"I adapt well in last-minute situations. Working with people means that there are no promises on how my day will go. This reality is one that I learned early on in my career. My job is about the programs that I develop, but it's also about responding with compassion for the people that I teach. Sometimes this approach means taking a new direction.
Last year, I was running a culture appreciation training for leaders who were about to leave to work at our location in Australia. The sessions were facilitated in a classroom setting and involved standard instructor-led modules, listening acuity exercises, and audio-visual material. After facilitating the first learning module, I sent the employees out for a break. While reviewing the slides for the next module, I found out that the file was corrupted and completely unusable. I took a deep breath and went over the session again to see if there was anything I could swap the topic with. Thankfully, I designed the training to be somewhat agile in which there are sequential modules, but with non-specific learning activities peppered throughout the entire session. I decided to put on an audio/visual presentation instead about the Australian accent. As I look back, I think it was actually an excellent decision. It helped ease the learners towards a better comprehension of the accent. It also helped them understand the background of the dialect and let them see the culture from a different lens."
