Category: Mindfulness

Addendum – About cultural types, European culture and intercultural competence

Posted on by

As an addendum to my last post on cultural types, European culture and intercultural competence I have at least to say a word about languages. With a smile I have to admit that thankfully nobody ever made me learn Esperanto[1]… what a funny thought that is: having one European common language. But: could a language really exist without having a cultural background? Interesting question indeed as in the common theories[2], language is determined by culture but culture also by language. It is true though that the more languages you speak the easier it gets when we speak about my particular domains of expertise at least which are communications, leadership and coaching. When being able to talk to your international team members in their language or to coach people in their language of origin, it truly makes a difference. Not only will you find that people open up easier but you are also not confronted to the barriers of communicating in a foreign language, as non-natives very often have difficulties to formulate their inner thoughts, worries or motivations in another language.

So, not only does a multicultural and multi-facet background give me access to intercultural skills but also the ability of speaking and thus being able to communicate in a variety of languages. This becomes very relevant when looking into emphatic listening[3] or mindful conversation[4] for example. If the ‘receiver’ of your message doesn’t understand what you actually mean and doesn’t ask (depending on the culture your interlocutor actually comes from, it might even be considered as rude to ask questions), the communication process will not function adequately resulting in misunderstandings and more.

Image

If you now apply this to digital means of communication like e-mail and such where it is even harder to communicate what you want to say – as you only have words and the tone of these to express yourself – plus you communicate in a language which is not your main one, you can imagine how difficult transmitting any message gets. From my experience, I honestly have to say that most of the problems arising in multicultural leadership/working teams stem from misunderstandings or misinterpretations from what has been originally said or demanded. In such an environment it is thus of crucial importance to pay particular attention to the original culture, language and behaviors of people so that a common ground for discussion and exchange can be found! And: I don’t think that Esperanto would have solved these problems J

[1] Please see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto for reading more about what Esperanto is!

[2] See for example this excellent article in the Wall Street Journal “Lost in translation”: http://tinyurl.com/2bmmtfd or this link on language and culture: http://tinyurl.com/9pt2ldz

[3] As explained in my blog entry on ‘the power of listening’ for example.

[4] According to Chade-Meng Tan, mindful conversation consits of three components : listening, looping and dipping. See his book “Search Inside Yourself” p. 60-62.

Mindful leadership in a multicultural environment – Part III

Posted on by
Jenny Ebermann | Communications | Services

Jenny Ebermann | Communications | Services

This article looks into the difference between intercultural coaching versus coaching in an intercultural management environment and highlights the difference between measures on the job and measures off the job.

Intercultural coaching has: “(…) the same basic tenets as standard professional coaching but also takes into consideration the coachee’s cultural perspective, and those of the people around him/her. It focuses on creating an ‘intercultural climate’ that allows the coach and coachee to become more culturally aware and adapt their behaviour and expectations as appropriate.”[1] Intercultural coaching is in so far not that different from ‘usual’ coaching, the prerequisite being that the coach has ‘intercultural competences’. These competences are described in the literature as usually having three dimensions: affective, cognitive and communicative behavioural.[2] The first one, comprises for example self-confidence, flexibility, tolerance etc.; the second one refers to how individuals understand and manage cultural differences, specificities of cultural communication processes etc.; the third dimension describes the ability to display appropriate cultural behaviour and related social competences.

Intercultural coaching as such usually takes place on-the-job, tackling work environment specific topics and questions. Multicultural teams are supervised and accompanied in order to make them aware of specific behaviours related to their culture of origin as well as to identify synergies and to work on problem areas.

Compared to ‘on-the-job’ measures, there are several other human resource development methods related to intercultural topics, such as intercultural consulting or intercultural training, which are referred to as being ‘off-the-job’.[3] The first one is normally sought by companies who are not sure yet which concrete measures and tools would be the most appropriate to their particular situation. They then hire external consultants to analyse the circumstances and to come back with a solution. Intercultural trainings are normally for people who are about to be sent to a foreign work environment in order to prepare them cognitively to the new culture, habits and thought processes.

Coaching in an intercultural management environment finally, is a coaching that takes place in a multicultural setting, but where the main purpose and aim of the sessions does not have to be related to the improvement of intercultural competency per se. It also means that different nationalities have to be coached and accompanied in a different way, as we cannot assume that the same techniques or exercises will work with all types of coachees. As explained in part II of this article, there are various types of cultures[4] all necessitating a thoughtful and differentiated approach.

But why could the above be important for a mindful leader? Well, as I have explained in a previous post, mindfulness requires among others, the mental quality of ‘non-judging’[5]. If as a leader, and as many of us do, you have to interact, work and lead in a multicultural, global environment, possessing intercultural competence and being aware of the impact of your own culture on your behaviours, you will have much more success as you will be able to actually leverage synergies as well as to avoid problems/misunderstandings before they even arise.

If this article (parts I-III) has raised questions and you would like to talk about these, don’t hesitate to contact me! Looking forward to hearing from you…!

[1] Kate Griffin and Richard Cook: Intercultural Coaching the next big thing; Internet: http://www.sietar.org.uk/publications

[2] See for example: J. Bolten or Gertsen 1990

[3] Translated from J. Bolten: “Interkulturelles Coaching, Mediation, Training und Consulting als Aufgaben des Personalmanagements internationaler Unternehmen”, p.3.

[4] See the Lewis Model: http://www.crossculture.com/services/cross-culture/ for example

[5] See my article entitled: ‘Planting the seeds for Mindfulness’ on this blog.

Planting the seeds for mindfulness

Posted on by

When reading across blogs and newspapers, I very often come across something along the lines like ‘be mindful’,’ mindful coaching’ or ‘mindful leadership’. Whereas these words sound very trendy and up to the point, I am sure many readers actually wonder what mindfulness actually is and what it takes to become more mindful in our daily lives and interactions. Well, according to Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is:

“(..) an ancient Buddhist practice which has profound relevance to our present-day lives. It has to do with examining who we are (…) and with cultivating some appreciation of the fullness of each moment we are alive.Most of all, it has to do with being in touch.”[1]

In fact, most of our days in this fast spinning world are spent with running around, going to work, fetching the children, cooking, cleaning, shopping and doing whatever else needs to fit in our busy agendas. Unfortunately, many of these activities are not performed with a conscious state of mind, but rather in a more or less routine mode, constantly thinking about more things that need to be done or places that we need to be at. Time runs fast and the next thing we know is that many years have gone by, children grew up, excellent moments passed nearly unnoticed and we did not even realize what was going on. At a certain point, it therefore makes sense to stop, turn around and start enjoying all these little things in our daily lives that make every moment unique and worth living. There won’t be fewer things to do, less tasks to fulfill, but our change in attitude will allow us to see the different facets and moments of our existence through different glasses, those of consciousness.

Following different authors with international renown, such as Chade-MengTan or Kabat-Zinn, certain mental qualities or attitudes, “(…) provide a rich soil in which the seeds of mindfulness can flourish”.[2] These are:[3]

  1. Patience
  2. ‘Letting Go’
  3. Non-Judging
  4. Trust
  5. Generosity

Whereas these qualities are certainly not new to any of us, it is certainly not easy to try and cultivate them every day anew. But the more we do, the easier it becomes to relate to others and ourselves in a different way. If for example, by the way in which you are behaving, actually ‘broadcast’ patience, empathy and openness, others will come to you more easily and it will certainly change the quality of your relationships. On top of that, you as a person will also feel less stressed and more in harmony with yourself and what you are doing. Try it for yourself! As we are all interacting in social systems with groups of individuals or individuals, you will see that with building a solid foundation for mindfulness practice, things around you will also be affected and change. New doors will open, others will close, life unfolds in a multitude of present moments…

[1] Jon Kabat-Zinn: “Wherever you go, there you are”, New York 1994, p. 3.

[2] Kabat-Zinn: “Wherever you go”, p. 47.

[3] Compare also with Chade-Meng Tan: “Search inside yourself”, p.159 et. seq.