SPARK DIRECTOR WENHUI DISCUSSES “INDEPENDENCE” AND “BALANCE” AT GBE ARCHITECTURAL FORUM’S INTERVIEW ON WOMEN’S DAY 2019
A person must constantly reflect on him or herself. How do you compare to your younger self, how have you grown?
When I was younger I worked a lot independently, preferring to complete tasks on my own. As the business grows and changes it was necessary to delegate and work with a team, which took a great deal of effort learning to communicate effectively and learning (the hard way) about human relationships. It was an oscillating experience.I used to react too quickly and gave away too much, giving people a 有勇无谋 feeling.
Also a relatively open book, revealing too much about myself, inviting unnecessary talk and reactions. Having learnt the hard way I tried to ‘sleep over it’ and give myself time to respond to any situation.
It is easy to think back and criticize yourself, I am constantly self-reflecting (but would also give myself a pat on the shoulder occasionally). I have made many mistakes, while growing professionally I have become more accepting, hopefully wiser but not older. (it is important to keep one’s heart young)
What do you understand by a contemporary woman’s independence? In your experience, what qualities of “independence” do you possess?
To be independent, a woman “Dares to think, dares to say, dares to do “敢想，敢说，敢做.
This does not mean she does not collaborate with others to achieve a goal, it means she has her own opinions and is not afraid to voice them
I constantly question rules imposed on me or conditions I am given, (example, the client’s design brief and the studio’s design work), considering how it can always be better and questioning it. It does not always make me a popular person in discussion groups, being the controversial voice. This may be seen as terribly unacceptable in ancient times, but it is one of the characteristics of a independent modern woman, in my opinion.
How has being independence affected your working life? How do you deal with stress from work ?
There are two kinds of independence in my line of work. Delivering independently outside of a team, thinking independently in design. Being able to do both is valued at Spark but communicating and working well with others is not the easiest with designers. Being independent actually forced me to learn on communication.
Stress from work comes mostly from human relationships with clients, consultants, colleagues. I deal with the stress by
focusing on the objective goals of the situation
waiting for bad emotions to past before reacting badly
switching my brain focus to something else after I leave the studio
What hobbies do you have outside of work? How do you balance work, life and family ?
Baking bite size snacks, binging on tv series and casual reading on fengshui,易经.I used to participate in immersive gaming but frequent traveling put a halt to that.
Work is living and life is working but having different brain focus at different times re-charges me and inspires my work. This means to compartmentalize my time into different ‘zones’ so that my brain can enter different ‘rooms’ and re-balance itself. An example, I stop looking at work emails after 9pm but may wake early at 4-5am to make up for lost time.
What do you wish to say to ladies in the Real Estate Industry ?
And A pertinent issue: Women should not be ostrasized for having children and a family life. Help by supporting them in your organization.
Original link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/WKfpyw-AC821oyu7I4DXag
