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 …

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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 …

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 …

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 …

The Culture Guy Podcast

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 …

Why Openness is an Excellent Indicator for a Healthy Culture

One of my mentors is a big fan of Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller and while I haven’t studied Fuller’s work yet, there are a few quotes that stuck with me. Perhaps one of the most powerful Fuller quotations is this: “True leadership comes from the willingness to admit publicly to your mistakes.” Now, it would be thoughtless of me to not …

Balancing different leadership approaches as an expat boss [The Culture Guy Podcast]

As the daughter of first generation immigrants to Australia, Stephanie Barros learned from childhood on how to balance the cultures of her birth country and those cultures represented in her family who, hailing from the Philippines, combines roots from England, Spain, Portugal, and Germany. Today, living in Singapore with her family and working as an executive for a U.S.-based, multinational …

24 entrepreneurs share global business tips

Recently I was featured in the video series Entrepreneurs Conquering the World, together with 23 other international business leaders. Each of us shared in a 30-minute interview some of the keys to our success – how we discovered and mastered the art of doing business internationally. If you missed any of the interviews or the free gifts that each speaker …

Follow your passion to deal with the challenges of living abroad [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Living abroad as an expatriate family comes with privileges and challenges. Belén Galindo Lizaldre and her husband Roberto Goñi Ruiz uprooted their family of four from Pamplona (Spain) to move to Chattanooga, TN in the United States. Three years in the Tennessee Valley have left a lasting impression on this expat family and on this episode Belén & Roberto share …

How do you deal with otherness?

Humanity is infested with a lethal disease. Fear of the foreign. Uneasiness with otherness. One could argue that during the last decade there has been a growing global trend of Xenophobia. Dealing with otherness appears to be really difficult for many. Years ago some people argued that globalization will alleviate the fear of what people perceive as foreign. Right now we are …

Solving a translation challenge with the help of sex workers [The Culture Guy Podcast]

In this episode Christian talks once more to Kyle Hegarty, who is the Managing Director of Leadership Nomad, part of the TSL Group, where he focuses on helping companies expand across the globe. This is the second time Kyle is a guest on the podcast. You can also hear him talk about the challenges of dealing with time zones in global business. Kyle …

Why People Around the World Define Happiness and Well-Being Differently

What does it mean to be happy? How do you know that you are doing well? Turns out there is no universal definition for this pleasant emotion. Research shows that different cultures around the world have unique concepts of well-being and happiness. It is probably safe to assume that every human in any society has a desire to be happy. …

How a TCK uses his difference to make a difference [The Culture Guy Podcast]

In this episode Christian talks with Tayo Rockson, whom some might label as a poster-child third-culture kid (TCK). Tayo was born in Nigeria and grew up in several different countries, among them Sweden, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, and the United States. He is the author of “The Ultimate Guide to TCK Living: Understanding The World Around You” and host of the …

Busting 5 Myths about Cross-Cultural Coaching

Once in a while we invite guests on The Culture Reflections Blog and ask them to share their experience of crossing cultures. We also follow this idea on Christian’s podcast series, The Culture Guy. The goal is to showcase which concepts other experts in the cross-cultural field use to serve their clients and how they approach their work. This first …

Eliminate the Similarity Illusion for Transatlantic Business Success

We tend to assume similarity. When people look similar, dress similar, have similar cultural origins, and share similar values it is easy to conclude that they are similar in many aspects of life. This misconception can be quite prevalent among business people from North America and Western Europe. Ever since the launch of The Culture Mastery we have had many opportunities …