The Mentor and the Cat Lovers
What happens when you have a group of people from around the world sequestered in a house for a couple of days? If you think it’s all hilarity and hijinks, you are CORRECT!
We’ve been having a lot of fun here in Zimbabwe, in between meeting with our various clients. One such evening was when we all discovered we were cat lovers!
We had started a discussion around the selection criteria for acceptance into the Social Sabbatical program:
1. The first criteria is that you have to be an SAP Catalyst. At SAP Catalysts are identified as
“..individuals having the capacity and willingness to ignite and drive business impact through action. The Catalyst Experience connects these capable individuals with the strategic challenges SAP is facing. It empowers each Catalyst to accelerate their development journey in their unique way, through self-awareness, experiences, and connections.”
2. We all had to submit 2–3 essays and completed an hour-long interview to test our suitability for this program.
It wasn’t an easy process but, being on the ground here, I can certainly understand why SAP and Pyxera Global took their time in considering the right mix of people who are adaptable and patient, because those are required when dealing with different cultures.
To help with our transition into Sabbatical life, SAP provides each team with a mentor. The mentor is usually a former participant in the program and is there to provide guidance in the weeks leading up to the experience. The mentor for Team Zimbabwe is Manuel Behringer (Germany) who completed sabbatical 2 years ago when he went to Florianopolis, Brazil.
Mentors also join their teams for the first week on the ground in the local region and provide valuable insight, helping the team transition and providing peer support for issues that may arise. The first day you meet your clients and get to chat with them further about their issues can be somewhat overwhelming.
Even the most confident participant wonders — can I do this? Can I make any impact in 4 short weeks? Having someone who has done it before is helpful since they know exactly what you’re feeling and can help calm any nerves.
With 9 nationalities there are many different accents, and one evening after having a few adult beverages we started talking about the selection criteria with Manuel. Somehow one of us misheard the word “Catalyst” for the word “Cat Lovers”!! You had to be there, but it was absolutely hilarious! So, we immediately dubbed ourselves “The Mentor and the Cat Lovers”!
Thanks so much for all your support Manuel and safe travels home!
