Cross-Cultural Coaching: Client Testimonial

Cross-Cultural Coaching

“Leaving one's country and adapting to a completely new lifestyle can prove to be a difficult task.”

Following  our  cross-cultural  coaching  article,  we  received  feedback  from  a  member  of  our network illustrating  the  importance  of  cross-cultural  coaching.  He  examined  the  issue  from  both  a commercial  and  personal  perspective  and  he  shared  his  experience  as  an expatriate  living  in another  culture  for  about  30  years  with  RMC.  


Client testimonial:

All  the  points  are  very  valid  and  apply  to  both  individuals  and  companies  as  well.   When  I worked  for  [company  name],  they  made  some  very  arrogant  assumptions  and  decisions  in deciding  to  start  operations  in  Canada.  Plans  were  being  made  without  input  from those  involved in  executing  them,  which  was  a  bad  business  decision  in  its  own  rite,  but  the  big  failure  was that  they  did  not research  the  Canadian  culture  from  a  business  perspective  as  well  as  that  of the local workforce  and  potential  shoppers.  Within  a short  time  frame,  this  cost  the  company many  millions  of  dollars,  loss  of  jobs  and  very  bad  public  relations.   

On  a  personal  note,  I  have  also  found  that  within  [country  name]  (and  I  have travelled  to  most parts  of  the  country)  that  just  merely having  an  accent  that  is foreign,  invokes  curiosity  and sometimes  judgement.  The  interest  could  be  innocent about  one’s  background, but  there  have been  instances  where  the  assumption  is that  I  lack  education  or  some  other  condescending comments  are  made  or tones noted  in  relation  to  being  lower  in  status. On  the  other  hand,  quite a  few  of  the expats that  I  have  worked  with  in  the  oil fields  or construction  projects  in  Trinidad, have assumed  that  they  are  superior  to  the  locals. 

To  me,  the  trick  to  being  successful in  a move anywhere  is  knowledge, training in the culture (like you mentioned  in  your  article), humility, being  aware  of  one’s surroundings, observing your  hosts  and making  every  effort  to  blend  in regardless of one’s particular status. 


Having  read  about  this  very  real  experience  of  an  expatriate  who  lived  and  worked in a foreign culture  for  about  30 years,  we  can see  that  failure  to  invest  in intercultural coaching  as  part  of  a larger  business  investment, ignorance  of  a culture or  unwillingness  to adapt  can  result  in  losses  to the  tune  of millions  of  dollars  and cause  great  damage  to  a  company’s  reputation.

Please share your thoughts with us. We would love to hear about your experience.
​

Copyright © 2017 RMC Language Consultancy Ltd, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
PO Box 3164, Carenage, Trinidad, W.I.

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.