I love working in multi cultural environments, ...

I love working in multi cultural environments, across countries, and doing business with all kind of nationalities and backgrounds. I really appreciate the different ways of approaching a situation, let it be solving a problem, sharing a responsibility, or celebrating success.But it was not always like that!

When I first moved from Galicia (Spain) to Amsterdam, I had not worked in a multi cultural environment - having worked in a quite homogenous setup.

In the Netherlands I got myself fully immersed in a multi cultural society and work environment - with a vibrant mix of all kind of nationalities and cultures, with colleagues not only based in Amsterdam, but all over the world. I was quite lost on handling the different approaches of colleagues towards the same menial situations - let it be giving feedback (praise or corrective), organizing work, or simply communicating with each other. I was navigating it mostly by gut feeling, trying to sense what would work best with one colleague or another.And then I read The Culture Map - by Erin Meyer.

What a change!

The book really helped me to understand better not only others, but also myself. I could understand why some of my preferences had felt off in Spain, and they could feel completely natural in the Netherlands (like the much more flat view on hierarchy, or the appreciation for honest and direct feedback).The book helped me a lot to understand that some things that I took for granted in relations or behaviours were not a “default” for everyone - and were heavily influenced by where I grew up (personal preferences aside).

And the same happens for virtually everyone that grows up and lives in a society, with the invisible and unspoken societal and cultural norms shaping our behaviour and our world view.Day to day I have used the book’s guidelines to understand how to cooperate more effectively with colleagues from multiple countries, make them feel more included and respected, and grow a level of empathy on helping me understand better how others thing.If you work in a multi cultural environment, or are interested on learning about how different cultures tackle the same situations - give the book a read!

#culture #work #empathy