When you are an intercultural coach you have certainly come across an issue with having clients from cultures where high power distance is the cultural norm. Assuming you are coming from a culture with lower power distance such as Switzerland and your client used to live in the Middle East most of her life, it could be that expectations and understanding of coaching are entirely opposite.

1) Set the right goals for your success

2) Be aware of how you build trust

3) Find good rituals to begin and end the coaching cycle

4) Maintain your structure but accommodate your client’s needs

5) Start the relationship with the most respectful form of addressing the client

The hardest clients for me are Germans. That is because I am German and because in Germany we would never start a business relationship on a first name basis. Germany has changed since I left seven years ago and Social Media has accepted “Du” as a normal way of addressing each other. I still find “Du” wrong when I speak to persons of authority such as professors who are 20 years older than me. So I stick to the “Sie” for the start. With Americans it is also interesting. I had a French client who had been to the US for around 10 years and kept calling me by my last name even though I had used his first name in English. I admit I underestimated the US-style having lived in the UK and Australia were I felt it was usually ok amongst adults to use first names. It get’s more confusing when my clients are from Pakistan or India where I would call them by their last name such as Ali or Rajat assuming that it is their first name. And then hardly any country is so obsessed with calling people by their names as Switzerland where you are only true friends once you call each other by a nickname.

6) Invite the partner and kids along to meet and greet

Guest Post by Jackson Hille

When I decided to make the transition into becoming a full-time freelance writer, I was filled with self-doubt. I wasn’t a journalism or communications major in college. In fact, I majored in American Studies as an undergrad. But I always had a passion for writing; it helped me blow off steam and it was something I really enjoyed. Being a people-pleaser, though, it was difficult for me to put myself out there. I was afraid of the idea that someone would hate my writing and that I could upset people.

The first couple of months was really tough, both in gaining self-confidence, as well as supporting myself financially. I had to frequently underbid my competition to land jobs. I’m not even sure if I was making minimum wage for a while. But I was dedicated to growing my client base and really establishing myself as a premium content creator in the world of digital marketing for tech startups. In doing so, my financial struggles continued and I contemplated giving up. My personal finances was a headache; my income was unpredictable, and I realized I didn’t even know how to file taxes as an independent contractor. Luckily, my freshman year roommate, who became an accountant, was really able to help me out and build me into a more effective businessperson.

I learned that there are a few, key differences between filing taxes as an independent contractor versus someone who is on a payroll. As a freelance writer, I was given a 1099 form from all of my clients. The 1099 stated my earnings from each company for which I did contract work, and essentially, my 1040 reflected all of the 1099 forms I received. I discovered that I was also entitled to a few tax deductions as a freelance worker, which helped to alleviate my financial burden. I learned to look out for myself and understand where I stood to gain.

As I became more established, I learned to stop undervaluing my work and realize how much I was worth. I was afraid of losing clients, but through it all, I discovered who was really loyal to me. Looking back, I sometimes forget how much hard work and determination it took to get to the point in my career I’m at today. It’s mostly because I was extremely passionate in what I was doing and because I had faith in myself. Your path may be very similar to mine or the exact opposite, but believe in yourself and you will get to where you want to be.

Jackson Hille is the Outreach Associate for FormSwift, a startup that focuses on providing low-cost, online solutions to entrepreneurs and business for all of their document needs. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, he has a passion for writing about public policy and sports management when he is not helping individuals and organizations find resources that will create a more efficient workspace. Upon joining FormSwift, he was able to put his full-time freelance career to the side, but he still cares tremendously about helping current freelancers find a stable footing in the Gig Economy, which is why he created the Freelancer’s Essential Guide to Business and Taxes.

“When we are clear about our contribution to the world, we will use all channels available to make that contribution happen.”

This time of the year we easily get the flu and feel under the weather. While your body needs to accept these attacks once in while it might not always be connected to the weather only. The end of winter is also a time of transition where we often notice that we did not follow through with all the resolutions we had when we started the year. Sometimes we might still struggle with our holiday weight or the lack of exercise. Sometimes we wish we drank less alcohol or spend less money on stuff we don’t really need. Sometimes we wish our dating life was better or that we had found a companion in life.

High performance results from a mix of feeling healthy as well as being emotionally stable.

You need to work with your body as if it was a team member. Too many clients I know have physical limitations that seem to stop them from a fully satisfied life. In my personal experience I know that I could not rely on my body in a time of high-stress almost 10 years ago. Like most junior managers I thought I own the world and that nothing could stop me but in that year I changed my job, flew to New York, got married, went on honeymoon and around three weeks later my disk slipped in the lower back. I had to be in the hospital and then at home for three weeks altogether and I hated it. I was so immobile and unhappy that I never wanted to have this experience again.

This incident might be one of the reasons why I became an executive coach because many times I see colleagues as well who just seem to believe that their body will handle and tolerate everything. Until they are diagnosed with burnout or cancer or they have a heart attack or high blood pressure. Another common thread that I recognize also among highly intelligent clients is a tendency to avoid intimate relationships because they could fall apart.

Many managers do not seek help unless a doctor tells them that it is time to change behavior. Imagine you had an “oldtimer” (vintage car). Would you wait until the garage repair person told you to come for check up or would you take the car to a regular check up to make sure it does not rust? Some of us treat their cars better than their bodies. Frankly speaking, I used to to be like that until I had my three week unintentional break. Since then I have become a lot better at prioritizing health.

Your health might not feel urgent to you just yet.

Could it be that your body  gives you signs that you need to change “something” in your life?

If you read the signs correctly you have three choices:

1) You can ignore this and move on until you have a bigger issue.

2) You can take it seriously as a sign that you need to have a medical check up or

3) You can go and seek an executive coach who can help you analyze where you are overburdened and how you can work better with your existing resources.

Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions about your physical and mental health.

Thank you.

Angie

Read more about how to stay healthy and get productive by ordering Michael Hyatt‘s ebook “Shave 10 hours off your workweek.” It’s a free resource I can highly recommend.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@angieweinberger”]Tip of the week: Take a walk every day. #manageyourenergy[/tweetthis]