If people are not yet convinced to the idea of growing the cultural intelligence, they often discard the research and intercultural tools. They may say things like: “I get it, there are differences between China and the US, but aren’t there also differences within the countries?”, or “Yes, there are differences between regions and countries, […]
I had a cold recently and I thought it fits into the topic of common sense perfectly. Any time someone found out about me having a cold and not feeling well, they had their own advice as to what I should be doing. “Oh, poor thing! Hang in there and drink lots of tea with […]
I bet that you could say that you want to feel respected, want to be trusted and trust your co-workers, or that you want to behave professionally and be a good leader. Many of us would have that in common. But do we mean the same things by trust, respect, professional behaviour, good manager? Building […]
People may be working across cultures regardless of whether they’re travelling the world or working with colleagues remotely from one given location. And for that, the key thing you need are the “people skills” – that’s usually the first thing that comes to mind. To be a good international manager or HR/Talent professional you need […]
When it comes to cross-cultural communications the question of: “Who should adapt?” almost always comes up. I don’t think there is one magical formula for this, but there is a certain rationale I use for myself: “The one who wants to have a productive conversation and knows how to”. If I know that I’m in […]
So often in the annual performance reviews or even just day-to-day conversations people receive feedback that they should work on improving their communication skills. But what does that really mean? And does it mean the same thing around the world? We all have our own personal preferences of how we speak, what channels of communication […]
We already know that the technical expertise in a chosen field doesn’t necessarily lead to a successful assignment abroad. It is certainly one of the factors, but not the only one. You might be a great manager in your current location, understanding people’s needs, being able to respond in an adequate manner, knowing how things […]
You are doing a great job in the location you are in. You know how things work. People like you, clients know and trust you. So, naturally, you are the person the company asks to share that expertise with another office location. It’s just for a short-term assignment and if successful then you will be […]
You know that cultures differ around the world. You know that people have different preferences on both cultural (be it country culture or a certain professional group like HR or IT) and individual level. You know that diversity in the team is important and may bring you many benefits. Is this enough to say you’re […]
Right. You have nailed this new assignment, a job abroad or a place in an international team. You will be working with so many people from different cultures now! Oh gosh, that means you have to learn about all the cultures in the world now! Or, does it really?