Skip to Main Content
Leading on the Frontline
book

Leading on the Frontline

by Linda Cruse
October 2018
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
280 pages
5h 45m
English
Wiley
Audiobook available
Content preview from Leading on the Frontline

21Learn and improvise

How I was forced to be flexible in the foothills of Himalayan Tibet

Following my first trip to the Tibetan nomadic communities, and drawing on my nursing background, I decided to form a small medical taskforce to run a childbirth awareness program in the Himalayas. I invited second-year medical students from Bristol University Medical College in the UK to accompany me. My candidate interviewing technique was unorthodox. Instead of firing up the students with descriptions of all the wonderful things they would see and experience, I painted an exceedingly daunting picture. My intention was to attract individuals with the right level of courage and determination and to weed out those who would be so overwhelmed by the demands made on them that they would want to come straight home. I knew it would need a special type of person to slip quietly and effortlessly into the harsh reality of life in the Himalayas, with its hardships and political and cultural sensitivities.

I placed the ads and waited. Within a few days I received five applications and arranged to meet the students in a local café in Bristol.

Alice was the first to arrive. A tiny, elegant girl with waist-length hair and wide eyes, she beamed at me and sat down, almost disappearing behind her enormous leather satchel. Words tumbled out: ‘I am so excited to work with you. I was born in Hong Kong, I speak fluent Mandarin and am a human rights activist.’ She barely drew breath and although I admired her ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

The High Impact Middle Manager

The High Impact Middle Manager

Lisa Haneberg

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780730365808Purchase book