Thanks to Ms. Anna Karina Jardin, a young personality development and grooming advocate and herself every inch the embodiment and dynamic live model of everything that she preaches, we at KSearch listened to very practical insights on Power Dressing, Stress Management, Non-Verbal Communication, Personal Visioning and Visual Pose – topics that did not seem important, to me at least, but then later on was made to realize that they could serve one well in his or her professional career.
At first, I was quite hesitant to attend this year’s first Knowledge Enrichment Program of KSearch last February 25 that was to deal with Personality Development. My interest grew when I learned that the facilitator is one who, despite her being only in her early 20’s, is already well accomplished and quite blessed with multiple talents – an artist, a business development consultant, and an active advocate for promoting young artists at the secondary school level. To anchor her entrepreneurial bent, she has set up AK Jardin & Associates and Artistikong Kabataan.
How should one socialize? How powerful is a body language? Do your physical gestures give you away? What about clothing – the right dress or suit for the right occasion? Honestly, I’ve taken all these for granted. Frankly, I know that I have to look good as a headhunter belonging to a prestigious organization. But even as a headhunter –what is so hard about wearing polo and slacks, slapping on a necktie, grinning from ear to ear and waving at someone at work with a friendly “Hi”? Well, guess that would change now, thanks to Ms Karina.
Ms. Karina struck me as the perfect example of poise and elegance. She made interacting with other people look so easy and light. I was impressed by how she carried herself and made us all feel comfortable in just a matter of seconds. Already drawn to her style and approach at the outset, I thus gave her my full attention. By then, I decided that I would learn something from this young lady.
And truth be told, Ms. Karina helped me see the importance of having long-term goals and visions and how all of these affect our realities. It was a good thing that she asked us to write our plans for the next five years. I wrote: to gain promotion in KSearch, travel to Brazil, go to the US and see my relatives, and have my own condo.
This made me rethink everything that I’ve been doing for the past couple of months. It made me realize that there were some things that I was not aware of and things that I neglected which could bear a big impact in my life. So, as the talk went on, I became more aware of who I really am. It helped me understand how important it is to make an impression in the first 11 seconds. It was a lot of fun! We even had an activity in which we were able to incorporate the things we learned from the session. Everyone was laughing and vigorously sharing their ideas on how to come up with the best picture for the given situation.
Everyone had great fun during Ms. Jardin’s session. That it would be truly helpful would be an understatement, I thought. Now I look forward to more of our KEP sessions! I am excited that the management of our firm is so thoughtful to help us to grow professionally – and inevitably, personally. Great start, indeed!
Cheers,
Patrick Tiongson
Search Associate, KSearch Asia Consulting, Inc.