On a recent business trip to Hong Kong I made a number of critical travelling errors so I thought I would document them to acknowledge my foolishness and hopefully prevent them from happening to me again (public humiliation is good like that!). And although with me, I’m usually all about focusing on the culture –these mistakes weren’t cultural based but they did impact on my effectiveness in the culture!
In my “Increasing your Cultural Intelligence” training courses, as part of one of the strategies for building relationships across cultures, I encourage people to think about the universals. These are things we have in common with other people around the world, regardless of where they may come from. In a course in Canberra, Australia, last week a participant suggested sport was a universal. This was strongly debated by another participant.
The young woman pointed out she had no interest in sport and it would be a detriment rather than a help in building a relationship if someone introduced sport into a conversation. The group came to the conclusion that if you are interested in sport –it is a universal. The interest in sport will open doors to conversations and shared interests when you have seemingly little else in common.
I am writing at somewhere around 30,000 feet, returning home from the 2011 industrial organisational psychologists’ conference held in Brisbane. These conferences are held for IO Psychologists in Australia every two years and provide an opportunity for practitioners like me to meet with theorists and catch up with the latest research outcomes. For someone who doesn't sit in that space on a day-to-day basis it can be a mentally stretching experience. Mentally stretching should lead to professional growth. Or as our professional development requirements now state – it should give an opportunity for "reflective practice".
When you are travelling the world or dealing with people from different cultures, how important is travel etiquette really? Should we memorize lists for different cultures of dos and don’ts? Will potential relationships be destroyed if we point inappropriately, use a wrong hand gesture or touch things with our unclean feet, or left hand?
Build a Flourishing Life, Hit the Ground Running on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 10:45PM by Trisha Carter “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.