If your business success hinges on how you work with people from around the world, then learning about the cultures of your global business partners is crucial. The reason is simple: it makes good business sense. As a matter of fact, failing to understand the culture of your international counterparts can have consequences far beyond […]
The other night, my high school aged daughter insisted we watch this Spanish TV-series she has gotten hooked on. She said it was really good and she wanted me to see it. I was thrilled that she asked me to watch with her, and also excited because it was a foreign language show, which is […]
Moving abroad for work typically comes with a bit of a learning curve – there is a new language to learn, a different culture to understand and an array of practical matters to figure out. From a safety standpoint, having a deeper knowledge and understanding of the country in which you are working is particularly […]
Investing in employee safety and cyber security is not optional for a business with an international footprint — it’s a must. In the global business world this is about risk mitigation and as such the question becomes: how to do it and to what degree? Keeping employees and company data safe is a complex undertaking […]
As a dual citizen I have the privilege, and the responsibility, to vote in two countries. This hasn’t always been the case however — I lived in the US for well over a decade as a non-citizen, unable to vote. It was a great feeling when I was allowed to cast my first ballot back […]
My youngest child just got her driver’s license. I know it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but this time it was — for me. My daughter was just a couple of weeks past her sixteenth birthday and she was sure that if it didn’t happen now, it would never happen… I wasn’t in […]
While the globally mobile workforce tends to report higher rates of satisfaction with their work situation compared to the general population, they also report being less happy when it comes to personal health and wellbeing. In the long-term, employee concerns regarding health, mental health and general wellbeing can have a significant impact on creativity, productivity […]
As adults, so much of how we see ourselves is tied to our professional lives. “What do you do?” is one of the questions we ask when first getting to know someone. When we get that question we typically take it to mean: “what’s your job?” not “what are your interests?” Your profession gives you […]
Vacation time is, in my view, one of the biggest pieces in trying to make the expat life puzzle work. I wonder if it isn’t also one of the least discussed topics pre-departure. I know for a fact it was for me – I hadn’t given it a single thought before following my husband as […]
With an increasingly integrated global economy and more people than ever moving abroad for work, gaining a greater understanding of what it is that makes a multicultural workplace function well is an important task. What are the best practices for creating an environment where cultural diversity becomes a catalyst for innovation and growth, and how […]
It’s not unusual for me to wake up from nightmares this time of year and they have almost exclusively to do with taxes; more specifically being late and/or incorrect with taxes in one form or another: not finding all the right documents and being late, using the wrong color pen to fill out forms and […]
I belong to a professional group that meets once a month for networking and socializing in conjunction with a presentation of some kind. We typically get together at the offices of our presenter and there is always a full house and there are always new faces in attendance. The evening starts with mingle and light […]