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 …

Why this NRI thinks “I will” beats IQ [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Why Mitch Patel thinks skills can be taught and not attitude Mitul “Mitch” Patel is the founder and CEO of Vision Hospitality Group, Inc., which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. Mitch is the son of immigrants from India – his father came to California from a village in Gujarat with $8 in his pocket. Today Mitch leads an …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Table of Elements for Global Business Readiness

What do expat families need away from home? Which components make a community a desirable destination global business and foreign assignees? Our clients trust us and rely on us that we will lead their teams to more success across cultural borders. We are the aspirin to your expat headache. So we researched the most important success factors and compiled them …

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 …

Surprise Yourself by Taking That Leap

One of the greatest barriers to stepping outside our comfort zones is fear. We have no sense of what will be on the other end of taking a leap and that uncertainty is simply intolerable. But what I’ve learned – from my own experiences and from helping with others’ – is that the reality of taking that leap is often …

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 …

Why Bridges trump Walls

At our company’s home base, in the United States, there has been a lot of talk in recent months about the potential benefits of having a wall built along the country’s southern border. While I typically refrain from mixing politics and work, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I am not very enthusiastic about walls. As someone who grew up in …

How learning to say “I’m sorry” helps you recover from cultural faux pas [The Culture Guy Podcast]

In this episode Christian talks to Mamie Lamley, founder of Mandala Mystics and Coach at Empowerment on Fire. Ms. Mamie is a native of WaiÊ»anae, a small city on the island of O’ahu, which is part of Hawai’i, the 50th State of the USA. During the interview she explains how to properly pronounce these place names, and you’ll learn what …

Why hiring for “cultural fit” is usually a bad idea

Hiring for “cultural fit” has been a buzz word for the human resource and talent development field in recent years. Search for the term on Google and you’ll get more than 22 million results. If you follow this topic you’ll see that the concept appears to be widely accepted across many industries. The idea that sorting for compatibility with an …

Why the smell of lions can be misleading [The Culture Guy Podcast]

In this episode Christian talks to Joe Lurie, author of the book Perception and Deception – A mind-opening journey across cultures. The book is is an engaging and insightful introduction to cross-cultural communication in a globalized world. It contains dozens of intriguing intercultural experiences, gathered from Joe’s research and his decades living abroad and managing UC Berkeley’s International House, a …

Master the Art of Crossing Cultures with this Superpower

  In this interview he recently gave Joel D. Roberts, Christian Höferle talks about how you can cross cultures efficiently – with more ease and less stress by applying a certain “superpower.”         If you are interested in learning more about cultural competence, we invite you to sign up for our newsletter, The Culture Reflections. As a …

How Johnnie Cass fights the Tall Poppy Syndrome [The Culture Guy Podcast]

In this episode Christian talks to Johnnie Cass, communication expert, international speaker, NLP master, and coach from Sydney, Australia. Johnnie has been traveling the word for the past 15+ years and has worked with tens of thousands of individuals on five continents, coaching them all to greater levels of personal and business success. With a diverse background in film, television and …

Learning to read The Culture Map with Erin Meyer [The Culture Guy Podcast]

In this March 2016 episode Christian talks to Erin Meyer, Professor at INSEAD University in Paris, one of the leading international business schools. Erin is also the author of The Culture Map. Originally from Minnesota, Erin has been living in Paris for many years. Prior to that she worked in different parts of the world, e.g. in Botswana. There she …

A Transatlantic Career Requires Cultural Savvy

Accepting a foreign work assignment is potentially exciting and daunting. As a foreign assignee not only do you have to figure out the logistics of moving yourself (and your loved ones), you also need to get used to a different work environment. Regardless whether the cultural gap between your home country and the culture you are entering is narrow or …

From Samurai to Third Culture Kid to Culture Connector [The Culture Guy Podcast]

In this February 2016 episode Christian talks to Dr. Takanori K. Endo, CEO of Mind Life Solutions, and Crucing, LLC. Dr. Endo is a licensed clinical psychologist, international trainer, and speaker. Since 2005 he has dedicated his time to researching human psychology as it relates to competence, crisis, and conflict resolution. He has helped thousands of people in over 30 …