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 …
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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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. …
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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 …
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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 …
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Let’s say you want people to better unterstand the culture of the country or region with which you identify most (could be your home country or adopted home). How do you create commonality with people from other cultures and countries? Here are some tips for questions and conversational topics you can use. The chat evolving from these will highlight your …
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Suspend your judgement and observe keenly. Whenever you travel take the time to observe your surroundings. You’ll encounter people from all walks of life. This will allow you to practice your knowledge about cultural differences. Remember the Mark Twain quote about how travel is the antidote to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness? It can truly be, if you observe with eyes, …
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People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.What is your WHY? Here’s mine. Find out more about the power of WHY with Simon Sinek. 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 …
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How do you deal with difference? Here’s a radically simple way to tackle your fear of the foreign, the uneasiness with otherness: Take the other to lunch, ask these three questions, and suspend your judgment in favor of listening to relate. What is The Culture Moment? The Culture Moment is our short-form video format: every clip is a bit more …
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Here’s an answer to the question why our company is called The Culture Mastery. There are four stages to learning anything and we’ll take you through all of them so you can master the new skills: Unconscious Incompetence ❯ Conscious Incompetence ❯ Conscious Competence ❯ Unconscious Competence What is The Culture Moment? The Culture Moment is our short-form video format: …
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There is a way to find out whether a cultural training firm is right for you and your organization. Seven questions you should ask. Inquire before you hire! We also have a blog post on this topic. What is The Culture Moment? The Culture Moment is our short-form video format: every clip is a bit more than three minutes long …
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Companies that capitalize on culture do better in reaching their goals. Are you leaving money on the table by insisting on doing business “your” way? Or are you open to the idea of adjusting your approach? Either way, you should be aware that when businesses embrace a global mindset they get better results. What is The Culture Moment? The Culture …
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Are you planning to go to the C-Suite? Are you expecting it to be a sweet/suite ride? That road might be a bit bumpy, if you are missing the key “Vitamin C” ingredient: a healthy organizational culture that is in alignment with your corporate goals and with the diverse cultures of the markets in which you are doing business. Are …
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When global executives outline key pillars for making expat assignments work I pay close attention. Of the three things I learned from a senior leader, No. 3 should make you think. Especially considering that less than 15% of HR professionals have worked abroad. And still many HR departments think they can cover expatriate support programs with in-house solutions. Three things …
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Time for some real talk! Whenever people tell you cultural training initiatives “don’t work,” here’s how you respond: You won’t look like The Rock after one visit to the gym. You won’t cure tonsillitis with one antibiotic pill. And you certainly won’t build cultural competence in your organization with one training program! It’s a process. You present new knowledge, you …