In the series “Seven Principles of Intercultural Effectiveness” I would like to show you how you can reach your targets across cultures by adhering to seven principles. We have covered Principle 1, Principle 2 and Principle 3 in earlier posts.
Principle 4 is called
“I give people a third and fourth chance.”
One key mistake a lot of my clients make before they come to our programs is that they send applications through websites in Switzerland without having any personal connections in the company. It’s very hard to find a job in Switzerland like that. Most candidates are very unforgiving or even worse start to doubt themselves. They do not yet understand how the system works and that Swiss or German speakers tend to be hard to approach at first. That is why we often refer to their cultures as being similar to coconuts.
The truth is that multinationals hire through their websites and their own recruiters. They have an inclusive policy and every candidate gets a fair chance but these companies are global corporations and the majority of companies in Switzerland are small and medium-sized. In fact the majority of jobs are not advertised openly in Switzerland. You need to learn the ropes. You need to give people more than one chance to gain your trust and you need to be forgiving if they come across as factual or even aggressive.
In the series “Seven Principles of Intercultural Effectiveness” I would like to show you how you can reach your targets across cultures by adhering to seven principles. We have covered principle 1 and principle 2 in earlier posts.
Principle 3 is called
“I am more compassionate.”
As an intercultural coach I find it very important that you work with an open heart. This means that you show more compassion than the average person. If you have a friend or a relative in the family who is suffering from a health issue or less able to make a living than you are how about you spend a bit of time with that person and find out how you can help him or her. Another good way to show your compassion is by helping those who need support in our society: Children, elderly citizens, the homeless and refugees or migrants. Serving others with compassion is a spiritual exercise that will help you become more effective across cultures as well.
“I watch my conclusion form other angles.”
“I try harder and show more patience.”
Martina has not been able to find a new job for six months. It’s not because of her qualifications. She is well qualified. She has work experience. She says it might be her self-confidence and that she gets nervous in interviews. She thinks one of the reasons for her lack of success in securing a job is that she is very realistic about her skills and when asked in an interview she is honest.
Successful people aren’t honest.
That’s the message she got.
I think, successful people are not dis-honest, but they are better at conveying who they are and how they contribute to the world. They are better storytellers (and they don’t suffer from imposture syndrome).
You need to learn “Self-Marketing” and not just work away like an ant.
I have made the same mistake in my earlier career. I worked away and hoped that someone would notice. I saw male friends getting promotions faster, saw them earn more and some of my female colleagues also surpassed me. With a delay of a few years I did well too.
I think I only got better at communicating to my manager what I was doing and how I contributed to the success of the team. I asked for weekly meetings and sometimes even wrote quarterly summaries. I only had this idea because a former manager told me to communicate more. Had she not told me I would probably still sit in that same office.
Another manager showed me how to improve my self-marketing. She recommended a number of great books to me. She also gave me “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway”. After reading the book, I resigned from my managerial role officially to start my own company Global People Transitions GmbH.
I care for Martina. I want her to succeed and do everything to help her but her story might be different than yours or mine.
Tell me how you show your contribution to the workplace on a weekly basis and if you want to discuss this please schedule a meeting with me.
[tweetthis]I think, successful people are not dis-honest, but they are better at conveying who they are and how they contribute to the world. They are better storytellers (and they don’t suffer from imposture syndrome).[/tweetthis]
