Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life

Stories fill the pages of world news about global leadership taking credit for success, but there are few instances where leaders go out of their way to claim a failure. This attribute is rather unfortunate because the best leaders practice humility in their management technique. Humility involves listening to those around you and recognizing mistakes. No leader is perfect. By recognizing mistakes, we can ultimately learn important lessons.

Co-workers and employees need to know that the leadership is willing to recognize their mistakes and listen to everyone around them. By showing that mistakes happen, the leadership team develops a relationship of respect with those around them. Co-workers and employees are more likely to listen to someone who first listens to them. By building a relationship of mutual understanding, leaders set up their businesses for success.

As a part of practicing humility, leaders are able to forgive those around them and recognize their own limitations. No one can do every task and asking for help gives someone else the opportunity to learn a new skill. If the employee fails at the task, be ready to forgive and provide assistance. As humans, we learn more from our failures than from our successes. Giving others the chance to fail helps them to develop as workers and future leaders. By regularly practicing humility in the workplace, leaders create the type of environment that is conducive for success.

How much do you show this quality in your life and at work?

What would you gain from developing humility at work and in your life?

Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life

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Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life

Build a Network of Friends and Acquaintances

People are by nature social creatures. As a new expat enters an entirely new world, they should be ready to start developing a new network of friends and social bonds. Far from the family and friends that they know, daily life can become a challenge. Being a part of the global leadership does not mean they have to focus on a career at the detriment of their social life. Having a vibrant network of friends provides a safety net for individuals and a shoulder to cry on when things do not go as planned. Go in with the expectation that friends will have to be made. Coaching as a part of the global citizenship will help you to challenge your beliefs, acknowledge and validate your feelings and actions, assists you to overcome difficulties but it can ever replace a friend. Globalization has often served to drive people apart and replace in-person communications with a computer. As an expat embraces their new life, they can use globalization and their experience abroad to bring them closer to the world around them.

Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life

I had a personal experience recently with energy that made me look for tips to assist me and others to attract more positive energy. As a coach you better Walk the Talk to assist your clients to get the most of the coaching experience. Sen, a blogger, wrote an article which provides simple tips. I wanted to share this list with you.

Start Your Day With Meditation
Treat Everyone the Way You Want to be Treated
Let Go of Your Need to Control
See the Positive in Every Situation
Visualize a Peaceful Life
Stop Worrying About the Future
Drop the Resentment Within
Stay as the Presence Instead of the Ego
Look at the Nature
Feel the Spaciousness in Your Body

Which one did you apply today? Which ones will you apply tomorrow?
Which tip could you had to this list?

I would add that the first thing to develop is Awareness. Making yourself aware of the energy you live in and deliver to others gives you the opportunity to choose how you respond to any situation. The Energy Leadership Index provides a great snapshot of where you currently stand energetically. Feel free to contact me to take the assessment!

Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
-Mahatma Gandhi

From presidential candidates to the average main street citizen, change is in the air. At some point, everyone wants to make a sustainable change. The people that surround us in our community like friends, relatives, coworkers and politicians are all talking about the miraculous effect of making a change. As nations and organizations strive towards changing their image and manner of operating, they need to keep the concepts of courage, commitment and self-mastery at the forefront of their minds. Without these skills, people can never take the first step towards a sustainable difference in how they live their lives. The first step is the most difficult one and distractions are in abundance, but these values can help individuals and corporations to stay the course and affect a dramatic difference in their lives. Understanding how courage, commitment and self-mastery transform the individual and bring about a change enables us to lead ourselves, our organization and even our nations to success. Read More

Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life

Le changement est le signe même de la vie. Tout change, tout évolue. Si, à l’instar des historiens, nous nous penchons sur l’espèce humaine, ses modes de société ou sur son environnement nous constaterions, d’une part, l’importance de l’évolution réalisée au cours des siècles et aussi, tout comme Charles Darwin, son adaptation à ces modifications.
Pourtant ces changements se sont-ils produits sans heurts et sans peurs ? L’histoire montre les immenses difficultés à surmonter par les peuples et les hommes, grands scientifiques ou hommes politiques comme Mandela qui, au prix de 27 ans d’emprisonnement, a vu l’Afrique du Sud sortir de la ségrégation raciale. Nous pourrions citer de nombreuses figures éblouissantes comme celle-ci. Pourtant ce sont des êtres humains comme tous les autres avec comme qualités principales Courage car il en faut pour lutter contre le pouvoir établi, Engagement et une Maîtrise du Soi acquise par une bonne connaissance de soi-même.
Chacun de nous, à un moment de notre existence, se retourne sur le chemin parcouru pour faire un bilan qui peut ne pas être flatteur ni satisfaisant et faire apparaître une dépendance vis-à-vis de futilités. Nous rêvons, alors, de changer notre vie. Il nous faut franchir un cap : celui d’abandonner nos habitudes si sécurisantes, voir nos peurs apaisantes car connues ? Comment prendre le risque d’aller vers l’inconnu et ses incertitudes ? Souvent nous ne nous en sentons pas le droit pour notre famille, nos enfants, les gens qui dépendent de nous et, de ce fait, nous nous condamnons à l’insatisfaction. Pourtant il suffit d’un peu de réflexion pour aller vers des lendemains plus souriants qui, le bonheur étant communicatif, rendraient plus heureux nos proches.
Georges Clémenceau a dit : « Il faut savoir ce que l’on veut. Quand on le sait, il faut avoir le courage de le dire ; quand on le dit, il faut celui de le faire. » Et effectivement pour apporter le changement nécessaire dans notre vie il faut d’abord réfléchir à nos objectifs, les établir clairement et en parler à notre entourage de façon précise et déterminée. Il faudra ensuite tout mettre en œuvre pour réaliser ce processus de changement. Opérer des changements fait peur car le risque d’échouer existe. Georges Clemenceau disait également « ce qui m’intéresse, c’est la vie des hommes qui ont échoué, car c’est le signe qu’ils se sont surpassés ». Tout le monde le sait sans rien essayer il est impossible d’obtenir quelque chose, il faut du courage pour changer, mais est-ce suffisant pour négocier les virages de notre vie ?
La réponse est forcément complexe car c’est une chose de tout remettre en question il ne paraît pas évident de rendre pérenne une nouvelle situation. De plus, nous pensons aux personnes qui ont échoué et ont pensé revenir en arrière, déçus. Pourtant rappelons-nous la fable de La Fontaine « Le lièvre et la Tortue » qui se mesurent à la course. La Tortue n’avait aucune chance au départ de gagner, tous les bookmakers l’auraient donnée perdante. Pourtant elle a gagné grâce à son engagement tout au long de la course. Elle a persévéré sans jamais renoncer mettant toutes ses forces et toute sa détermination dans la bataille. La même qualité a été mise en œuvre par Joe Kals, homme d’une cinquantaine d’années devenu paraplégique à l’âge de 20 ans, lors de son exploit pour relier le Havre à Menton (1 335 km). A la force de ses bras il a fait avancer son corps en appui sur ses béquilles pour récolter des dons en faveur de la recherche sur la moelle épinière. A chaque pas il devait avoir un engagement total pour faire face au stress et au risque de blessures. Une aventure hors du commun pour un homme qui malgré son handicap a parcouru sa vie durant la planète entière pour venir en aide aux populations locales. Il a ainsi montré qu’on pouvait transformer un handicap en une opportunité avec une vie active.
Peut-être ne nous sentons pas aussi forts ? Certes cela parait extraordinaire et nous n’avons pas à affronter de telles épreuves pour avoir une vie enrichissante. Quoi qu’il en soit, pour changer il faut relever un défi. Pouvons-nous relever n’importe quel défi ? Oui à condition de nous fixer des objectifs raisonnables, abordables pour les mener à leur terme.
Comment connaitre les défis potentiellement réalisables aboutissant à des solutions pérennes : en analysant ses désirs les plus chers, en n’hésitant pas à mettre sur la table ses envies, ses qualités et ses défauts pour choisir les bonnes options et surtout maîtriser, tout au long d’un parcours qui peut se révéler ardu, ses émotions, ses peurs et ses doutes…

Il faudra développer une véritable maîtrise du Soi et surpasser son égo. Celle-ci pourra être atteinte après une bonne connaissance du Soi. La maîtrise du Soi est certainement la qualité phare du Mahatma Gandhi, qui, par sa persévérance dans la désobéissance civile et sa non-violence, a réussi à libérer l’Inde du joug de l’Angleterre et a pu mener une vie d’ascète.

Courage, Engagement et Maîtrise du Soi sont des qualités communes à tous les grands Hommes ; elles sont néanmoins à la portée de chacun d’entre nous pour nous permettre de suivre le chemin de notre choix et aboutir à une vie harmonieuse pérenne.

Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life

Meet Your Future Team Face to Face

As globalization rapidly changes the market place, the global leadership is adjusting by switching to a network of conference calls and e-mails. This process can be detrimental to the new global citizenship member. Gaining the trust and respect of workers can only come with face to face meetings. New expatriates should plan on meeting with each of their workers in person.

From a psychological perspective, face to face meeting contain clear benefits over other forms of communication. Members can use hand gestures, facial expressions to gain a better grasp of the matter at hand. Occurring in real time, these meetings avoid the delays and disruptions that come with commuters. The personal aspect of it fosters a sense of trust and fulfills a need humans have for interpersonal contact. Deeply seated psychological needs drive people to communicate with one another and enable the global leadership to discover the skills and integrity of the participants.

Likewise, face to face meetings enhance a feeling of transparency. Social exchange theory believes that humans use meetings like this to exchange rewards and establish equilibrium between the work put in and the perceived benefit. Participants develop relationships that can lead to the exchange of personal favors and negotiations that cannot be achieved successfully in another form. This trust that develops between the meeting’s participants cannot be developed any other way. Through computerized technology the trust can merely be fostered, but will not fully develop until significant amounts of time has passed. Strong social relationships and a meaningful experience help the project’s team to operate effectively and efficiently. Successful companies have realized this already; it is time for the global citizenship to take advantage of it and create a high level of trusting, social bonds within the organization.

Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life

Plan Strategically

You have discovered what the expectation is for work and are prepared to step into the task as a part of global leadership. As you develop a timeline for your assignment you will look for solutions to overcome problems by enhancing your cultural awareness and understand cultural values. Training and coaching preparations will need to be developed and the team has to be met for the project to be initiated successfully.

Nothing lasts forever—especially your project. Expatriates should be prepared before they ship out with a timeline for the project. The timeline should function as a guideline and not be set in stone. As the project progresses, changes can be made to adjust for the realities of the situation. Trust your employees to give you valid advice and updates on the project. The more you listen, the more you will learn from them and the more successful the company will be.

4/5 expatriates are not offered any form of cultural awareness training or education on cultural values. As a member of the global leadership, this lack of coaching and training is destructive for their successful integration into a world facing increasing levels of globalization. Training can encompass language learning and business management skills, coaching will encompass cultural values, cultural awareness or other aspects of global citizenship. Being the right person for the job means being the best prepared person for the job. A prepared expatriate is more confident and successful in meeting any challenges in the workplace. Although coaching may seem expensive, it is cheaper than the $250,000 tab for each failed assignment. Proper coaching can help to enhance the skills of a company’s global leadership team and make each mission a successful one.

What do you think?

Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life

Listen, Listen, Listen

This sounds like an easy step, but for so many people it is not. Many people listen to others with a preconceived judgment and response in mind. To become a part of the global leadership and develop an understanding of new cultural values, expats must be prepared to listen. Free of any judgment, the citizens of the country can offer valid advice and inside information that a prejudiced mind would have turned a blind eye to.

Locals have developed reasons overtime for their world view. Although differences in cultural values are decreasing due to globalization, they still exist in the majority of areas in the world. To be a successful member of global leadership, listen to others around you. As you listen to other thoughts, you will find that the respect and credibility you gain among your team and locals more than compensates for any loss of ego. People who are a part of the global citizenship need to be able to view the world from a different perspective and start asking questions.

Global Leadership & Expat Coaching - Empower People - Enhance Experience - Enrich Life