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Dr. Oksana Shkurska: Convocation Address to the Class of 2019 Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University

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Dr. Oksana Shkurska, Assistant Professor; Communication Support Specialist for International Students

Dr. Oksana Shkurska, Assistant Professor; Communication Support Specialist for International Students

Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Management celebrated its graduates on Saturday, June 1, 2019. Convocation ceremonies at #DalhousieU are rich in history and tradition, where each year the Dal community welcomes hundreds of new alumni into our network of over 130,000.

Dr. Oksana Shkurska was chosen to deliver the convocation address to the graduating class of the Faculty of Management, Spring 2019.  We are privileged to have Dr. Shkurska share her insights on CEGE Connection.

Convocation Spring 2019

Dr. Oksana Shkurska

Good morning, President McKinnon, Madame Chancellor, Dalhousie Officials, honoured guests, colleagues, our dear graduates, families and friends. It is a great pleasure and honour to be here today, delivering the Convocation Address. Thank you for inviting me

When I entered the building today, my first thought was: Wow, I can feel the excitement in the air! Delighted graduates, proud parents, happy friends and relatives – we all share in this exhilarating event.

I remember 17 years ago sitting at my convocation ceremony as you are now, listening to the speakers, enjoying the moment, and asking myself a question: what is next?

I had already been hired for a job that I was sure would not make me happy. I dreamed big and my goal was to become a university professor to make a positive difference in my students’ lives, but I had no idea what to do to make this dream come true.

On the day of my convocation, I shared my thoughts with one of my professors.  Even now, I am grateful to her for the encouraging words I heard:

“No matter how far your destination is, if you are determined enough to overcome all the obstacles, one day YOU WILL GET THERE.”

Those words changed my life. From that moment, I set a goal and made a commitment to follow my dream.

We all know that life is not only sunshine and rainbows, and unfortunately it is full of failures and disappointments. However, it is not the absence of failures that predetermines our success, but it is our ability to get up and continue to move forward.

Confucius once said: “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Just think about it: “our glory is in rising every time we fall”.

When I was a child, I was in love with mountains. What is interesting, however, is that I never saw them in reality. Once I saw a picture of someone standing on the top of the mountain with all those breathtaking views below. You know this feeling, right?  I promised myself that one day I would fulfill my dream and reach the top of the mountain.  When I was eighteen, I gained an opportunity to hike up the mountain. I was still very young and immature, but you can imagine how excited I was! My dream was going to come true!

However, I didn’t reach the top; I failed. I made three mistakes that prevented me from reaching my goal.

The first mistake was being absolutely unprepared for the hike: my shoes were inappropriate for the rocky path I had to take. Do you know what I was wearing? Can you guess? I was wearing flip-flops, and this is how I hoped to reach the mountaintop!

The second mistake I made was going on a hike without MAPPING OUT my route. I did not break down my route into small doable segments to have a rest and to decide on next steps after each segment. In other words, I did not give myself an opportunity to recharge my batteries and think about the next steps. As a result, I did not have a clear picture of how far I walked, which discouraged me.

The third mistake was not allowing for unpredictable weather changes. When I started to doubt that I should continue my journey, heavy rain and a thunderstorm started. I was not ready for this. I did not have either a raincoat or an umbrella. Just imagine me with an umbrella in the mountains. There was no shelter to protect me. It was really scary! (If you have ever experienced a thunderstorm in mountains, you know how scary it is.) I was extremely disappointed. That’s it, I thought. Never in my life will I do this again! The problem was that I was not ready for weather changes. In fact, I was not ready for any changes at all.

I learned a lot from this failure, however. Now I understand how important it is to be well equipped and prepared for any life journey I take. I also know that I should break my big goal into small doable goals before I start moving towards the big goal I want to achieve. And what is even more important, I know I should always be ready to learn new skills and adapt to any changes in my life, as change is inevitable.

Learning from mistakes is an important part of our growth, so do not let your failures define you. On the contrary, each time you make a mistake, learn from this failure, apply what you have learned to your life, and keep moving forward. Just keep moving forward!

Dr. Oksana Shkurska

We prepared you to be the leaders of tomorrow. We helped you to develop your skills. But what is even more important, we taught you that a good leader cannot be indifferent to others. A good leader cannot be indifferent to other people’s lives, feelings, and sufferings. These are not just words: each of you is powerful enough to make positive changes in other people’s lives. So, when you achieve your goal, help others to find and achieve their goals as well.

I am happy today to have my dream job that allows me to make a positive difference in your lives. Your success inspires me. Your achievements help me to move forward, and your accomplishments help me to succeed as well. I would like to thank you for this: for all those wonderful moments that I have had with you in class and for the success that you have experienced.

Without you, I would not be here today, and because of you, I learned the most important thing in my life: it is better to give than to receive, and the more you give, the more you will receive.

Those were the most important things I have learned in my life: to succeed in life, be determined to achieve your goal, learn from your failures, and help others to grow.

Wait! There is one more thing!

Knock, and the door will be opened for you. Do not stop until your dream becomes a reality. If you want to have a fulfilling career, go for it, and no matter how far your destination is, never let anyone discourage you and tell you that you will not get there because you WILL get there. Even if it takes you ten years, twenty years, or your whole life, if you really want to reach your destination, eventually you will get there. YOU WILL GET THERE!

Thank you!

Editor’s Note:  We invite you to view Dr. Oksana Shkurska’s address on Dalhousie’s 2019 Convocation YouTube video.  Her address begins at  1:25:10.

Dalhousie University

Management Teaching Excellence Rewarded

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Republished from Faculty of Management News
Posted by Nicole Maunsell on March 22, 2019

MTEA recipients Scott Comber, Oksana Shkurska and James Barker with donor Bill Black.

MTEA recipients Scott Comber, Oksana Shkurska and James Barker with donor Bill Black.

The 2018–2019 Management Teaching Excellence Awards (MTEAs) were presented in December to three professors in the Faculty of Management.

James Barker is known for being flexible and adaptive in the online classroom environment, where he teaches leadership courses for the Blended Online MBA programs. He had an integral role in developing the newest of these programs, the MBA Leadership. He is the Herbert S. Lamb Chair in Business Education and brings his expertise in organizational complexity to his courses.

Dr. Barker’s award was presented by MBA Leadership student Sundari Pashupathi, who took his Leading in Complexity course. “Jim was very knowledgeable and approachable right from the beginning,” she says. “He made the online learning seamless and was always available to answer any question. He has an excellent understanding of his subject area, and a genuine interest in the needs of the students.”

Oksana Shkurska teaches first-year business communications classes and is a faculty advisor for the Rowe Women in Business Association. She is the communication support specialist for international students in the Rowe School of Business, offering writing help and mentorship to students through the International Student Success Program (ISSP). Her research aims to address the issues of intercultural communication as well as to find more effective methods of communication in academia and business organizations.

Bachelor of Commerce student Julia Penney presented her award. “Not only is her classroom a place where students like me can work through concepts in a safe and engaging environment,” says Penney, “but also Dr. Shkurska brings a zeal for student success outside the classroom as well – whether that is through work with ISSP or when judging case competitions. She connects with students on a personal level and has genuine enthusiasm for their success in a sincere and meaningful way.”

Scott Comber teaches Management Skills Development, Personal and Professional Effectiveness, and is an instructor in the Management Without Borders class, which is taken by all graduate students in the Faculty of Management. He is known for integrating his professional experience as a consultant with academic research in management education to create a unique classroom environment, where he sets high standards for both himself and his students. He has been a case competition coach and the faculty advisor for Enactus Dalhousie.

Sagar Sahota, a Bachelor of Management student, presented the award. “Scott challenged my thinking, how I viewed the world, and how I viewed myself,” he says. “By taking his class, I gained a friend and a mentor, and became a better person.”

Given annually, the MTEAs celebrate teachers who, per the award’s guidelines, “display the qualities of superior teaching, excellent understanding of the subject area and interest in the needs of the students.” Student ratings are integral to the selection process, and the selection committee includes student members.

First awarded in 2010, the MTEAs are made possible by a donation from alumnus Bill Black. At the presentation, the Faculty of Management thanked Mr. Black for his renewed commitments to the award and presented him with a framed reproduction of a profile honouring him in Giving Power, Dalhousie’s print-only donor recognition publication, to honour his longstanding contribution to the Faculty.

Dr. Oksana Shkurska: Politeness Strategies in Contrasting Cultures

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“Business is about persuasion and negotiation. It is also about identifying customers’ needs and satisfying them. All these objectives cannot be achieved without building trustworthy relationships with business partners and stakeholders, and there is no way to build this trust without being polite according to these people’s cultural expectations.”
Dr. Oksana Shkurska

Dr. Oksana Shkurska Assistant Professor Rowe School of Business

Dr. Oksana Shkurska Assistant Professor Rowe School of Business

All the cultures are traditionally divided into collectivistic and individualistic. As research shows, people in individualistic cultures prefer a low-context communication style and are more concerned with their own ‘face’. It means that they value direct and straightforward communication without being afraid to offend others. This low-context communication style is opposed to a high-context style in collectivistic cultures, where people are concerned with another people’s face more than with their own public self-image. As a result, they avoid direct confrontation and value indirectness in communication. In these societies, what is not said is more important than what is actually said, and nonverbal clues play a crucial role in communication, adding meaning to the conversation.

Are politeness strategies in contrasting cultures different?

The answer to this question is certainly yes. You may be surprised to know that a direct way of expressing your thoughts and feelings may be regarded as impoliteness by the representatives of high-context cultures who may think that you are rude and impatient. On the flip side, if you are from a low-context culture, you may feel uncomfortable while interacting with people from high-context cultures due to their extreme level of politeness. This type of politeness may be perceived as lack of honesty and sincerity, and as a result, instead of contributing to strengthening relationships, it may have the opposite effect.

How does understanding of politeness principles across cultures help us succeed in the business world?

Business is about persuasion and negotiation. It is also about identifying customers’ needs and satisfying them. All these objectives cannot be achieved without building trustworthy relationships with business partners and stakeholders, and there is no way to build this trust without being polite according to these people’s cultural expectations. You cannot get a better deal as a result of negotiations if you are perceived as arrogant, rude, or insincere. It is also impossible to gain new customers if your behaviour makes people think that you either do not care about their feelings (as you are too direct in communication), or they are afraid that you are hiding something because your extreme politeness makes them suspicious. Such misunderstandings due to the differences in perception are not rare, and they may cost companies millions of dollars.

You may wonder how people can reach mutual understanding if their cultural expectations regarding polite communication are different. Here are some tips for effective cross-cultural communication:

  1. Embrace cultural differences and recognize that politeness is perceived and expressed differently around the globe.
  2. Do research on cultural values in the target country to understand people’s expectations regarding each other’s behaviour.
  3. Be aware of other people’s preferred communication style. Do not wrongly assume that they are impolite if they prefer directness in communication or that they are not sincere if their level of politeness is significantly higher than yours.
  4. Pay attention to other people’s reaction to your communication style and be ready to adjust it according to the other party’s cultural expectations.
  5. Resist the temptation to make judgmental evaluations and hasty generalizations. Each person is unique though there are certain cultural expectations in each society.

Effective communication across cultures is impossible without taking into consideration differences in politeness strategies that are closely related to high-context versus low-context communication styles. Regular reflection on your own communicative behaviour, your preferred communication style, and other individuals’ reaction to your politeness or impoliteness strategies helps to avoid miscommunication as well as promotes mutual understanding and empathy. It certainly contributes to creating trustworthy relationships and allows achieving mutual benefits without significant losses and sacrifices.

 

Dr. Oksana Shkurska: The Theory of Politeness

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“The theory of politeness argues that each adult person has a need for independence and autonomy (negative face) as well as a natural desire to have their actions approved and recognized (positive face). “Face” is usually defined as a person’s public self-image, or a reputation. As people in all cultures strive for independence and appreciation, there is an assumption that people in all parts of the world are concerned with maintaining their positive and negative faces and are aware that all the adult members of society have the same concerns.”
Dr. Oksana Shkurska

Dr. Oksana Shkurska Assistant Professor Rowe School of Business

Dr. Oksana Shkurska Assistant Professor Rowe School of Business

Scholars have been researching politeness for decades in order to understand its role in communication and its effect on people’s relationships. As human beings, we communicate not only to exchange information, but also to satisfy our basic social needs, including a sense of connection and inclusion, which comes with belonging to a particular group. We need to love and be loved, build and sustain relationships, as well as give and receive empathy. It means we all have the need to connect emotionally with others on a personal level. We need to know that other individuals understand us and take our desires into consideration.

This sense of connection, however, cannot be fulfilled without polite communication, but is politeness expressed in the same way around the globe?

The theory of politeness argues that each adult person has a need for independence and autonomy (negative face) as well as a natural desire to have their actions approved and recognized (positive face). “Face” is usually defined as a person’s public self-image, or a reputation. As people in all cultures strive for independence and appreciation, there is an assumption that people in all parts of the world are concerned with maintaining their positive and negative faces and are aware that all the adult members of society have the same concerns. This is the reason why all societies have the rules of expressing politeness that include demonstrating good manners and appropriate behaviour. What is interesting, however, is that in different cultures, these rules vary due to the cultural preferences in communication styles and politeness strategies.

What do I mean by different communication styles, and how are they related to politeness?

All the cultures are traditionally divided into collectivistic and individualistic. As research shows, people in individualistic cultures prefer a low-context communication style and are more concerned with their own ‘face’. It means that they value direct and straightforward communication without being afraid to offend others. This low-context communication style is opposed to a high-context style in collectivistic cultures, where people are concerned with another people’s face more than with their own public self-image. As a result, they avoid direct confrontation and value indirectness in communication. In these societies, what is not said is more important than what is actually said, and nonverbal clues play a crucial role in communication, adding meaning to the conversation.

Communication style is usually learned from a very young age when it becomes an important part of a person’s cultural identity. This is the reason why people can sometimes react negatively to the messages that do not follow conventional communication rules and therefore do not correspond with their cultural expectations.

The next post will discuss the question, are politeness strategies in contrasting cultures different?

 

 

Dr. Oksana Shkurska: Politeness, Power & Conflict Management

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“Scholars have been researching politeness for decades in order to understand its role in communication and its effect on people’s relationships. As human beings, we communicate not only to exchange information, but also to satisfy our basic social needs, including a sense of connection and inclusion that accompanies belonging to a particular group. We need to love and be loved, build and sustain relationships, as well as give and receive empathy.”
Dr. Oksana Shkurska

Dr. Oksana Shkurska Assistant Professor Rowe School of Business Communication Support Specialist for International Students

Dr. Oksana Shkurska Assistant Professor Rowe School of Business
Communication Support Specialist for International Students

CEGE Connection is thrilled to launch “Politeness, Power & Conflict Management”, a column by Dr. Oksana Shkurska, Assistant Professor Rowe School of Business. Dr. Shkurska’s research interests include politeness and power in corporate communication, barriers to effective communication, conflict management in intercultural communication, and successful academic and business writing. Her research is interdisciplinary and aims to address the issues of intercultural communication as well as to find more effective methods of internal and external communication in organizations.

Dr. Shkurska was a recipient of the prestigious 2018 Dalhousie Faculty of Management Teaching Excellence Award, which celebrates teachers who, per the award’s guidelines, “display the qualities of superior teaching, excellent understanding of the subject area and interest in the needs of the students.”

Dr. Shkurska has graciously agreed to share her knowledge and experience on CEGE Connection.    We invite you to join the conversation and gain insights on the advantages of introducing politeness into a communication strategy that responds to our evolving workplaces and organizations.