how an intercultural coach helps navigate work culture

We all want great leaders, but what we look for in a leader differs…

Having received her first job offer at a corporation, Ling was thrilled to find herself relocating to Newark, New Jersey. She was looking forward to the opportunity, she had finished her PhD in Seattle, WA, and felt she had a handle on how to work with U.S. nationals—or so she thought. Right from her initial cross-cultural coaching session, Ling found herself despairing at how badly things were going during her first month on the job.

“When my boss delegates to me, I feel lost about how to go about solving the problem. I get the sense she delegates it to me and then expects me to complete the task. I am embarrassed to say, ‘I don’t know how to do this.’ I am not getting much guidance. I am new and do not want to look needy—always asking for help. How do I know if I am on the right path? My boss’s lack of structure leaves me wondering if she is an effective leader. Or if she’s testing me or setting me up to fail?”

Ling elaborated, “Another concern I have is that the task I am to complete is not important. If it were, my manager would make sure I am on the right track by overseeing my work. My sense is she is not a good boss and the project is not a priority. She lacks structure and does not teach me how she wants the job to be done.”

In Ling’s case, there are different factors at play with the main two being:

1. A move from China to the United States—which includes a dramatic shift from a hierarchical culture to an egalitarian culture.
2. A shift from academia to the corporate sector—which includes a pivot from working with a doctoral advisor, who teaches, guides, and corrects and treats her advisees much like an apprentice, to working in a fast-paced competitive pharma company in a direct and low context region of the United States.