Hi Reader,

I am German, living in Amsterdam, and after almost a decade my Dutch is — as we say in German — too small to live and too big to die. To change that, I'm officially out of office this week to immerse myself in a full-week intensive Dutch class. And to make it compleet, my partner and I agreed to only speak Dutch at home during this week, hopefully building the routine of speaking Dutch with each other from now on.

While stuttering like a ten-year-old, I realise how much we attach our professional identity and self-worth to speaking properly, to having accurate answers and an eloquent way of expressing them.

So this week is a great opportunity to explore the other side, and what there is to learn if we are far less than perfect. The beauty of not being able to eloquently express ourselves: I use fewer words, become more precise, and suddenly listen more, ask more questions and try to pick up new words while listening to the response.

If Professionalism is about finding the accurate answers, Unprofessionalism is about exploring the answers when there is no correct one.

And magically, my week connects to Kristine, my guest this week.

🎤 Waiting for you on the Unprofessionalism podcast:

As a Chief Human Resources Officer, Kristine Frost walks the factory floor every day to learn the parts of the business she doesn't master — the parts that are the business. She shows up the morning after the official tour to build boxes on the assembly line, and learns a language that isn't spoken in boardrooms and isn't taught at business schools.

Many might say this isn't the best use of an executive's time — often the same people who complain that executives are too far away from the business. Well, show me your calendar, and it will tell me your priorities. Kristine's calendar says: factory floor. Mine, this week, says: Dutch class. We all have the same amount of time every day; how we spend it is our choice.

That's my takeaway from this conversation: a seat at the table doesn't start with an invitation. It starts with making time to learn the language that's spoken there.

🎧 Click here to listen

📥 Download my 1-page summary

​UP_029_Summary.pdf​

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If you're curious about the extras, subscribe here for free: https://unprofessionalism.substack.com/about​

That's it from my side. I hope to see you next week!

Myriam