Life Level 10 by Hanna Meirelles

🇲🇿Queremos todas estar no mundo do trabalho?

Mulheres inspiradoras, líderes impactantes e uma visão compartilhada.

Por mais iniciativas e projetos como este, que empoderam mulheres para liderar suas próprias vidas, acima de tudo!

Did you know that public speaking is the number of fear of most people?

This is what the banner on the left says: ACT IN SPITE OF FEAR. Is not just a sentence, but something I do my best to live by. Sometimes I have fears. But that doesn’t stop me from doing what I want to do. Courage only exists in the presence of fear.

So, if you are afraid of talking to hundreds or thousands of people, sharing your message and contributing to other people’s lives, remember you are not alone. And I am here for you.

Congratulations to all our MMI graduates in South Africa! You were all very brave facing your fears and building the next steps of your life. In July, if you want to overcome your stage fright, join us at our Train the Trainer Certification!

How powerful is your story? How much do you trust the people around you?

I always have fun teaching. Especially when I get the pleasure to share the stage with people who genuinely love to play hard, beyond working hard, like Robert. But this time in Durban He brought me way more to think…

Robert brought Andre Norman, a great speaker, with a one-of-a-kind story: from Incarceration to Inspiration. I was mesmerized with the positive impact this gentleman has been creating in the world over the years. Extremely impressive!

And one of the things Andre said to the audience that really caught my attention, had nothing to do with his amazing content, but everything to do with teaching and learning:

“I am gonna tell you my story and trust you are smart enough to draw the parallels”, said Andre.

Sometimes we underestimate the potential of our students. Sometimes we underestimate the abilities of the people hearing us. Sometimes we treat them like children, repeating things over and over and over and over (I am so guilty of this ☝🏼) as if they have asked for more clarification, while they have not.

In Durban I made a promise to myself: to trust my audience 100% from now onwards. They are capable of connecting the dots, as long as I am a clear storyteller. I was reminded to believe in people’s potentials, more than they believe in themselves. I was reminded of speaking to THAT potential: it doesn’t matter the performance you didn’t have in the past; what matters is what you can still achieve, do and be!

At last, I was reminded that our stories are way more powerful than we think and they can inspire others to make changes in their own lives.

(Btw, I just finished reading Andre’s book: a must read for everyone!)

Quer que seu time confie em você?

Um dos grandes desafios em meu trabalho é fazer com que as lideranças de fato escutem suas equipes.

Alguma vez em sua vida, enquanto você estava ouvindo um colaborador, você ficou ao mesmo tempo formulando sua resposta? Pode até parecer inevitável, mas este ato nos tira do momento presente e com isso perdemos palavras, gestos e detalhes importantes numa conversa. Este tipo de “multitasking” não é apenas um mito, mas também um sabotador, que acaba por comprometer a qualidade dos nossos relacionamentos no trabalho e a confiança entre as pessoas.

Quer que seu time confie em você? Então está na hora de escutar verdadeiramente o que ele tem a dizer... até o fim.

💡 I was asked which books and what people have inspired me in my life. There are so many, but four names came immediately to mind.

Nelson Mandela was definitely the most powerful source of my inspiration. Still is. I believe that reading his book Long Walk To Freedom and living in his country for a few years to comprehend better the history of how He united a nation striving for the values of equality, justice, respect, humanity and freedom, made me a more loving and compassionate person.

Graça Machel was the second person in my mind. I followed her steps and thoughts as an activist since I saw her for the first time 20 years ago. She gave me enough motivation to keep moving forward, despite of any challenges. She fired up my curiosity for other African countries and reminded me that we are all Bantu and practice Ubuntu! We have the same origin and the same destiny. We are not a market. We are people. And more deeply, I am because you are. You are because I am.

Blair Singer was the one who was with me when Mandela passed away. We felt the loss together and processed that with the highest of emotions. Blair said, “He is passing the torch. Are you going to take it and care it forward?” Blair always encouraged me to be big and do bigger things, to create a difference in the world and leave a positive legacy.

My grandfather, Iorito Meireles, was the other one in my heart. I learnt ethics, honesty, love and kindness (and fishing!) from him. I am proud of the family He and grandma have built. I am inspired by the surname he gave me, not because it comes from a lineage but because represents the simplicity of people who were trying to make a living through hard work and caring along many others with them.

What do they all have in common? They provided opportunities for others to learn, grow and become unstoppable. They have inspired not only me, but many others who are dreamers and visionaries. Remembering them triggers me a responsibility like no other and makes me question, “Am I doing enough? Am I being in my higher self? Am I contributing significantly?

I hope these questions marinate in your hearts as well…

🌟During 4 intensive days of looking at precious gems, polishing them, admiring their beauty and falling in love for who they will become, I thought of Isaac.

Isaac was our very first trainee years ago. A brilliant Geology student. So brilliant that his shining skin lightened up the office every time he would get in. His height was also impressive, making me turn my head up to look at his curious eyes. Eyes of a warrior that had fought many battles, especially those I could never comprehend.

Isaac was a Congolese refugee seeking asylum in South Africa. His documentation was not ready for a traineeship, but something was telling me that he had to be part of our team, to help us see the unseen, to inspire us to become conscious leaders and to teach us to be kinder and more sensitive to people and cultures.

Most of the times he was in the field with the other experienced geologists, learning, challenging himself, growing. But every time I saw him, I was impacted by our interactions. I saw him flourishing, evolving, contributing to others and taking the opportunity to do something greater with his life.

I learned from him something that I was reminded of by Blair last week: instead of Find the best people, Find the best IN people.

If you are a leader or an HR professional, I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about. In my interactions with the corporate world, most managers keep saying “We need to find the best people”, in a constant wave of competition for talents. I would beg you to change your sentence to “We want to find the best IN people!”. More important than hiring someone, is to truly believe that everyone you hire has the potential to be bigger and to do greater things than they ever thought it was possible.

Every person is brilliant inside. It is our job as leaders to get their brilliance to come out.

Prazer, eu sou Hanna Meirelles, com dois enes e dois eles. Era assim que eu me apresentava quando era pequena, já que dificilmente alguém acertava como se escrevia meu nome. Sim, eu queria facilitar para as pessoas, mas hoje entendo que essa também era a minha forma de dizer que EU era EU, assim como VOCÊ é VOCÊ: única(o). As minhas necessidades de diferenciação e de pertencimento conviviam lado-a-lado e eventualmente encontraram um equilíbrio sadio ao longo dos anos.

O que você vê nas fotos são apenas credenciais, maquiagem, difusor e o resultado de um dia feliz. Mas assim como você, sou feita de histórias. Histórias essas que você irá encontrar em todos os caminhos onde eu estiver presente. Adoro falar e escrever sobre elas, mas principalmente adoro ouvir as histórias de outras pessoas.

Quer me contar um pouco da sua?