On September 26th Germany voted for a new government—and a new leader! As the election results in Germany unravelled, the whole of Europe and the world watched carefully. Indeed, Angela Merkel’s departure is significant and marks an end of an era. Merkel is the first German chancellor, who has served a record four terms in […]
Global Issues on the Global Stage of Sports
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are over. Although each Olympic event has its moments and distinguishing features, the Tokyo Olympics got themselves a unique status of the so-called Pandemic Games. Echoing the controversial attitudes before the Olympics, opinions about the de facto event are similarly scattered and contrasting. Some praise Tokyo for uplifting everyone’s spirit and […]
When Globalization Gets Stuck…
As consumers we rarely think about how the products we order online get to our homes, or how the items we buy from the local shops get there. Indeed, the world is so interconnected nowadays, that buying Japanese tea in a local store in Sweden is nothing out of the ordinary. Neither is ordering a […]
Let’s ReThink the Notion of a Confident Leader
In uncertain and volatile times, we need strong and confident leadership, don’t we?! The answer might be more complicated than a simple Yes or No. As a psychologist might wittily remark, it all depends… How do we define and see such confidence? Is a confident leader the one, who has all the answers to difficult […]
Lost Connections: Lessons from Covid and Beyond
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is taking its tolls. Let alone the grim death statistics, there are all kinds of long-term socio-economic effects, and the more recently emerging realization of substantial mental health problems. Indeed, the rise of anxiety and depression amid the pandemic is easy to comprehend: people live in isolation and amidst restrictions, disrupted […]
When the Pandemic Isn’t the Only Reason to Work from Home
By now, the majority of us have at least some experience of setting up our office in our living room, commuting to work within seconds of stepping from one room into another, and ‘bumping’ into your colleagues for ‘random’ chit chat at scheduled times and through prepared online meetings… yes, the work-from-home experience, which, as […]
Covid-19 and the Psychology of Human Behaviour
By now, we have experienced the Covid pandemic for almost a year. Last January, we kept reading about the spread of the virus in China, which back then seemed to be quite a distant thing… As of the end of January 2020 though, the WHO declared Coronavirus a global pandemic and, with the spread of […]
On Global Leadership, Humility, Biden and Hopes for the Next Years
About four years ago my first blog post of the year 2017 was about Trump’s inauguration. Back then I wrote about the feelings of uncertainty and anticipation of an era of protectionism and populism. Four years forward, we are all quite familiar with how his ‘America first’ philosophy turned out, and each of us can hold their own […]
Mental Health Issues: Still an Invisible Illness in the Workplace?
How would you describe a modern workplace? I would say that in contrast to the standard 9-to-5 workdays with assigned tasks and work desks, the modern workplace comes through as this upbeat, inspiring, flexible, fun, and rather casual environment. Just scrolling though some images of a modern office, such as at Google or Facebook, you […]
Covid-19 and the Unfolding of Global Leadership
As Covid-19 unfolded, it became quite clear that leaders in all countries had to face and cope with a globally interconnected health crisis. This global crisis demands committed global leadership, which however has greatly varied in approaches, styles and actions, as all of us could experience and witness. Driven by our curiosity of what we […]
A Case For Compassion in Global Business
Have you heard about compassion? According to the Dalai Lama, compassion is “associated with a sense of commitment, responsibility, and respect toward the other.” A recent scholarly definition sees compassion as “an interpersonal process involving the noticing, feeling, sense making, and acting that alleviates the suffering of another person” (Dutton, Workman, & Hardin, 2014). While […]
The Work-from-Home Experiment
Remember how about a decade ago the open-office concept became a thing? Walls, doors and private offices got cleared away with the premise of promoting better collaboration as well as sharing information and ideas among workers. Whether you have personally experienced an open workspace or not, it is probably easy to understand possible drawbacks of […]
# Black Lives Matter
The Coronavirus pandemic, as any other bigger crisis, has pointed to many broader socio-political challenges and problems. Specifically, impacts of the current pandemic brought to light substantial economic and racial inequalities, with the latter gaining yet more prominence after the killing of George Floyd. Two years ago, in the wake of vivid racial violence in […]
Post-Covid Adjustment: Could We Learn Something from Expats?
Some time ago I wrote about possible scenarios for the ‘post-corona world’ and it seems about time to contemplate on our situation again. As more and more countries begin to ease their lockdown measures, we are collectively entering into some form of normality again. Yet, many speak and write about the ‘new normal’, implying that […]
Let’s maintain our physical, but not psychological distance!
As another month of home confinement to fight the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end, many of us have probably come to terms with the situation, or rather, our handling of it. Some of us may even feel well adapted by now? Or did we just get accustomed to an ongoing struggle? Are the feelings […]
Coronavirus: Let’s imagine the aftermath…
We are almost two months into the Coronavirus crisis since the WHO declared it a global health emergency on January 31st. By now, we are officially dealing with a global pandemic, which has become personally tangible to many of us. Around the world governments have been declaring a state of emergency, in Europe most borders […]
