Gina Whittle joined us from the Gina & Partners to present at the 2015 Global Leadership Forum.
Gina is the Managing Director (President) of Gina & Partners. The title of Gina's speech was “Reach For the Stars.”
She began by asking students to imagine themselves in 5 years. "In my future, I want to…" students made sentences.
She talked about her upbringing and her background. She gave key points about her country.
Abundant nature
English speaking
Multi-cultural
Clean environment
Friendly people
A great role model for GT students
She continued her background story. She did modeling in Aukland. She showed us some of her photos and previous experiences in Japan.
A key point of her talk: one language is not enough. She came to Japan 3 times, once for a year, the second time for a year, and 16 years in the last visit. She described her experiences as a language teacher in Japan moving from a big city to a small town.
She explained her inspiration to become a company owner - she read “Rich Dad/Poor Dad.” She has started two companies - "New Zealand Life Tours" and "Gina & Partners”
She described the declining travel industry and the increase in online self-managed travel planning trends. She also described the experience of forming her own business.
She talked about setting a goal and making a flexible plan to achieve that goal. She used a combination of English and Japanese to encourage the students.
She covered and old Chinese saying:
I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand
Then she covered some main things to do to increase your Global Abilities
Do something practical - be active in your efforts.
Challenge yourself - go out of your comfort zone.
Communication skills - the importance of the skills.
Influence - If you are a good communicator, you influence people. However, without that your idea will wither
Use technology - let it help simplify your life.
Invest in yourself - get skills and education.
Balance yourself
Eat healthy
She recommends the book “Miracle Morning” for guidance on how to start your day. Spend the first hour of the morning on you.
The forum concluded with an engaging Q & A, with students discussing the points that stood out to them most and asking follow up questions for Gina.