need to be taught how to be direct
  • Important tips for maintaining relationships in India
  • Sven’s easy-to-remember model for networking in India

You can contact Sven on his LinkedIn page, and also check out his website, Nimble Networker where he created a complete training course for how to build relationships in India. (Only a German could create such a precise science out of something so intangible!)

Check out Charlotta’s pages under the brand name YogYug: Blog, Instagram, Facebook.

 

 

http://media.blubrry.com/workingwithindia/p/podcast.learningindia.in/Episodes/Ep10SvenCharlotta.mp3

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Neil Miller June 8, 2015 Filed Under: #ChaosBeatsLogic, #PowerPlays, #TimeIsEternal, On the Job, Podcast

Episode 9: Amar Vyas

Podcast

 

Sometimes it’s nice to know you aren’t the only one…

When you come to India for the first time, you may wonder if you are the only one who notices the massive differences: the cows on the road, the work culture, the late night dinners. Is it ok to point them out? Can you laugh about them or is that taboo?

It’s always nice when someone else confirms that things are different, hard, and great.

Today’s Working With India podcast is with Amar Vyas. His name has been on a few of the latest posts (NRI: Now Returned to India and the Oterap Principle) and this is a chance to hear more from him.

I really enjoyed this conversation because it comes from someone who understands the inside and the outside.

Amar will share about:

  • The huge social risk of going to a town and not visiting family there
  • His initial irritants at moving back to India such as not getting any voicemails
  • A livable response to working with India’s working class
  • Why you might want to think twice before ignoring that call from a colleague on a Sunday
  • Why patience in India is the best skill you can have

Here are some of the links mentioned in the podcast:

  • The Return to India Club: r2iclubforums.com
  • Amar’s book on Amazon: Amazon.in or Amazon.com
  • Amar’s author website: Amarvyas.in

 

http://media.blubrry.com/workingwithindia/p/podcast.learningindia.in/Episodes/Ep9Vyas.mp3

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Neil Miller May 4, 2015 Filed Under: #ThinSkinned, On the Job, Podcast

Episode 8: David Peace

Podcast

 

There are many types of expats in India, but knowing which ones to trust for advice can be hard.

Ideally, you are looking for someone who has been living here for more than five years, has good business experience, a decent level of cultural knowledge, and isn’t prone to overreaction.

David Peace has lived in Delhi since 2001, has run his own company here for 14 years, teaches cross-cultural knowledge, and might be the most level-headed person I know. So he’s basically ideal in every way.

In this month’s Working With India Podcast, I interview David Peace, the founder of Shanti Consulting and an all-around great guy.

David and I talk about a lot of great things, but here are the ones you won’t want to miss:

  • How to instantly build credibility with a room of 25 or more Indians waiting to hear you speak
  • What Indians really mean when they say they are ‘sentimental’
  • What the inner workings of an Indian HR department look like
  • Tips for negotiating in India where everything is up for discussion
  • The difference between adapting and adding value

A big apology for the audio in this program. David sounds great, but there was apparently some trouble with my microphone I did not realize. Still, there are a lot of insights to get out of this.

 

Here’s where you can find out more about David:

  • Shanti Consulting’s website
  • David’s LinkedIn Profile

 

http://media.blubrry.com/workingwithindia/p/podcast.learningindia.in/Episodes/Ep8Peace.mp3

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Neil Miller April 6, 2015 Filed Under: #IndiasNotIndia, On the Job, Podcast, Team Management

Episode 7: Gunjan Bagla, The India Expert

Podcast

“If you come back from India thinking that all is well, then you haven’t learned a thing.”

 

That’s the advice from Gunjan Bagla, the Indian Expert, in this episode of the Working with India Podcast. This is one of my favorite episodes so far, as we covered a wide variety of topics in great depth. Here’s another great quote:

“Don’t assume it’s always ok to call your Indian counterpart in the middle of the American day just because they took the first four calls and didn’t complain.”

 

Just a few of the things you should listen out for:

  • Gunjan’s advice for motivating Indian teams
  • How many trips you should expect to take to India before you find some traction
  • The single piece of upcoming legislation that might have more economic impact than anything since 1991
  • Which materials are great to read/watch before coming to India and which ones are worthless
  • A good measure for how often you should be travelling to India if you manage a team here

 

Here are some links to find out more about Gunjan:

  • His Wikipedia page
  • Company page for Amritt, Inc.
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • The India Expert blog
  • The book: Doing Business in 21st Century India on Amazon.com and Amazon.in

 

You can listen in the player below, or subscribe on iTunes.

 

http://media.blubrry.com/workingwithindia/p/podcast.learningindia.in/Episodes/Ep7Bagla.mp3

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Neil Miller March 2, 2015 Filed Under: #PowerPlays, #See1See100, On the Job, Podcast, Team Management

Episode 6: Jessica Kumar

Podcast

Starting points are pretty varied in India.

You are a man in your 50s who is coming in as the CEO of a new division.

You are a retired woman in your 60s who is ready to start a new adventure.

You are a young married couple getting some international exposure in your roles.

 

Each starting place comes with its own challenges; you must learn where you fit in Indian society and what rules apply to you. It takes time to learn these and some are easier than others.

But hands-down, the hardest of all the starting points is the young unmarried female manager.

Everything is leveraged against her. Indian management is still dominated by men (although this is slowly changing). Socially, most people are more concerned if she is going to get married soon than if she is capable of doing a good job. Because she is young and female, it is an uphill battle in nearly every relationship for her to get respect from people reporting to her without coming across as extremely rude and conceited.

So, I’m always amazed when I hear of a woman who made it work.

 

This month’s Working With India podcast features Jessica Kumar. She came to work in northern India as a young woman in her early 20s. She worked as a team-lead in several functions and got deeply involved in the culture and work life of India.

 

Here’s why you need to listen to this podcast:

  • Jessica is one of the few outsiders who completely embraced language learning and is fluent in Hindi. (She shares some great tips.)
  • She has perhaps the best advice for anyone trying to find their place in Indian society, regardless of their starting point.
  • She’s married to an Indian, and intimately knows the ins and outs of a joint family (though her first exposure might surprise you).
  • If you don’t listen to her story about how she learned a cultural lesson the hard way, you are likely to repeat it yourself.

Here was my favorite quote from the show: “If you pick a particular role or way people see you, it generally sticks for life.” Listen now to understand what she means.

You can listen in the player below, or subscribe on iTunes.

 

(A quick note on the audio – we had to switch to a phone about 10 minutes into our conversation, so you will notice that the sound quality changes all of a sudden.)

 

Here’s where you can find more from Jessica:

  • Her blog – globalnomadism.com
  • The article she references in the show:
  • Some of her articles elsewhere:
    • Making a point with Interracial Marriage
    • ‘Firangi Bahu’: Does it really represent Indian/Western marriages?
    • 3 Reasons Why We Need to Change Our Minds About Bihar

 

http://media.blubrry.com/workingwithindia/p/podcast.learningindia.in.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Episodes/Ep6JessicaKumar.mp3

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© Neil A. Miller, LearningIndia.in, and Madras Media Marketing LLC 2013-2015. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given.