WTF: Meet Michelle

“We the Facilitators” (WTF) is a series presented by Link Global Solution (LGS) to shine the spotlight on our multilingual instructors. For those who have yet to take one of our workshops, WTF will give you the opportunity to get to know the members of our team, who deliver intercultural communication and business skills training that is educational, enlightening, entertaining, and always engaging.

In this installment of WTF, we are pleased to introduce Michelle Li.

—— Michelle, I know that you studied Japanese and International Studies at the University of Melbourne, but what first sparked your interest in Japanese?

Michelle: Well, the simple answer is that in secondary school I had to choose a LOTE option …

—— A LOTE option?

Oh, sorry. A “Language Other Than English” option.

—— Ah, okay. Got it.

Yes, so I had a choice between Italian and Japanese and I chose Japanese.

But there’s another answer to your question, which goes a little deeper and is connected to my relationship with my cultural identity. I was born in Australia to Chinese parents, and so I struggled with the gap between who I felt I was and how society viewed me. As a result, I felt conflicted about my Asian heritage—I was proud of my parents’ culture, but it also came to represent the reasons why I was “not Australian.”

I learned to embrace the unique value and perspective that comes with growing up amid mixed cultures.

—— That’s the kind of thing that children can be particularly sensitive to.

Yes, they can, but as I grew older and met others who shared a similar experience to mine, I came to understand the inherent challenges I faced and learned to embrace the unique value and perspective that comes with growing up amid mixed cultures. I’d say that choosing Japanese as my LOTE was the first step towards feeling outwardly positive about being of Asian descent in Australia.

Interestingly, through the workshops we do with Japanese companies, I’ve come to realize that this feeling of not fitting in is a challenge that many repatriated Japanese struggle with upon returning to Japan.

—— To be honest, that never occurred to me, maybe because it seems that so many of our workshops are intended to prepare participants for overseas postings.

Michelle: Of course that’s an important part of what we do, but through our workshops, I’ve also met quite a few Japanese who spent several years abroad for their job or spent their formative years living and studying overseas. For many of them, their identities were influenced and shaped by the cultures and joshiki* they encountered while abroad. These, however, often clash with the expectation of their colleagues to think, act, and work in accordance with conventional Japanese joshiki. Outwardly, they are Japanese, but on the inside they are the sum of their diverse experiences.

—— To some degree, I think anyone who has spent time outside of their home country can relate to this. Speaking of which, we haven’t seen much of you lately as it seems you’re always flying to some exotic locale.

Michelle: Yes, I guess I have (laughs). I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit many different countries around the world for work. It’s been a lot of fun meeting and working with local teams, learning more about their joshiki, and hearing about their experience working in Japanese corporations.

Many of these trips have been to facilitate the global rollout for various companies’ corporate initiatives, and while I strongly believe in the importance of such initiatives now, that wasn’t always the case for me. To be completely honest, when I first started working in a Japanese company I was pretty skeptical about the strong focus on its corporate philosophy. It felt like senior managers were trying to—for lack of a better turn of phrase—get us to “drink the Kool-Aid” (laughs). But having worked on several such projects, I now see the benefit of having a set of shared values throughout an organization, especially large group companies with subsidiaries all around the world.

—— What changed your mind?

Well, I’d have to say it’s from understanding the deeper meaning behind the values, their origins, and how they've shaped these companies. I’ve always loved history, so I found it really interesting to dive into various companies’ histories and see where their core values originated from and the beliefs behind them. It’s impressive to see how, as enduring guiding principles, these values influenced their business decisions over the years and how they evolve with the times.

There have been a few time where my brain was on autopilot and I accidentally spoke in a language to someone who didn't understand it.

—— One more question that I need to ask you before I let you go. In addition to Japanese, you also speak Cantonese and Mandarin. Be honest now: do you ever find yourself getting mixed up?

Michelle: No, never … except sometimes (laughs)!

There have been a few times where my brain was on autopilot and I accidentally spoke in a language to someone who didn't understand it. But I think that’s a good problem to have (laughs). Hindsight is 20-20 and while I hated it at the time, I’m grateful that my parents made me go to weekend school to study Mandarin. Now, I’d love to expand my language arsenal and learn Spanish and French, too.

—— Yes, because four languages is never enough, right? Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your time with me today.

* The Japanese word joshiki represents a vital concept in LGS intercultural communication workshops. Although joshiki is often translated into English as “common sense,” within LGS workshops, it refers to a common or shared understanding within a particular cultural group.