A radio interview -my first!

I was sitting at the airport waiting for a flight to Cairns to work with some great clients when I received a call from Kate O'Toole from ABC radio NT asking if I was available for an interview.  I've never done a radio interview before and I noticed my brain immediately finding reasons to avoid this one.  I didn't have time, the flight would be called soon, I couldn't prepare etc.  

But ...

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Effective leaders in a global world

In a year that began with a major terrorist attack in January and ended with increasing numbers of horrific events in many cities around the world it could be tempting for us to pull back from the wider world.  To gather with those like us, to enjoy the comfort and perceived safety of familiarity.

The reality is, now more than ever; we need the benefits of a team drawn from different areas of the world.  We need people comfortable with languages, cultures and religious beliefs other than their own. 

We need leaders who can think broadly and creatively to take advantage of the opportunities and develop the solutions the global world needs.

We need leaders who can lead with wisdom, with compassion, with courage. 

We need leaders who value and appreciate diversity, instead of just tolerating it.

Even worse than just tolerating diverstiy there are still leaders who are uncomfortable with or afraid of diversity.

I’m not saying it’s easy. 

Our most natural responses, those ingrained within us, often lead us away from diversity towards uniformity.  The bias is unconscious.  But the evidence shows that we tend to feel greater trust and empathy toward people who are similar to ourselves, part of the same social circles.  We feel greater distrust and reduced empathy toward those who are perceived as dissimilar and members of other social groups.

Sadly the evidence also shows that knowing that research doesn’t lead to us changing our behaviours.  Awareness is practically useless.

Instead we need concrete strategies and steps to follow.  We need strategies that will be successful within the national, organisational and group cultures where we work.

We need leaders with cultural intelligence who can build culturally intelligent teams and develop effective strategies. 

The good news is we can do it.

This article was first published as part of Gihan Perera's e-book "Expect More from 2016" which you can download here

What does Courage have to do with Cultural Intelligence?

A few weeks ago I asked, “What do we want to see in future leaders?” acknowledging that the world is changing and leaders are needed who can lead in the new environment.  Then I discovered that the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand, with the help of Deloitte, had given the question an excellent answer. 

Their paper, “Fast Forward:  Leading in a brave new world of diversity” highlights three foundational shifts in the business environment

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What is happening in the expat brain?

We know a lot about the brain, about how it learns and how it embeds the learning, building new neural patterns and pathways as it does so.  We know the optimal conditions for learning to be retained and remembered.

We know that this is exactly what expats need. To learn fast- and to retain the learning. 

It’s continuous learning over a whole range of aspects. From day-to-day learning like new currencies and driving rules, to spatial learning – creating the mental maps to orient themselves in their new environment, to language learning and different styles of communication, to work effectiveness with adaptations to management styles, appropriate ways to lead, influence and relate with each level of the organization – so much to learn!

The beginning of an expat assignment is continuous, non-stop, learning.

But it’s not just absorbing content –it’s also having the insight to recognise when to adapt and when to operate as you might at home. 

Neuroscience has uncovered some of the optimal conditions for learning to be retained and remembered.  How can this research help the expat brain?

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The First 90 Days - Expat Style

Michael Watkins wrote the book on adapting to a new role, “The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter”.  In the Amazon advertising page he points out, “While transitions offer a chance to start fresh and make needed changes in an organization, they also place leaders in a position of acute vulnerability. Missteps made during the crucial first three months in a new role can jeopardize or even derail your success.”

If this is true for people transitioning into leadership roles at home, how much more vulnerable are those transitioning into expat roles where not just the role or the organization is different but also the background culture, underlying systems and unwritten rules of relationships? 

In any leadership role the new leader needs to prepare him / herself.  As Watkins says, adopt a learning approach, devise the most appropriate strategy, aim for early wins, build critical relationships with the new boss, new team and the new cohort and keep his / her balance while achieving results.  

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