COACHING AT WORK COACHING AND MENTORING AT WORK: BEYOND FRONTIERS CONFERENCE, LONDON, 23 NOVEMBER

In a global market with a mobile middle class and the emergence of global ‘nomads’, an understanding of culture is essential for coaches working with clients in leadership positions, argued Jenny Plaister-Ten.

However, culture is about a whole raft of factors not just the country someone comes from or is living in, emphasised Plaister-Ten, founder of 10 Consulting, in her session on cross-cultural coaching, and Lis Merrick, managing director of Coach Mentoring in hers on cross-cultural mentoring.

Merrick said: “It is essential to establish rapport; to understand and respect differences at the outset of the relationship. This is more than culture.”

She said in mentoring, matching is often a luxury and trans-nationally, even the language spoken can be different, so empathy and communication skills are key.

Plaister-Ten has developed a model, Kaleidoscope, which uses a systems approach to accommodate cultural complexity and considers the impact of seemingly unrelated facets of a person’s system on the client’s self.

Plaister-Ten’s model helps clients use their values as the vehicle for choice and behavioural change.
www.coaching-at-work.com/2010/09/02/adapt-and-survive/

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1