Intercultural coaching focuses on a deeper understanding of different cultures, while offering practical applications of theoretical knowledge. It helps in living and working with people from different cultures – in everyday life as well as work environment. Intercultural coaching has also many fields that focus on successfully negotiating and doing business with people from different countries.

In our globalised business world, there are many benefits for investing in cultural awareness:

• Prevent costly misunderstandings due to differences in communication and behaviour
• Create strong relationships with customers and business partners
• Build harmonious and successful multinational teams
• Integrate new employees with different cultural backgrounds
• Surpass competitors across international markets
• Improve the success rate of international assignments

In an intercultural setting, communication and behaviour patterns may differ hugely, but in a very subtle way. A poor cultural understanding may reduce the clarity of your own communication as well as what is being said to you, leading to failed negotiations and lost business.

Expats and their spouses, who have a deeper understanding of the norms and values of their target country, can cope better with culture shock and adapt much faster to their new environment. They are able to communicate better and to overcome challenges quicker. Ultimately, this leads to a higher productivity at work and more happiness in life. Research shows that cultural knowledge massively increases the possibility of a successfully completed international assignment.

We think yes! It is simple: if you know how the people in your international markets tick, you can develop tailored services and products, optimise your selling strategies, negotiate successfully and even provide suitable after-sale-services. You will also gain better access to local resources and be able to attract the best talent on the market.

In our globalised world, international relations play an important part in almost every industry. Much like speaking several languages, cultural knowledge increases your overall employability. Showing employers your intercultural competencies will most likely make you a more suitable candidate for many jobs.

Yes absolutely. We strongly believe that companies venturing into markets abroad should match their sales techniques to the client culture. Here are some examples: Using assertive language may be interpreted as strong and confident in one culture, while in another culture it may be considered as rather aggressive. Knowing what motivates or appeals to buyers in a country will also help you to develop your sales skills. Find out if your customers are rather responding to products that are exciting and new or the ones that are promising continuity and stability. Whatever you look at, culture is speaking. 

Record numbers of graduates starting their first jobs will interact with different cultures from day one as they join globally distributed teams or take international assignments. While speaking English or another foreign language fluently is almost everywhere an essential precondition, graduates or young professionals can stand out by showing a high level of intercultural competencies when dealing with people from all over the world. Excelling in challenging intercultural business situations will definitely increase career prospects at an early stage.

As a business leader with intercultural competencies, you are able to

• communicate effectively with international partners
• present successfully to a multicultural audience
• build high-performing international teams
• manage employees around the world
• lead international meetings
• solve international team conflicts
• smoothen the decision-making process in multinational collaborations
• develop a broader global mindset
• deepen your Global Leadership skills