GUYANESE born Samanthani Singh, versed in Communications, Computer Science and lots of ‘Business’, has decided that she will be the author of her own book of life.

For Singh, each day presents a new opportunity to write another exciting page. “There’s always a new goal on my table to accomplish and a new day that must be worthwhile and personally fruitful,” she highlighted.

“I was always studying [or] working or both, and spending time with my family,” she reflected and said that she had a “fairly normal” social life, for relaxation and networking. She had most fun with her family, though.

Singh graduated from the University of Guyana (UG) in 2000, with Diplomas in Communication Studies and Computer Science. Later, she acquired her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the Newport University and then her Master’s in Business Administration (International Management) from the University of Wales.

Over the years, she has garnered experience also as a Chartered Business Administrator for the Chartered Association of Business Administrators – Canada, in 2008 and a Fellow of the Institute of Administrative Management (U.K), in 2013.
She also served as the Media Manager for Catholic Media Initiatives Guyana; Coordinator for the Loyola Documentary Film Festival; and Administrator for Arthur Lok Jack’s Graduate School of Business (Guyana Office).

Notably, she mentioned, “My professional contribution to be a part of Arthur Lok Jack’s Graduate School of Business Executive and International MBAs, and professional development programmes generated a higher quality of opportunities and transitions for many local professionals to enhance their skills and qualifications.”

Perhaps leaning on her Communication Studies and Business background, she wrote a book called ‘The Importance of Soft Skills for Global Managers’, in 2017.
Authoring this book is her most recent accomplishment, and according to her, “[It] is a fresh new perspective for International Management and Business professionals and executives.”

Her inspiration for writing this book came from an article written by Glenn Rifkin in the Harvard Business Review, in 2006, called: “The Soft Skills of Global Managers”. She explored this topic for her MBA dissertation and she just felt it would be useful to share the findings of her research. And so, she published a book.

The ‘soft skills’ zero in on the level of interaction and understanding and the right mindset, critical to doing business on a global scale. According to Singh, it highlights how to balance corporate culture with the culture of the operating country and illustrating how soft skills are pertinent to enabling success and promoting sustainable growth.

She related, “The research took approximately two years with a lot of work to understand why this concept mattered at all. Rifkin’s article was my light bulb moment.”

Her book is a contribution to all Guyanese professionals as she highlighted that though she left Guyana in 2015, “This book gives local professionals a unique perspective to be successful globally for their organisations.”

It strategically includes discussion of local, regional and international corporations who operated across continents.

While she has accomplished quite a bit, she says, “Everything I accomplish, I endorse to the greater glory of God.”

For persons entering the business field, her advice is to understand that soft skills are necessary for all global managers because corporations are impacted by this skills gap.