It all started 5 years ago. I was working in a corporate environment in America, and I was failing to fit in. Wether I was too French, wether I was not as good as my North American team mates. And a slow but steady decline started. At that point I didn't feel like I had a lot of options left... And it took me couple years to figure out what might be going on.
So I first asked my international team mates if they were also being challenged, and what type of solution or tips I could get from them. That was a great discovery for me, I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE STRUGGLING! What a good feeling, maybe I was not the issue, maybe I could help myself and others by understanding better what was going on.
So I interviewed more people, from different nationalities, from different functions to get a better grasp of the challenge. And I started reading on the topic and browsing internet. One good book that I absolutely recommend is the Culture Map from Erin Meyer. It's easy and has plenty of practical examples and applications.
And eventually, I started training some of my team mates internally on Cross Cultural communication efficiency. That was my first module to introduce the concept of " oh, we are not seeing the world thru the same lenses?" to teams that were genuinely discovering the potential gaps, misunderstanding, misjudgment they could have on their international friends.
As I left the Big Corp America world for now, I took some time to acquire more knowledge and go deeper into the topic of Cultural Intelligence ( CQ). I recently got certified as a facilitator from the Cultural Intelligence Center with the help of David Livermore's team.
I will be training the Converse Inc Merchandising global team soon on that same discovery module, and I'm looking forward to it! I know teams enjoy this workshop because I make it fun, laid back and very interactive. And most of all, I'm very credible because I have been there myself, and I'm not afraid to recognize the mistake I made as an international employee engaging with culturally diverse partners.
I'm looking forward to meeting with more teams across the globe, and helping companies and individuals thrive in international environment.
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