The Mindful International Manager

CABV operates in the corporate and academic worlds. My new product is the brainchild of my partner, Jeremy Comfort of York Associates, and Professor Peter Franklin of the University of Applied Sciences in Constance. This product has been sponsored by Henkel, as a representative of the corporate world, and the University of Applied Sciences in Lake Constance, as a representative of the academic world. .

We are proud to present The Mindful International Manager as a new in-company course. The mindful competencies are language and communication skills which include active listening, paying attention to non-verbal cues, among other things; personal awareness, a series of psychometric tests to help you recognize the work preferences of yourself and others; intercultural competence, otherwise known as cultural intelligence. This is the ability to look at both the business aspects and the cultural aspects of a situation, and to be able to manage the business aspects for results in a way that works effectively within the culture.

Being mindful is the capacity to observe your behaviour, to carefully select behaviour, observe it and observe its effects on the environment. In other words, it is the capacity to continuously learn from your own actions and to reflect on them. This capacity is particularly important, and may be one of the most important parts of cultural intelligence. Today’s globalised world is extremely dynamic and extremely complex, so being able to learn as you go along is vital. You can expect to make mistakes, as things keep changing. You will learn to pay attention to surprises. If something surprises you, it means that you had some expectations t start with, and so paying attention to the surprise gives you an opportunity to learn about your expectations and to adapt them, if necessary.

Mindfulness is also reflected in another key aspect of cultural intelligence, which is the ability to be yourself, while allowing others the space and the respect to be themselves. People with a high degree of cultural intelligence do not change their behaviour for every situation, although, of course, they do adapt at times. However, they have a consistent sense of who they are that is the same across all situations, and in this way they act with integrity; however, they also allow other people to be themselves.

This course is aimed at managers working internationally and in virtual teams. It is based on experience rather than theory. It is solution focussed and deals not only with national culture, but also with organisational cultures and personality in clear and accessible English.

It is competence-based and deals with managementskills that make up the virtuous circle. This course answers the questions who we are (team understanding), where we are going (direction) how we plan to do it (organisation), who does what (roles), what help is needed (supporting people), how we are performing (feedback), how we are seen in the organisation (representation), where conflicts are generated (conflict) and, finally, how we are cooperating as a team (cooperation).