Steven Howard is the award-winning author of 22 leadership, business, and professional development books. His latest is Humony Leadership: Mindsets, Skills, and Behaviors for Being a Successful People-Centric Leader. The Nonfiction Authors Association awarded the book a Gold Medal and called It “a  significant work with an important mission.”   Humony is a word created by Steven comprising Human, Humanity,  and Harmony to emphasize the leading of people and the need for leaders to create workplaces of wellbeing and harmony.   Steven was named one of the 2023 Top 200 Global Biggest Voices in Leadership for his thought-provoking, cutting-edge thinking on leadership. He was also named to the 2023 CREA List of Top Influential Leaders for his thought leadership and writing. He is […]

I want to brief you all about the Global Competency Model and how it determines the growth of skills in international professionals. As I also describe in The Global Mobility Workbook (2019): “Global Competency is the ability to work effectively in a global, complex environment with a high level of stress, while achieving goals sustainably and in accordance with your own resources”. It combines knowledge, attitude, skills, reflected experiences, and body learning. What are these skills? A diverse set of abilities can help your global competency, from developing your language skills (learning a foreign language is excellent!) to effectively using digital media (Social Media platforms & video conferencing).  Skills like analytical thinking, problem-solving, and communication also help cement your Global […]

Building Relationships is harder for Expat Spouses in Zurich.  As I sat on a panel, I just got as far as saying, “I think…” when the other panelist gave her opinion. She probably didn’t notice that I was trying to say something, but for a moment, I was annoyed and thought, “How rude…”. And it seems to happen more and more that I am waiting an instant too long, and then it is too late to say what I wanted to say. I now notice how I have become a “Swiss person.” I may have allowed a younger and shyer version of myself to take over these days. Having lived here in Zurich for over ten years, I prefer to […]

The RockMeRetreat will help you build up your Emotional Intelligence. Drawing on the Boudewijn Vermeulen® method, I recommend working with “body sensations.” The key point to note here is that being an effective leader requires understanding one’s own emotions to influence the emotions of others. Therefore, I’ll be talking about ways of developing a better brain-body connection and how that sort of learning can enhance one’s sensitivity and consequently, their leadership skills. Emotions manifest in various ways, like moods, perhaps even as physical ticks. Sometimes you don’t even know that you’re feeling a certain way, yet your body does and is tensed accordingly. Listening to these signs given by your body, therefore, allows us to develop a conscious language of sensation […]

By Romée Jager Do you feel overwhelmed and overloaded before the day has started? You are not alone! It is 7:30 AM, and I started working half an hour ago. Even though it is only the beginning of my working day, I already feel way behind. I am staring at my screen and scrolling through my emails, marking them as unread again and giving them a color code.  I feel overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start. My solution? Making myself a second cup of coffee. While the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans reaches my nostrils, I think about how to structure my tasks for the day.  I wonder why we ‘’only’’ have 24 hours in a day, and […]