Public Relations Advice: How to Survive In Any Environment

<h4>Public Relations Advice<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reproduces an advisory note by Emeka Oparah on how to survive in any environment and make the best of it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Oparah&comma; who is the Vice President&comma; Corporate Communications &amp&semi; CSR&comma; Airtel Africa&comma; is a storyteller&comma; sustainability enthusiast&comma; crisis management expert&comma; multi-lateral partnership manager and digital education champion as well as being a humanist&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The piece titled &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;There’s a place for culture in the workplace&comma;” is reproduced below&comma; unedited<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>For people with high emotional intelligence&comma; culture is vital for survival in any environment including the workplace&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>As a Public Relations Professional&comma; I always advice my expatriate friends and colleagues to try going local sometimes-clothing&comma; food&comma; drinks&comma; music etc&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>To be clear&comma; I practice what I preach&period; I make it a habit to drink the local beer and eat the local food of every country I travel to-so long as they contain nothing abhorrent to my tricky digestive system&period; Hehehe&excl;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchng&period;com&sol;"><em><strong>In some cultures&comma; all the people need to see is you dressed in their local attire or eating their local food&comma; drinking their local drinks or playing their local music&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Back in my day during my National Service in the then Ondo State of Nigeria &lpar;western part of the country predominantly Yoruba&rpar;&comma; I was everyone’s darling just because I made some local clothes and ate their local food&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>In my house&comma; I played and danced Yoruba music even if I didn’t know a word of their lyrics&period; The benefits were incalculable and I am at liberty here not to disclose&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>So&comma; if you are wondering why your colleague or friend seems to be caring better than you in that foreign country&comma; check again&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>It might well be that he or she has taken the principle of cultural immersion a bit more seriously&period; He &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;living” a GLOCAL life-like a local without sacrificing his or her international status&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The real icing on the cake is language&period; If you are able to speak the local language&lpar;s&rpar;&comma; you are a winner&comma; in fact a champ&excl;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>I must warn that some cultures do no quite like foreigners dressing like them&period; So&comma; look before you leap&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;22021" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-22021" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-22021" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;08&sol;Emeka&period;-a-300x263&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Public Relations Advice" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"263" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-22021" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>Emeka Oparah Vice President&comma; Corporate Communications &amp&semi; CSR&comma; Airtel Africa<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;