QUALITY FIRST IMPRESSIONS  

As the business world slowly reopens post-Covid, many people are finding the need for in-person connections for job interviews, first day on the job, career fairs or maybe networking events. Whatever the reason for your face-to-face interactions, be prepared to make your connection a standout exchange. Here are six steps to help you make quality first impressions as you approach others.

Stand during an introduction- Unless you are at the dining table or have some impairment that might cause difficulty doing so, you should stand. It is not only a professional thing to do; it’s a courteous gesture that shows respect to the other person. It lets the other person know you are eager to meet them.

Smile – It improves your face value! A smile is a universal language. You may be wearing a designer dress or a custom-tailored suit, but a warm smile is a valuable and positive feature that will add volumes to your appearance. It lets others know you are friendly.

Make Eye Contact – Avoid looking down at the floor or the scenery behind the person. Look people in their eyes during an introduction and when holding a conversation with them. It helps build your confidence and shows your interest in others—many people with low self-esteem struggle in this area. If you need help, try this tip; when talking with someone, look at the bridge of the person’s nose. It looks like you are still looking into their eyes.

Shake Hands – It shows excellent manners to shake hands with the person you meet. Shake with your right hand, which is acceptable by most cultures globally.

Shake for approximately 2-3 seconds or two up and down hand pumps. No wimpy wilted fish handshakes and no bone-crushing ones either! If you tend to have clammy hands, dry them before shaking someone’s hand. Keep a handkerchief or tissue in your hand for a quick dry-off before a shake. No one wants to shake a wet hand.

Say Your Name – Say both your first and last names. If you have an honorific or title such as Dr. or Mrs. or a designation such as PhD, M.D., or Esq., avoid using it for yourself while making general introductions. Just give your name. You may use the honorific if necessary in the introduction, such as a doctor meeting a patient’s family for the first time.

Repeat Their Name – When introduced, repeat the person’s name to make sure you pronounce it correctly. It also helps you remember their name and makes the other person feel respected. When parting, repeat their name and let them know it was a pleasure meeting them.  If you forget a person’s name, apologise, and ask them to repeat their name for you. By the way, if someone mispronounces your name, kindly correct them. No harm done.

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Writer by Renita Jackson, Etiquette Specialist.

02 May 2022,  U.S.A 

Category: Business Etiquette 

Reference: RJ02052022BE    

“Somos una empresa de desarrollo de capacidades que conecta valores, culturas, organizaciones, individuos y sociedades en todo el mundo”

THE FUTURE OF MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY

“Diplomacy has expanded its remit, moving far beyond bilateral political relations between states into a multilateral, multifaceted enterprise encompassing almost every realm of human endeavour,” said former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Multilateral diplomacy takes various forms: some are more institutional, such as the United Nations, while others are less formal and less identifiable in terms of parameters and rules. These latter are extremely difficult for African states, even though these fora, such as the World Economic Forum or G20, are extremely influential. It is the practice of involving more than two nations or parties in pursuing diplomatic solutions to supranational problems. Since multilateral diplomacy is a rapidly evolving industry, new forms regularly emerge, making it difficult to describe all types comprehensively.

Actors: Sovereign states remain the primary actors in multilateral diplomacy, but non-state actors such as non-governmental organisations, civil society representatives, and the business community are increasingly involved. Despite the importance of adhering to the constitutive acts of various international organisations, including their rules of procedure, multilateral diplomacy embraces new forms of interaction regularly, reflecting the need for flexibility and rapid adaptability to a dynamic environment.

Methods: In today’s world, only a tiny portion of multilateral diplomatic activity occurs in formal and solemn settings. The interaction between various actors takes many forms, including informal contacts and spontaneous coalitions of the willing.

Diplomatic Hubs

Diplomatic hubs in New York, Geneva, and Vienna will remain important in the future. Diplomats on the ground are critical, especially during the lockdown and social distancing. While diplomatic hubs, like all diplomatic practices, face both continuity and change, we can say that they are now more important than ever. Acknowledging context and nuance in multilateral diplomacy and dealing with contentious issues and crises necessitates an on-the-ground presence. Diplomatic presence at multilateral hubs is critical due to significant time differences between multilateral hubs and some capitals and potential future travel restrictions. Diplomatic representation at key multilateral institutions is also symbolic, signalling a commitment to multilateralism for functional and normative reasons.

Multilateral diplomacy by video conference: practices, procedures, protocol, and platforms

At the heart of the diplomatic practice is the ability to overcome communication barriers and positional distances. As a result, mediating physical distance and video conferencing challenges is a new diplomatic task, one for which diplomats are already prepared as “mediators of estrangement.” Negotiating the modalities of in-person, hybrid, and online meetings have become a new challenge for multilateral institution and meeting chairs and presidents. As the Human Rights Council (HRC) demonstrates, committed leadership and ongoing dialogue with member states to build trust are critical ingredients in successfully navigating the changed circumstances.

The diplomatic protocol has adapted to social distancing measures, such as reorganising and framing photo opportunities at high-level meetings. While this complicates meeting organisation, it does not call into question established protocol rules. Since some diplomatic practice has shifted toward video conferencing, key challenges include addressing security concerns, adapting to changes in communication and negotiation dynamics, providing translation services, and maintaining a stable Internet connection. Concerns have been raised about creating an unequal playing field and the risk of exclusion due to bandwidth requirements and security constraints. Small and developing countries face a unique set of challenges in this regard.

State of Multilateral Diplomacy among African Countries.

Representatives from African countries are outnumbered by negotiating teams from other countries who arrive better prepared; African countries must maximise their resources and collaborate to combine their areas of expertise. Diplomats in Africa are also woefully undertrained, and organisations such as the African Union (AU) could do more to improve their members’ diplomatic skills.

African diplomats should not be naive about the world and emerging powers’ multilateral strategies. Other countries are also developing countries does not necessarily imply that they are looking out for Africa’s best interests. The rise of multistakeholder diplomacy adds to the complication. It is difficult for African countries to open to this type of international relations. Still, they must do so to have genuine grassroots representation defending their points of view and promoting their interests.

Multilateral Diplomacy and the United Nations Today

As the world faces new and ongoing challenges such as globalisation, international terrorism, and a slew of other global issues, the United Nations and its critical attribute-multilateral diplomacy-are more crucial than ever. With new and updated essays detailing the experiences of a diverse group of practitioners and scholars working in diplomacy, this emerging era covers the fundamental characteristics of multilateral diplomacy as it is conducted within the United Nations framework in even greater breadth and depth.

Today’s Multilateral Diplomacy and the United Nations offers valuable insights from various perspectives on how diplomacy is practised, making it required reading for aspiring diplomats, international business leaders, and students at all levels. This volume’s contributors bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to examine five areas of multilateral diplomacy: UN diplomacy, crisis diplomacy, international economic diplomacy, UN summits and “citizen diplomats,” and non-governmental diplomacy.

In conclusion, context is critical in multilateral diplomacy. Diplomats on the ground are far better positioned to detect and interpret nuances and signals. The incorporation and dissemination of digital tools into the practice of diplomacy has had a significant impact on multilateral diplomacy today.

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Writer by Eric Muhia, International Studies and Diplomacy Graduate Student

02 May 2022, Kenya 

Category: Diplomacy 

Reference: EM02052022D   

“Somos una empresa de desarrollo de capacidades que conecta valores, culturas, organizaciones, individuos y sociedades en todo el mundo”

NEWS. VIP SPECIAL EDITION MAGAZINE GLOBAL MINDSET

Dear readers,
Welcome

 

It is a great honour to present the new section VIP Special Edition of Magazine Global Mindset, “Navigating smoothly around the world”. Magazine to reach and connect executives, diplomats and students.

This VIP Special Edition will find exclusive interviews with outstanding and internationally successful entrepreneurs and excellencies.

In the first edition, we will have a big honour to share an Exclusive VIP Interview with His Excellency Hidehisa Horinouchi, Ambassador of Japan to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

In Magazine Global Mindset, you will also find articles by our international writers specialising in Protocol, Diplomacy, Cultural Intelligence and Etiquette, and being the best place to promote your company internationally. At ProtocolToday, the Netherlands, we work with high-level international standards.

Cordially, you are invited to register to be part of the Club VIP Special Edition Magazine Global Mindset.

“We are a capacity development company connecting values, cultures, organisations, individuals and societies around the world.”

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VIP Interview with H.E. Jamal Al Musharakh, Ambassador of the UAE to the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Exclusive VIP Interview with H.E. Jamal Al Musharakh, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, ‎The Hague,  8th ‎April ‎2022.

 

What is it like to be an ambassador?

This is a question I believe I am being asked for the first time. I think that being an ambassador is embodying what your country stands for and what your country has provided you with as stepping stones toward becoming an ambassador. For us in the UAE, our leadership is very keen to provide the right opportunities from birth, whether it is education, opportunities for higher education, and providing the population with the skills to not only deal with future challenges but also opportunities.

The traditional view of an ambassador is that he or she is political. However, an ambassador must also be equipped to deal with a wide array of focus areas, such as cultural or economic issues. As the world’s issues have become more thematic and dynamic, so has the role of an ambassador.

Climate change, youth empowerment, and women’s empowerment are all top priorities for us in the UAE. As an ambassador, one must be adaptable to convey the country’s policy on these issues when serving abroad.

I have been appointed as Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and submitted my credentials a week ago. Today is actually the third month since I have been here, and I am looking forward to truly conveying our foreign policy in our thematic focus areas and working on them together with The Netherlands.

What are your first impressions of The Netherlands?

Since my arrival, until I presented my credentials to the King, I have been greeted with the utmost hospitality.

What are your specific experiences as the UAE’s representative in the Netherlands?

I have been here for three months, and all I can say is that I have been treated with the utmost hospitality from the moment I stepped off the plane until I presented my credentials to His Majesty the King. Indeed, I want to share the UAE experience with the Netherlands and further explain the UAE’s priorities and the commonalities we share with The Netherlands.

There are many similarities, common focus areas, and future visions, such as the focus on food security and climate change. I have also been assigned as the Commissioner-General of the UAE Pavilion at the Floriade EXPO, which will take place over the next six months. We want to tell the story of the UAE and our focus on environmental preservation and climate change. The UAE will also host Cop 28 in Abu Dhabi, and since I know that climate change is a focus topic of The Netherlands, too, we are looking forward to working together with the Netherlands.

How do you deal with cultural gaps? Can you share some of the lessons learned with our readers?

The UAE is a 50-year-old country that recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. We are very up to date on world cultures because the UAE is home to over 200 nationalities. Furthermore, we have established ourselves as a regional beacon of tolerance and coexistence. For example, we have established ties with countries that we would not have been expected to establish a relationship with ten or twenty years ago. I am referring to the Abraham accords in this context and our establishment of ties with Israel almost two years ago.

We also hosted the world during Expo 2020, which allowed us to learn more about different cultures. I consider myself fortunate in that cultural differences do not exist for me as a diplomat. First and foremost, I come from a young and innovative country, and I am the UAE’s youngest Ambassador abroad. That has accustomed me to deal with different cultural gaps that may exist.

We have also learned more about other cultures through our diplomatic endeavours, such as our mission to host, The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi. That exercise was unique because it allowed us to travel around the world, including countries that we had never visited before. The ties and connections that were formed exist today, and for the future.

Do you have any advice for aspiring diplomats?

A young diplomat must have the drive and ability to nurture relationships with other countries and discover what commonalities exist, rather than the differences. Differences will always exist, but similarities will always outweigh them. When we sit down and through dialogue, we focus on universal themes, as country concerns are no longer limited to an actual border or scope. Some concerns transcend boundaries, as we have seen through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As we have seen also during the Covid pandemic, the world can indeed come together to fight battles that truly require us to join hands and forces.

It is critical to have forward-thinking approaches, as we do in the United Arab Emirates’ strategic vision for the next 50 years. It is also essential to consider how the next 50 years will look rather than how the next 50 days.

Nothing tops on-the-ground experience. The more diplomats travel to conferences, are posted abroad, and can explore beyond their comfort zone, the more likely they will become aware of cultural differences. However, as I previously stated, the UAE, as a country that hosts more than 200 nationalities, has the advantage of dealing with different cultures and growing up side by side with other cultures and religions. I believe that as the UAE, we have an advantage in that sense.

PROTOCOLTODAY ACADEMY OF PROTOCOL & SOFT DIPLOMACY

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Exclusive interview by VIP Special Edition Magazine Global Mindset the Netherlands 

Interviewed by Adriana Flores, Publisher, Editor and Expert in Protocol & Soft Diplomacy

Rewrite by Eric Muhia, International Studies and Diplomacy Graduate Student

Translate to Spanish by Adriana Flores and Wilfredo Pérez 

Photo and video by Mick de Jong

Rights reserved by ProtocolToday 

 

Our thanks to the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the Kingdom of the Netherlands