Rachel Smets shares her confidence hacks for moving abroad On this episode Rachel Smets, author of “Awaken Your Confidence,” shares her experiences of moving abroad and living in different countries. Born and raised in Belgium, she currently resides in the Netherlands. She left home in her mid-20s and moved to Spain where she landed her first job abroad. Over the years, Rachel has lived in …
What do expatriates want?
Take the survey Are you currently an expatriate on a foreign work assignment? Have you lived and worked abroad in the past? Are you considering taking a position overseas? Then this survey is for you! Please take a minute to answer these short questions for expats. This brief questionnaire is designed to help us better understand how people who live …
Mastering a mixed marriage in Indonesia [The Culture Guy Podcast]
Silke Irmscher talks about transitioning from Saxony to Java On this episode Silke Irmscher, founder of Culturenergy, tells her story of how she left Germany and fell in love with Indonesia and, in fact, found love on the island of Java. Silke has been living in Indonesia for more than 15 years and together with her husband, Ri Yanto, she …
Culture is not shocking – unless you want it to be
Are new encounters really shocking – or simply unfamiliar? When preparing people for life and work abroad cultural trainers often address the issue of culture shock. Sometimes this may sound like there will be a wave of negative experiences and emotions crashing on the shores of expat existence. Let’s set the record straight on this: The idea of a shock isn’t …
First talk and then perhaps drink to connect across differences
Yes, the Heineken commercial is genius. How can we connect across differences, if we allow our differences to define us? In light of the recent political and societal trends towards even more polarization and populism this is a fair question to ask. In case you haven’t seen it yet, the Dutch brewing company Heineken released an image film in April 2017 which hit …
No need to force cultural agility upon others [The Culture Guy Podcast]
Marie Gervais talks about Nabil from Nottingham and being allergic to rice in Japan On this episode Marie Gervais, the CEO of Shift Management, Inc. in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), shares how she learned that people can be plotted on a continuum of cultural rigidity. Sometimes people’s positions on this continuum changes over the course of a lifetime, but sometimes it does …
Teach the relevant skills in your business training to see your global teams rise
Which competencies are the most in demand for international business? And what type of business training do companies need to invest in to ensure their talent pool is equipped with the competencies required to succeed in markets around the world? These are questions which continue to come up in the conversations with our clients. Consequently, the next question usually is: How do …
How to become a cultural chameleon [The Culture Guy Podcast]
On this episode Pellegrino Riccardi explains how he reconciles his three cultural backgrounds Born in the UK to parents who came from Avellino in Southern Italy, and raised in a bicultural family in Bath – an English city which first experienced visitors from ancient Rome as early as AD 60 – Pellegrino now lives in Norway with his Norwegian wife …
Meet your global growth goals with BANK
Global Excellence – Affordable Results – Trusted Methodology – Harmonious Connection Does your organization consistently meet its global growth goals? Are you finding that selling and marketing to clients and prospects from outside your country is more challenging than in your home market? With the BANK personality training system this challenge will soon be a thing of the past. We are …
Cultural work in a post-truth, narcissistic world
This November I attended a SIETAR meeting for the first time. Not sure why it took me so long to engage with intercultural professionals and educators at this level. I certainly recommend you don’t wait as long as I did. The gathering I attended was the annual conference of SIETAR USA in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The convention officially started on the …
Crack the Cultural Codes of 10 Countries
Many of the readers of this blog and users of our website work across cultures or with teams across borders and cultures on a regular basis – whether you spend your time in the office or out on the road. When you do work with people who are different than you, it is critical to have a rough sense of …
What are you doing with your hands? [The Culture Guy Podcast]
When people communicate they don’t only use their words, they always include parts of their body to convey their message. Depending on where in the world we are from, we use our hands, our heads, and the rest of our bodies differently. You’ll find hundreds of infographics on the internet highlighting how some gestures work in certain cultures but would …
Master these skills to become an efficient global leader
When Andreas Gelder was transferred to the U.S. subsidiary of his company, his responsibilities shifted. At the head offices of his European employer he was a young up-and-comer and a part of a larger team in the finance department. Now he had to master several new roles: he became the head of finance for the Americas – a territory which …
Let’s talk about sex(ism), baby! [The Culture Guy Podcast]
During this episode I’ll be talking about sex. In a clean and mature way. It is still a podcast around the topic of sex – and about sexism. Let me be really clear: sexism will hurt your business. And sometimes you will encounter it coming from angles you weren’t expecting. I recently wrote a piece about this topic on our …
How to build cross-cultural rapport by leaving your food comfort zone [The Culture Guy Podcast]
When he moved within the United States, from Maryland to Arkansas, Michael Spencer realized that some of the stories about the U.S. South are sometimes more than just stereotypes. Or, as he found out, Southerners like their tea sweet. Which meant that rapport building in the Ozarks is different than at the Chesapeake Bay. Then his company offered him an …
Gender Roles and Sexism as Obstacles for Global Success
At the time of writing this article, gender (in)equality in the world has been front and center of the global news cycle: The 2016 general election in the United States saw the topic of gender equality become one of the main narratives in comparing the candidates for President. Reports about terrorist attacks inevitably take a turn to remind us how …
Talking about connection across cultures, ethnicities, socio-economics with Gary Rahman
Adjusting to different cultures and the behaviors which are acceptable and familiar to their representatives isn’t only challenging across country lines. Often we find distinct subcultures within nations. That’s the case in comparatively small countries like Spain, Germany, or Italy and especially in large territorial nations like China, India, or the United States. In the U.S. the different American cultures …
Why you need to attend the annual conference of SIETAR USA [The Culture Guy Podcast]
Brett Parry, who serves as the Director of Communication and Marketing for SIETAR USA, is an independent intercultural coach and facilitator. Originally from Australia, he works throughout the United States from his home base in Chicago. In his role at SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research), he has spearheaded efforts to revamp the organization’s online presence and digital …
How Joe Lurie intrigues people through difference [The Culture Guy Podcast]
Joe Lurie, the author of Perception and Deception – A mind-opening journey across cultures, is back for another conversation about bringing people from around the world together. If you missed the first time Joe was a guest on The Culture Guy Podcast, you can listen to the episode in the archives. During this new episode Joe shares with Christian his …
Mastermind with us at the SIETAR USA Annual Conference
How many of you will be attending this year’s annual SIETAR USA conference? Let us invite you to join us in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from November 9-12, where the leading professionals in the intercultural arena will gather to learn from each other. For the team at The Culture Mastery this will be a first, as Christian Höferle will be leading through …