Finally it came - the day we had been training for x2 per week for the last month: the BNI Northern Region 2 Football Friendly.
10 Thai Business International Clubs (BNI) competing in an all-day 6 match tournament for supremacy. Everyone is a 5 years plus business owner and entrepreneur, learning to build a wider community of connection and trust. Team building and trust are a huge part of making great business together, especially for entrepreneurs who maybe have lost some of those team-working skills by being isolated and too independent. Why the commitment to training? To build new skills, enjoy being life-long learners together and to make sure we didn't look like utter losers on the field in front of a large audience of our peers. 🤣⚽️
I will turn 57 years old in the coming days - not only was I probably one of the oldest on our BNI Believe team, but I was the only blonde in a sea of dark haired Asian people. I was happy to also be one of the fitter players on our women's team.
I learned a lot... like how to do a little power dance before my penalty kicks. Without worrying about looking like an idiot.
I increased my Thai vocabulary quite a lot and can now happily shriek from the sidelines - appropriately - in Thai. 😆
Quite a big part of the day was spent watching the guys' team in their matches, and rooting from the sidelines:
Cultural faux pas of the day? Wearing my fav Vietnamese red star communist cap during a time of Thai political upheaval. 😝 After an hour and finally working out what all the puzzled glances were about, off it came!! Thankfully most Thai people think of westerners only in terms of being tourists and customers, and so no one took it personally or as a political statement.
The cheering-cheer-leading thing? I got even better at it in Thai after some beers and a bit of pro-active coaching from Khun Beam.
Cultural assimilation is a HUGE issue in being able to be successful in any business and it stretches far beyond only language and food. It has never been more important than post-Covid. Thailand has no local Covid and is beginning to open up to other no-low-Covid countries, most likely with lighter or no quarantine, but the chance of us seeing white western tourists any time in the next 12 months is pretty slim. And so we adapt, localize, renegotiate who our customer base is and how to reach them. And that starts with new relationships and trust.
Team Believe is aptly named - to Believe that WE are the agents of our success, and that we are not dependent on external circumstances. To Believe that we can, and will, adapt and thrive.
So how did our Believe Women's Team do? We came a very respectable 2nd out of 10 clubs in the region!
The decision has been taken to have a BNI mini-league every 3 months, to build connections, fun and playfulness in what are seriously tough times for entrepreneurs in a country without pensions or unemployment benefits. What did I like best about the day, apart from conquering some personal "I can't" demons after many years of serious bone disease and walking with crutches? I like the way EVERYONE was part of it and the photos and messages shared online in the aftermath today were about being brothers-sisters and better friends, rather than who sucked at football or who didn't get enough on-field time.
We had a brilliant, if exhausting, day!! Lots of Thai street food, laughter, beers, companionship and getting to know one another. My legs, hips and feet today? Ouch!! More about that in another post.
Enjoy the moments, Live by choice.
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