Two critical skills and one critical attitude to build cultural intelligence

“How is doing your job here in Australia different to doing your similar job in the UK?”

 I was in a coaching session working with a sales and marketing professional who has relocated from the UK.  His partner was relocated by her company so he is looking for a job here.  To help him get a feel for the market he has taken on a voluntary marketing role which means he is representing a not-for-profit in a B2B marketing and sales capacity. Together we reviewed the differences he was experiencing and assessed his adaptation.

Those differences included a less formal business environment, easier access to the decision makers, more chatting time in building rapport, more self revelation from the corporate representatives (family details, weekend activities etc) -which then implied reciprocal revelation from my coachee to ensure rapport was built – and then clear and direct discussion of the value of his offer to the corporation.

He has been successful in making sales and is building his pipeline so is obviously adapting well.  It struck me how his ability to do that depended on him using some critical skills and a core attitude which we had spoken about in an earlier session on Cultural Intelligence.

The core attitude is openness.  Instead of assuming the way he did things at home is the right way to do things my client is open to people doing things differently.  He doesn’t judge those differences, he just recognizes they exist and he’s open to learning more about the differences.

The first critical skill is observation.  His eyes are open and he is taking in details others may gloss over.  We spoke early on in our sessions together about being watchful for the small details which may be different in everyday life as well as in work situations. 

Often people moving small cultural distances, where language is the same, where there may be shared history and values assume that all is the same and are not aware of the subtle differences – differences which may impact on people’s perception of you and on your ability to build relationships.

The second critical skill is mindfulness. When my client is in a sales situation he isn’t just interacting, he’s also taking an observer position and is mindful of how people are interacting with him.  He’s mindful of his responses in return to them, and also aware of his own thought processes or emotional responses which may be telling him at a subconscious gut-level to act in a different way.  And he adjusts his thoughts, emotional responses or behaviour accordingly.  Good salespeople are usually strong in using mindfulness as they look to build rapport by responding to their potential buyers but in this situation he has added in a mindful awareness of potential cultural differences reminding himself not to operate automatically in a way that would have worked at home.

If you are looking for a strong sales and marketing professional in Sydney drop me a line and I would be happy to introduce you to my client.

Observation and mindfulness are two critical skills in building the strategy component of cultural intelligence.  And it helps to have a coach to review things with!

My client’s Career Program has been paid for by his wife’s employer as part of the relocation support services they have provided for the family.  Dual career issues often prevent valuable employees from accepting a relocation offer – this is one way to encourage them to do so.  You can learn more about these programs here. http://www.transculturalcareers.com.au/partner_support.htm