Will I Benefit from Cross-Cultural Coaching?

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When Do I Need a Cross-Cultural Coach?

When do you need a cross-cultural coach?

 Answer:

Depends on the person and situation!

Here are at least 12 reasons to seek assistance from a cross-cultural coach. This list is not exhaustive.
  1. Facing problems currently culture shock.
  2. When figuring out how to interact, communicate, connect, network and learn from those who are different to make new friends.
  3. When learning how to manage difficult situations (conflict) with anyone.
  4. When exploring how to mix and mingle viewpoints, behaviors, traditions and holidays from different sources and cultures.
  5. Reconnecting to your hobbies and interests or identifying new ones in your new location in a new city or country.
  6. Preparing for culture shock before the move (pre-departure).
  7. Preparing for reverse culture shock or returning home after time away (re-entry preparation).
  8. Career or Educational planning, especially if it requires language or cultural training or study abroad. (How to utilize creditials and education in another country.)
  9. Dating or deciding to marry cross-culturally or between religions.
  10. Married in an interfaith or bicultural union balancing and negotiating daily life, yearly routines, parenting and family approaches and holidays to follow.
  11. Deciding to move abroad for family, work, educational or other reasons.
  12. When you want an English tutor who will approach tutoring in a non-traditional tutoring way.

The who, what, when, where, why and how of cross-cultural life coaching.

Author, Jennifer Kumar helps Indians communicate more clearly with Americans in business settings. Contact her at authenticjourneys at gmail dot com.


Photograph by TEDxSea used under creative commons.
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What Can a Cross-Cultural Coach Do To Help Me?


What a cross-cultural coach does and doesn't do?


Answer:

A Cross-Cultural Coach DOES:
  • Helps you create ideas and solutions. You are in charge of deciding which path (decision) to take.
  • Helps you weigh the pros and cons of decisions to help you make the best decision.
  • Helps you keep on track, by providing accountability for your decisions.
  • Can help you brainstorm ideas for the logistics of moving (mental work and calendar coordination only)
  • Keep all your information confidential (doesn't tell anyone)
A Cross-Cultural Coach DOESN'T:
  • Tell you what to do (Give advice)
  • Make decisions for you
  • Physicaly get you ready to move (Pack, logistics, etc.)
  • Gossip or give away your information
Related Links:
The who, what, when, where, why and how of cross-cultural life coaching.

Author, Jennifer Kumar helps Indians communicate more clearly with Americans in business settings. Contact her at authenticjourneys at gmail dot com.
Notes: Photo in article, courtesy jdlasica @flickr. Used under creative commons.


Copyright © 2011, Jennifer Kumar. All Rights Reserved.
Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution (link included): Reprinted by permission of Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach at Authentic Journeys. Click here for to see if you’re a good fit for cross-cultural coaching and to browse her blog.

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Who gets help from a cross-cultural coach?


Who gets help from a cross-cultural coach?

Answer:
Many categories of people can benefit from cross-cultural coaching:
  • People experiencing culture shock by moving to a different city in their country or moving abroad. Some categories include: Expat, International Student, Expat Wife, Foreign/ Visiting Scholars.
  • People who are deciding on studying, working or living abroad.
  • People who are in an intercultural, interfaith, biracial or multicultural relationship (dating, married, friends, family relationships) and want help with balancing culture and mindset challenges and strengths.
  • People who want to improve their American English conversational skills. (These learners already have a working knowledge of English, but have a hard time understanding everyday conversation.)
  • People who want to explore the cross-cultural aspects of their own lives (adapting cultures).

Links to all five parts:
The who, what, when, where, why and how of cross-cultural life coaching.

Author, Jennifer Kumar helps Indians communicate more clearly with Americans in business settings. Contact her at authenticjourneys at gmail dot com.


Copyright © 2010, Jennifer Kumar. All Rights Reserved.
Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution (link included): Reprinted by permission of Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach at Authentic Journeys. Click here for to see if you’re a good fit for cross-cultural coaching and to browse her blog.
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Four Characteristics of Successful Clients in Cross-Cultural Coaching

Open minded. Inspiring individuals open to new ideas and new ways of thinking and approaching situations to bridge “cultural divides” are ideal for cross-cultural mentoring. In the process of helping you sort things out, we do a lot of brainstorming and testing out ideas. Together, we collect a lot of ideas, helping you think and choose the best ones that suit you. From these ideas, we create goals, action plans and a schedule of accountability to help you to realize success.

 Self-driven and motivated for success and self-improvement Though I am always in your corner, your best cheerleader, I know you are the one who’s responsible for your life. I respect that you will make the best decisions for yourself and be able to initiate your action plans, realize your own goals and ultimately be responsible for your success.

Not afraid to try something different, new and possibly uncomfortable to create success and comfort abroad. When we try new things in a new environment, we have to be willing to ‘look a little foolish’. Think about little kids learning to walk and talk. They take so many risks to walk and talk. They make a lot of mistakes, but they don’t let it get them down. They keep trying until they can walk and talk like the rest of us. They aren’t afraid to look foolish and keep trying even after ‘failures’ to be successful. When we come into a new culture, parts of us become like ‘little kids’. We have to learn new things that may be- well often are- uncomfortable. These new things make us feel off-balance, maybe even inadequate, and like a kid again. It’s both refreshing and scary to be in this position. These are the times of life that are turning points. I am here to help you keep on track so that you can keep moving forward; making the discomfort of cultural adjustment feel natural and new behaviors not feel so awkward but like second nature.

Respectful of themselves. Respectful of me. Respectful of the process. Going through the process of cultural adjustment can be rewarding, but it can also be extremely challenging on many fronts- physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s a test of our resilience and our strength. It brings out our best and sometimes, our worst qualities. It can help us ‘feel’ life more intensely than we ever have before. Since we experience such a range of emotions during this transition, we can be hard on ourselves and others. Having respect for yourself- learning to understand your strengths and limitations is imperative. Respecting ourselves radiates out respect for those close to us, others and the experiences that we live through. Sometimes we want overnight success; but this is not usually possible. It takes time; there is a process to every ‘overnight success’. Coaching with me, you can take part in the ‘Life Purpose Process’- a seven step process that helps you take inventory of different aspects of your life to create harmony and peace with your surroundings and within yourself. When we become gentler on ourselves, things can come with more ease than we ever imagined. I have also experienced this myself being coached through the Life Purpose Process and I am honored to share this with you!

Thank you for reading this article.

More articles:
Part 1 of this article.Five Characteristics of Those Interested in Cross-Cultural Mentoring
Client Testimonials
How to Find and Hire a Cross-Cultural Coach

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Why do people hire me?

I attract and am best suited to help inspired individuals who fit one or more of these qualities:

1. Want to feel comfortable in new and foreign environments.
Feeling ‘at home’ in a new city or country is a process. Walking into unfamiliar territory can bring tremendous rewards and also many challenges. I am here to help you sort out your experiences and help you balance your rewards and challenges to create more comfort in your new environment.

2. Want to regain their identity and freedom while living abroad.
When we move we have to learn, unlearn and relearn ways of doing things in a new place. Sometimes, we feel “at the mercy of others” for our day-to-day activities. Things we took for granted ‘back home’, like finding our favorite food, knowing how to make friends, being successful at school or work, driving, or any other daily activity can be difficult or feel impossible to do in our new cultural and social situation abroad. Sometimes, cultural situations happen to us that we don’t understand and we’d like to discuss them with someone who’s neutral, who won’t judge us and maybe can provide an insider prospective.

3. Believe cultural adjustment is an ongoing process that affects many aspects of our lives and relationships.
Life is all about relationships. When we move abroad, we experience different kind of stresses on our relationships we may not have experienced if we were ‘at home’. Basic, daily situations, even as simple as how to communicate in day-to-day situations with ‘strangers’, coworkers, new friends or others suddenly require a lot more effort than before. Misunderstandings may seem to happen more frequently and quickly than in our ‘native cultural environment.’ I can help you sort out aspects of cross-cultural relationships in your community, within your friend’s circle and within your family environments to create comfort.

4. Want to balance cultures and spiritual traditions in their cross-cultural and interfaith relationships and marriages.
Now a days one doesn’t have to leave their own country to experience cross-cultural relationships. In our global world, people from different cultures, countries, spiritual traditions, religious backgrounds and ethnicities can intermingle freely. Bringing together people from different backgrounds can be rewarding, but it also poses some unique challenges in balancing approaches to life, traditions, day-to-day behaviors and much more. I am here to help you explore and find your own unique solutions to your cross-cultural relationship questions in your friendships, dating life, engagements, marriages, and extended family circumstances.

5. Already know English and want to be better understood by Americans in daily life situations.
Having had studied English grammar, vocabulary and idioms in one’s own country is very essential in preparation to coming to America. However, many people are bewildered when they come to America and realize that they can’t seem to understand daily conversation in grocery stores, doctor’s offices, daily greetings among strangers and the multitude of other areas language is used. Some people benefit from English (ESOL, ESL) Coaching that I provide, or “Enhanced American English and Culture Lessons.”
**I can also help English speakers abroad brainstorm [in English] ways of improving a foreign language fluency, click here for more details.

How can I help you as an ESL/ESOL* Coach with “Enhanced American English and Culture Lessons?"I help people who already have the basics of English (grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary) to ‘Americanize’ their communication through enhancing their sounds, teaching some American body language/hand gestures, and other communication strategies that increase their comfort, understanding and confidence in understanding Americans and being better understood by Americans. This process is highly individualized toward the unique individual you are. The point is not to compromise your identity or ‘make you lose your culture’ but to help you enhance some of your skills through exploring how to do things differently while maintaining your unique qualities that make you you.
Read Questions and Answers about this service.

 Author, Jennifer Kumar is a native American English speaker who lives in Kochi, India. I provide cross-cultural training, Spoken English and Accent coaching among other individualized services to help you interact with Americans with more ease. Contact me at authenticjourneys at gmail dot com.


*ESL – English as a Second Language
*ESOL- English for Speakers of Other Languages.


Copyright © 2010-2012, Jennifer Kumar. All Rights Reserved.
Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution (link included): Reprinted by permission of Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach at Authentic Journeys.
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