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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

23Know thyself

How being on lockdown in Pakistan revealed the power of conditioning

Pleased as I was with what we’d been able to achieve on a practical level in Pakistan, on a personal level I was lonely. The truth was, I was desperate for female companionship. Every day I met only men, whether they were in Armani suits in city boardrooms or grubby shalwar kameez in humid villages. I missed women’s conversation and the emotional intimacy I could find only in their company. I knew that to help women effectively I needed to walk in their shoes, hear their stories, tap into their lives. I was acutely aware of my limitations: however much I felt I might have succeeded in understanding a situation, on some level I would always be thinking from a European perspective.

I was well into my second year in Pakistan — almost a year after Cyclone Yemyin — before an opportunity arose. I didn’t often open the online newsletter for expats that announced forthcoming events, as I was so rarely in town, but this week I happened to be under lockdown in Islamabad, and I felt like a caged animal pacing my apartment. I needed to find something interesting to do, so I scanned the listings without much hope. At that time our movements were so restricted that I guessed most events would be cancelled. Then one item caught my eye: a stress management course at the women’s centre. And boy, did I need stress management.

For months now I hadn’t been sleeping well. I had got used to living with high levels of ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780730365808Purchase book