Picture the assignment we would all call a success. Eighteen months in, she has the language. She knows which meetings matter and which are theatre. Her local colleagues have stopped explaining things to her. When she pushes back in a meeting, nobody hears an outsider pushing back — they hear a colleague. Ask anyone in […]
Choose Your Anchors Well: The Hidden Power of First Impressions in Global Work
On a recent family trip to a shopping mall, our younger daughter pointed to a drastically reduced product and enthusiastically lobbied for us to purchase it. After all, it seemed so cheap. The original price was prominently displayed, crossed out, and replaced by a much lower number. The discount appeared irresistible. So I found myself […]
Exit Wounds: On the Beautiful Ache of Being Multicultural
My father-in-law recently shared Peter Godwin’s memoir “Exit Wounds: A Story of Love, Loss, and Occasional Wars” with me. Like my father-in-law, who grew up in Zimbabwe before migrating to Australia, Godwin is intimately familiar with the peculiar grief of belonging to multiple places and none fully. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, educated in England, […]
Finding Awe Through Global Work: Lessons from Dacher Keltner’s “Awe”
In his groundbreaking book “Awe” which I have just finished reading, renowned psychologist Dacher Keltner explores the transformative emotion that makes us feel part of something larger than ourselves. While awe is an emotion that is beneficial in all life domains, I have found that his insights have particular resonance for those of us navigating […]
How to manage your energy in a global role
Having just returned from our annual family skiing trip I have been reminded of how important it is to conserve and restore your energy resources. A few consecutive, full days of skiing can easily sap your physical energy. But we all know that our mental energy is a finite resource as well. And sometimes it […]