Reflection on Completing Vicki Hart’s Change Management Course (Udemy) I’ve experienced change from two sides—first, within the organisations I’ve worked for, like the British High Commission, the Netherlands Embassy, and most recently, Markets & Partners. These were settings where change came in many forms: structural shifts, leadership transitions, or digital adoption initiatives. And...
Most “strategic plans” aren’t strategy. They’re just plans. In business, we treat planning as if it’s some sacred ritual. I’ve seen it firsthand in commercial teams of international government departments—those rooms filled with whiteboards, dashboards, and KPIs. We’d map out the year ahead in impressive detail: market visits, stakeholder engagements, sector priorities, and quarterly goals...
Thanks to Jeroen Nijland, former NFIA Director, who gifted me The Trusted Advisor back in 2017. That book—and many conversations since—taught me something simple yet profound: the smartest people in the room are often the best listeners. Especially in cross-border business development, listening isn’t just polite—it’s strategic. In this post, I want to walk you through three proven frameworks...
I’ve been around sales for a while—though, truth be told, I’ve rarely called it that. At the Department for the UK, I spent a lot of time convincing UK companies to enter the Indian market by using UKTI services. At the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), it was about telling the Dutch story—strategic location, talent, and tax—without sounding like a brochure. And in my consulting work...
Why Storytelling Matters in Business Effective storytelling for business is essential. Research indicates that stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone. Whether pitching to investors, marketing products, or leading a team, mastering business storytelling techniques can dramatically improve results. Pixar’s Story Framework: Emotional Connection That Converts...
I have today completed the Advanced Valuation and Strategy— M&A, Private Equity, and Venture Capital course offered by Erasmus University Rotterdam on Coursera. I must say that it is one of the most thought-provoking courses I’ve taken in a while. Led by Professor Han Smit, the course covered more than just financial models — it introduced concepts like real options, game theory, and expanded...
I am taking the Google Project Management Certificate course to refine my project management skills with a structured framework and industry best practices. I have led diverse projects, including marketing campaigns, market entry research, industry events, and FDI project portfolios. While I have extensive hands-on experience, this course will help me reinforce my knowledge with formal...
I’m taking this course to deepen my understanding of how our brains learn and how we can use tools like ChatGPT to enhance our cognitive abilities. It covers practical topics like prompting, multimodal learning, and AI for personalised practice. Led by my favorite professor, Barbara Oakley, along with Jules White, the course offers a hands-on toolkit for applying these techniques across...
Introduction: Why Teamwork Makes the Global Dream Work “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” Henri Ford In 2023, MIT Sloan found that culturally fluent teams outperform competitors by 35% in revenue growth. This isn’t just about collaboration—it’s about strategic synchronisation across borders. When people work together...
Intial years of my career, I struggled to understand the financial terms and key metrics to find out if a business was healthy. My approach is to take a simple analogy to break down complex terms and make them more memorable. Here is one example of how to understand the business performance of any business. Every successful business operates like a healthy tree. Strong roots support steady...
