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Is It Time to Tune Up Your S****s to Compete Globally? |
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Is It Time to Tune Up Your S****s to Compete Globally?
While the hard s****s that are in demand in your field may land you a job faster than soft s****s, it’s the soft s****s -- such as the ability to collaborate in a multicultural, often transnational setting and adapt to new cultures and business processes -- that can take you places you never thought possible, including out of the country for work.
“Some people are very adaptive -- they’re conscious of differences in cultures and can do well” with bridging those differences, says Colleen Garton, a San Diego-based global work consultant and author of Managing Without Walls. Failing to tune up your s****s to adapt to new cultures can be a mistake, not just for your career, but for your team, Garton explains. “The members of your extended team may feel a little uncomfortable,” she says. “You may be doing something that’s upsetting a whole bunch of different people, and they might not tell you.” In those cases and for those who don’t “handle the unfamiliar or ambiguities very well,” cultural training is a good idea, she says. In a global work setting, flexibility, an open mind and collaborative abilities will make the s****s you currently possess that much more valuable to your employer. But there are ways you can add to your s**** set to become more effective in working with customers, suppliers or coworkers in other countries. International Immersion Language training programs are a wise idea. To work in France, clearly you need to learn some French. In other countries, such as the Netherlands, Singapore or China, you can get by on English for an extended amount of time. In Japan, your lack of cultural familiarity may prove even more challenging than not being able to read the road signs. “There are s****s that are more valuable in a global marketplace, like a language -- that’s the most basic one,” says John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global outplacement firm based in Chicago. “If you find yourself doing a lot of work in China, but you don’t know the language and think that over time that’s the place where you will continue to be engaged, then to take the time and start to learn [Mandarin] would be very valuable.” Beyond language training, managers who plan to tackle foreign assignments or whose work requires them to collaborate with customers, coworkers or suppliers outside the US can enroll in executive education courses. These programs, offered by universities, can be as short as a day or scale up to organized trips to foreign countries. Watch Your Timing If you’re thinking about retuning your s****s so you’ll be more employable in the global labor market, consider the timing. The sooner you upgrade your s****s, the better your chances of leveraging your res****ing investment. “The worst time to res**** is when you’re out of work and between jobs,” Challenger says. “Finding a job takes a tremendous effort -- and it needs to be all-consuming, something you focus on getting done.” Here is a three-step plan to gauge whether retuning your s****s is a good career move for you.
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