Elevator Pitches for Dummies I’m teaching others how to do a two-minute elevator pitch. But I’m less than perfect when it comes to pitching myself. I sometimes have to rush to an event and am not well prepared. Once, I saw the issue coming when more and more other coaches (competition!) entered the hall. It was like a movie scene. The potential clients came streaming towards us as if they had thought about it. I ended up chatting with one woman. Then the coordinator asked us to pitch. I wanted to use storytelling, but it did not fit into her structure, and (damn!) I had not even written down what to say. It was a matter of unpreparedness because I […]

As I mentioned in this post during the early days of the pandemic my mother could not find yeast. Her village in Southern Germany had a yeast shortage. We don’t have a shortage of anything here in Zurich, neither toilet paper, nor yeast, even though demand for both was higher than in “normal” times. My mother likes to bake in normal times but I felt she needed to bake even more in these times.

You might be facing a unique set of challenges right now. Acclimatizing to a new locale, new cultural norms and social practices, ever-changing pandemic rules, children with identity issues, an injury, or an elderly relative, who just fell down a third time and needed to be hospitalized.  These challenges bring with them additional levels of stress and dealing with them every day inevitably results in mental exhaustion, especially if you cannot be there in person and have to support through WhatsApp calls. You might also downplay your own mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion or worse, ignore them altogether. That’s because as new members of the workplace or community, you don’t want to be seen as the “constant victim”. You might […]

Guest post by Brooke Faulkner Whether on a short or long-term assignment, expatriates should take advantage of all that Global Mobility has to offer. Being appointed to new locations can further your professional development, help bring the best professional practices to new places, and help your company expand its global network. This is all not to mention that on a personal fulfilment note, Global Mobility is a perfect opportunity to experience new cultures, meet new people, and learn new languages. Businesses who appoint expats may know of the business advantages, and they may even know of the benefits of global mobility. However, there are side effects of global mobility, and a significant drawback of an appointed expat is that they may […]