Conscious competence, running and cultural differences

I ran 14 k yesterday.  Mindfully. 

I’m training for a half marathon, which is approaching way too quickly.  Two weeks ago I ran in the City to Surf, a Sydney event with over 85,000 competitors running and walking 14k to Bondi Beach.  In that event I developed back pain and last week visited a physiotherapist for advice.  She showed me how tight the muscles were around my ribs and how immobile I held my upper body while running.  In addition to some nifty stretches and a good massage she encouraged me to move my arms more freely and rotate through my upper body while running.

And so to yesterday’s mindful running with each step and arm movement something I was consciously observing.  It feels weird to try to change something you’ve been doing for years.  Something that has become natural and second nature.

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We won a gold! Which We?

The Olympics are over for another four years.  Yesterday the Australian welcome home parade was held through the streets of Sydney.  Green and gild confetti fell and cheering crowds lined the streets.

It was great to watch the heroes we had cheered for via the TV come to life.  But some of the heroes I had cheered for weren’t there. 

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Positive Psychology has good news for expats

I recently attended a workshop with Dr Barbara Fredrickson. Her work in the area of positive emotions and her broaden and build theory have been cornerstones of positive psychology.

In case you haven't heard of her research; over the past twenty years it has revealed the powerful effects of positive emotions. Those emotions such as gratitude, hope, serenity, awe, humour, love and happiness have been found to have a number of positive effects.

They increase resilience, strengthen social bonds, enhance problem solving, undo the effects of stress, and reduce own-race bias. All things critical for expats!

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Stress, resilience and expatriates

I recently revisited the research and data around stress at work.  With my colleague Susan MacDonald from Psychology At Work, we designed and delivered a workshop for one of our clients presenting strategies to build resilience and stress management capabilities at individual, team and organizational levels. 

We all know the messages that tough times can make us stronger, but the key fact that remains with me from reviewing the research is how damaging chronic stress can be at a physical, mental and financial level for individuals and for organizations.

We all know about the risk of heart attacks, strokes and depression but did you know that being in a state of chronic stress can impact right down to a genetic level re-writing our most basic

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Do expat partners need high cultural intelligence?

In all the work I do I am consistently espousing the importance of high cultural intelligence for successful expat performance.  Another thing I have a tendency to rave on about is the critical role of the partner (spouse) in a successful transition; in ensuring the assignment is completed and in ensuring the expat employee is working effectively.   In research terms, partner satisfaction mediates the outcomes for all of these variables.   

So it was really interesting to me to meet a researcher who was looking at expat spouses in China and the impact of CQ levels on their satisfaction.   (Regula and I met during a Cultural Intelligence Facilitator Certification course with David Livermore in Hong Kong and enjoyed a number of nerdy discussions about CQ and what her research is showing)    So what were the results?  I’ll let her tell you below…

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