An Expat Explorer Survey conducted by HSBC showed that personal development is more important than financial gain for expats. 81% of expats who responded to the survey listed personal development as the top benefit of living and working abroad.

This corresponds to the results I see on the OAI Assessment test used in the intercultural awareness trainings with Prudential/Pricoa Relocation and Training. The test measures both motivation and personal attributes and personal development turns up as the number one motivator in nearly every case.

What is your experience? When you dig deep do you find that a desire to jumpstart personal development through a challenge such as a move abroad was the catalyst for your decision?

a presto,

Elizabeth

Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

in a song

a presto,

Elizabeth

I virtually met the founder and director of the Expat Women website (www.expatwomen.com), Andrea Martin, as we will both be speaking at the upcoming FAWCO conference in Marrakech in March (www.fawco.org).  She was interested in what I do and asked me to contribute an article for the December homepage. So here it is!

The Pyramid of Expat Needs.

If you are an expat woman, make sure to register with this site to get monthly updates, their newsletter and more.

a presto from rainy Rome,

Elizabeth

Crossing cultures to turn our perspectives upside-down and inside-out.

To quote Derek Sivers from his two-minute “TED Talk”  below, “I love that we need to go to the other side of the world to realize assumptions we never knew we had and realize that the opposite of them may also be true.”

Thanks Derek — you did it again!

http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_weird_or_just_different.html

a presto,

Elizabeth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGmqtShIhZ0

love it!

Carlos is an Argentinian international executive who speaks five languages and has lived and worked in 12 different counties during his career. His answer to a question about what it takes to succeed abroad — on a “linked in” forum — is below. I think he just about says it all!

Honestly, for me, an expat has a very specific kind of mentality.
Being an expat is not about travelling “like in a tourist club”.
It is not about “exotic” destinies or cultures, like in a brochure.
Is much more about flexibility and the REALlY BEING WILLING to learn and adapt constantly to new environments, without denying your origin.
I have some experience working with expats and being an expat myself.

I may say, bad results / endings, appear when the candidate:

1. Was sent abroad, to see if she / he “can learn something new there”.
2. Was sent abroad as a “prize” for good performances at the local market / country of origin.
3. Was sent abroad, WITHOUT A PROFESSIONAL EVALUATION of his psychological balance / characteristics (this is one of the worst).
4. Was sent abroad for political reasons (e.g. because he is the relative of some director in another market).
5. Was sent abroad, without REALLY asking him / her if he / she REALLY WANTS to live abroad. (Another pretty bad one).
6. Has never left his country of origin (even for holidays!!!!!).
7. Has been in a country for a couple of weeks for holidays and believes he “knows what’s going on there”.
8. Does not like to travel ALONE.
9. Comes from a very sophisticated / big market and was sent to a small one.
10. Does not want to learn a single word of the local language.
11. Takes classes of the local language BUT REALLY DOESN´T CARE to learn a word (the fake “I’m trying to”).
12. Has never been there but speaks (barely) the local language (so believes “he knows the culture and what is going on”).
13. Tries to find out immediately any “club” to meet with citizens / colleagues of the same country of origin.
14. Tries to do what it “has to be done” which means “DO WHAT WE DO AT HOME AND EXACTLY THE SAME WAY” (because this is the only thing they know and it makes them feel less insecure).
15. Prejudges the locals in ALL meanings or by contrary imitates “ridiculously” the local habits.
16. Laughs or criticizes openly about / on some local behaviors.
17. Has read a couple of manuals and figures he / she “knows all about what is necessary”.
18. Speaks badly about “local” predecessors / colleagues.
19. Have a wife / husband who present the same characteristics as mentioned before.
20. Has any kind of “family / relationship” unsolved problems.

It is clear I am speaking about people who will live and work on place for several months / years, not for short visits.
Just by avoiding these situations, you will certainly guarantee a much better ratio of success.

Hope has contributed a little bit to the subject.

and I hope you enjoyed Carlos’ insightful comments.

a presto,

E

If you are in doubt that cultural differences exist. Click HERE

A picture paints a thousand words. Enjoy!

a presto,

E

“New” US-based management and leadership theories sound like business as usual to anyone living outside the Anglo-Saxon cultural mindset.   In his recent book, “The Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence”, Tom Peters highlights over and over the importance of building relationships. There is even a section dedicated to LUNCH (!!) and why it just might pay off to have it, sitting down, at a table while talking to other people — even better if they come from another business function.  “Lunch opportunity utilized = ROIR (Return on Investment in Relationships).”

He also stresses the little niceties that have to do with appearances (not necessarily substance) like greeting people, using proper manners, saying thank you consistently to everyone at every occasion and actually calling clients  (not just emailing).  The importance of appearances also comes up in design — the new big thing. The eye plays its part in a product’s value (as Italians have always known).

Most importantly, he emphasizes the importance of taking time to connect with people (across functions, up and down the hierarchy) and build relationships on all levels.

Sounds to me like an assignment abroad could jumpstart a search for excellence if you are open to trying new ways of creating business relationships and establishing trust — perhaps over lunch.

a presto,

E

As Alan embarked on an assignment in China for his US-based manufacturing company, he needed to increase his ability to think and operate in new ways and build trust-based relationships across cultural differences. He also needed to reinforce his capacity for change and resilience as he moved from cultural incompetence to competence, step by step.

He was confident that the cultural information he had gleaned from a few books on Chinese culture (and perhaps  a cross-cultural training session offered by his company)  was sufficient to successfully apply his managerial skills to this context.

It didn’t work.

As the April 2010 Harvard Business Review article continues, “Plenty of smart, talented executives like Alan fail spectacularly in expatriate assignments, even when they try their best to understand local cultures and fit in. Assigning an important overseas post to the wrong executive—one who doesn’t have the propensity to learn and succeed in a new and different environment—can be a painful, expensive proposition”.

Although the authors, professors at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, have put together an assessment test for determining if you are one of the “right” executives, in the real world most companies just send the most technically competent person to get the job done without much consideration of the “soft-side” competencies required to succeed in a new cultural context.

The result is that there are lots of the “wrong” executives out there failing in their assignments. What can they do, on the spot, to get the support they need to fast-tract up the learning curve?

As a coach, I firmly believe that anyone can succeed in a new cultural environment with an effective support system and motivation. Cross-cultural coaching helps clients access their ability to change, motivation to adapt, resilience to bounce back from feeling incompetent and incrementally regain competence, confidence to experiment culturally-appropriate behaviors and determination to confront both external and internal obstacles head-on.

As the article concludes: it takes a global mind-set. While some people have a head-start from having grown up being exposed to different cultures,  I believe that anyone can develop a global mind-set — with support, strategies, resiliance, confidence and perserverance.

click HERE to read this interesting article.

a presto,

E

Don Miguel outlines the principles of Ancient Toltec wisdom in his book, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom.

Before getting to the agreements, he first talks about how we do not originally choose our beliefs, but we agree with the information passed on to us (from our parents, society and religion) that we then store in our subconscious. These thoughts, beliefs or attitudes act like memes that influence our behavior. Don Miguel calls this belief system the Book of Law that rules our mind. This system then creates the Inner Judge that uses the Book of Law to judge ourselves and judge other people.

“Whatever goes against the Book of Law will make you feel a funny sensation in your solar plexus and it’s called fear.”

Dr. Nathaniel Braden, a well known self-esteem psychotherapist and philosopher wrote, “this is a belief system that we have accepted for many years. Then, one day, something within us begins to challenge it. We find ourselves wondering, “How do I know any of this is true?

Don Miguel and Dr. Nathaniel Braden are speaking of our personal belief system, but I immediately took this to a cultural belief system level and it still rings true.

What do you think?

Do our “cross-cultural moments” — those funny sensations in our solar plexus when people and events do not play out as they “should” according to our cultural belief systems — come from a place of fear?

Have you even woken up one day to ask, “How do I know any of this (my cultural beliefs and values) are true?

a domani,

Elizabeth

The above text came from a Wisdom Note developed by Colin Ude-Lewis. If you would like to receive weekly 6-8 page summaries and reflections on books of wisdom — from the ancient Greeks to contemporary leadership gurus — while contributing to a worthy cause, click HERE.  Colin is a “linked in” friend and colleague — and a great guy with a great project!