Reaping the Full Benefits of Foreign Investment Requires ICE-Q

The nature of a multinational company (MNC) is to invest capital in markets outside of the country in which it began its operations. Typically, this business activity is called foreign direct investment (FDI). For open economies to flourish, cross-border trade is essential. Another critical factor for successful international business is ICE-Q – a combination of three essential, durable skills: subject …

The One Goal You Can Set for a Positive 2022

Around the turn of the year magazines, news outlets, social networks, blogs, podcasts, and all sorts of other media are full with ideas and tips around making New Year’s resolutions. Some of you might be aware of the dirty little secret to this culturally motivated routine of making commitments to significant, meaningful, and lasting change: More often than not this …

Why Our Delight Should Matter to You

When you search for a consultant, a coach, or a trainer, you probably are not seeking mediocrity for your organization. Right? That’s why we’re delighted to share with you a distinction our founder recently earned from one of our partners: IOR Global Services named Christian Höferle Trainer of the Year – Excellence in Innovation! How is this relevant to me, you ask? Since …

Coaching with Cultural Competence for ICF’s International Coaching Week

Working with clients from around the globe, our trainer and coaching team is often confronted with people who don’t share the same cultural background as them. The relationships between a coach and their coachee develop quite differently when first languages aren’t the same or when the formative influences of culture are dissimilar. The International Coaching Federation recognizes this and offered …

We Make Global Business Skills Training a Public Enrollment Matter

Our clients want to get better at what they do. They want to succeed in global business. We give them a leg up. With our public enrollment courses. Throughout the year 2021 we are offering cross-cultural business trainings on various topics. Global business training turns your employees and executive team into more mature and skillful leaders who will have a …

training room

4 Reasons to Make Space for Intercultural Learning in Corporate Settings

A guest blog by Stephan Hild, originally published in German on his company blog. Effective intercultural business training can turn your employees and executive staff into more mature and considerate leaders who will have a significantly broader and deeper behavioral and cognitive repertoire when dealing with challenging situations in global business. Here’s what you’ll need and how it will pay …

chaps cultures identity

Exploring Identity Through the Lens of Different Cultures

The week in review with Two Chaps – Many Cultures Hard to believe that our new live video format has already seen three weeks worth of broadcast. Two Chaps – Many Cultures has been very well received within our community and a wider audience. During the daily live sessions from July 20 to 24, the two chaps (Brett and Christian) and …

Two Chaps Many Cultures

Two Chaps – Many Cultures [episode 1]

Join Brett Parry and Christian Höferle as they explore the mysteries of human behavior. No holds barred. Only straight talk about culture, human potential, and personal growth. Streaming live where possible. Taking questions from you. Including colorful and diverse voices from various corners of the world.  This is their inaugural podcast episode. Join the two chaps for a dose of …

Two Chaps Many Cultures

Talking About Cultures – live online

Necessity is the mother of invention. In times of social contact restrictions and work from home the way we present our work has been changing. In our case we would like to think the Covid-19 pandemic has made us more creative. One of the avenues we use to reach our clients and our own industry is through live content. For …

Mexico United States Cultural Differences

What You should Know about Cultural Differences Between the U.S. and Mexico

As part of our Fall/Winter Webinar series we recently offered a joint session on the main cultural roadblocks between the United States and Mexico, together with our partners at Gea Cultura. During this webinar Salvador Rodríguez Gil Batista and Christian Höferle identified ways to establish robust and reliable bridges across the Rio Grande/Bravo. Watch the webinar recording here and learn …

The Culture Moment 45

The Culture Moment 45

A recent article on Harvard Business Review (HBR) asks: “Are You Sugarcoating Your Feedback Without Realizing It?“. Apparently, many employees want negative feedback to be delivered in a more candid way. It has been our experience that you best take that with a pinch of salt, if you work in a global context. Make sure you adjust your candor to …

expat insider 1 InterNations

The World Through Expat Eyes – The Good, The Bad, and The Challenges

Working outside of your comfort zone can be a challenge. Relocating to a new country for work can be taxing. Life as an expat typically means working in a different environment, with new colleagues, settling into a new area and making a new city home, and needing to establish a new social life. The insights from the latest InterNations expatriate …

The Culture Moment 43

Why do people call some of the most essential abilities “soft skills”? How can strengths like effective and impactful communication, the ability to relate and connect to people, adaptability, integrity, or cultural intelligence be seriously described as “soft” – as in “less relevant than hard”? How about we rather call these strengths Human Skills or People Skills? The term we …

A Look at Global Employee Relocation in 2019

The peak season for relocation — June through August — is nearly over. One of the most common reasons why people move is that they are changing jobs or starting a new job. For some of these relocating employees, getting to their new homes will involve a lot more than just loading their stuff into a moving van. That’s because …

Fuel your Transatlantic Growth – Close the Culture Gap to Germany!

Learn how to avoid major cross-cultural mishaps when doing business in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in our upcoming webinar. 🇺🇸🇩🇪🇦🇹🇨🇦🇨🇭 Do you want to accelerate your business success in German-speaking Europe? Are you interested in protecting your transatlantic investment in talent and assets? This webinar will walk you through the triggers and tripwires of German business culture and showcase strategies …

The Culture Moment 40

The Culture Moment 40

This corner of the world comes with a fascinating blend of cultures. Somewhere in the Alpine region. At an elevation of around 4,200 feet. Where everyone speaks at least two languages. And where the local culture is, in fact, a mix of two. This is the mountain refuge my family has been coming to for decades. I remember hiking up …

The Culture Moment 37

The Culture Moment 37

What’s an excellent way to create connection when you are dealing with people from different cultures? Make sure to try food and drink. Share a beverage, share a meal. And, very important: show genuine interest in the other culture’s drinking and eating traditions. Then, in return, offer your culture’s traditions to others. What is The Culture Moment? The Culture Moment …

The Culture Moment 36

The Culture Moment 36

Somehow this episode of The Culture Moment turned into a bit of a rant. Let’s blame it on the rain… How authentic can we be when we work across cultures? And how authentic do we want to be when we are having a less than perfect day? Some musings about accepting the fact that, as humans, we are imperfectly perfect. …

The Culture Moment 35

The Culture Moment 35

Just like you allocate time and resources for maintaining your real estate, you want to schedule culture maintenance for your organization. Take care of weeds and uncontrolled growth. What is The Culture Moment? The Culture Moment is our short-form video format: every clip is a bit more than three minutes long and contains a complimentary intercultural nugget, presented by Christian …

The Culture Moment 32+33+34

The Culture Moments 32+33+34

A lot of our clients work in a global context between English-speaking North America and German-speaking Europe. That’s why we compiled nine tips on how to improve your transatlantic communication with people from the United States and Canada, if you are a foreigner from the heart of Europe. Would you like these 9 tips explored in more detail and combined …