So what helped me build great teams in Europe and Asia.

For 25 years I have been working in business on different continents, in the Netherlands, Poland and the region of Central and Eastern Europe, Indonesia, Turkey and Japan. 

I have collided with extremely different cultures. It is hard to find more distant nations than the frank Dutch and never direct Japanese.

Over the years of my professional travel across countries and continents, I have discovered that authentic, cordial and empathetic relationships with people have helped me most in building excellent, effective teams. 

I will distinguish four aspects of the life attitude that I promote here.

1/ Proximity that engages and stimulates sincere cooperation.

Currently, we have a lot of Millennials in business and even younger Zets. They are different, but they have some common traits, no matter which country they come from. They do not like hierarchy, they want their voice to be heard, they like teamwork and an open, creative atmosphere. 

Their way of life and work is a reflection of social media, where everyone has access to everyone, here and now. 

Proximity is extremely important to engage and help them solve problems. Relationships must be authentic. I believe we all recognize that with the complexity of the present world, in an honest, cordial teamwork is the key to success. The times of unhealthy competition are over.

2/ Security without which creativity is difficult.

Have you ever worked for someone who manages by fear? Everyone is afraid of him/her, no one tells him/her the truth. Such a manager is immersed in his/her own world, convinced of the rightness of his/her own views, and his/her perception of reality is strongly disturbed. In the short term, such a leader can achieve results, because of created pressure. In the long term, the organisation led by such a person looses innovativeness and fails to attract good and committed employees.

Only when feeling secure people become really creative. They are not afraid to talk and bring even the craziest ideas.
Bosses often forget that they should be a “secure base”. This is a well-known concept in psychology, but it should be adopted by business. Leaders are very often a point of reference, a source of confidence for other team members, a guarantee of stability and that things are going in the right direction.

3/ Openness that helps speed and progress.

Today, the pace of decision-making and implementation of new solutions is often a key element of competitive advantage. More and more often, long-term processes are replaced with pragmatic shortcuts, because time is running out.

We get nervous when we hear that we „used to do it like this”, right? Today we usually have to do it differently, above all faster and more efficiently. Our easy jog must turn into a good sprint. Open teams, where the flow of thoughts and information is fluid, without fear and the accompanying corporate political games, are winning the race. We operate more efficiently without an inflated hierarchy and in a good atmosphere.

I have seen it absolutely everywhere I have worked, even in formal Japanese culture people value openness. It has to be behind closed doors, in a one-on-one relationship, but it is also very important to accelerate and make things happen.

4/ Warm-heartedness that builds a great organisational culture, that everybody wants to stay in.

Getting rid of anger, shame, regret, guilt, fear or apathy is an important surrender for our lives. If warmth, love and courage come into our hearts, we will begin to manifest this reality around us. We all feel good and bad energy, we also have our own intuition, which we often unnecessarily ignore. Spiritual practice teaches us that the inner world creates our outer world, not the other way around.

Being full of good emotions and positive thinking is felt by everyone and supports us in the most difficult endeavours. No matter what culture we come from, as humans, we desire the same affirmative emotions that surround us. 

Does the near and cordial boss tolerate everything? Of course not! 

We can not be hesitant, inconsistent, or we can’t let others abuse us. None of these. We should clearly define our own tolerance in harmony with our heart. This is a very important matter, not always thoroughly thought out by us – what we agree to and what we do not agree to. Deep in our hearts, not through the prism of what we’ve always done or what others think. Working in different cultures opens up a lot to this aspect. In Asia, I had to answer the question again – what do I really care about and where can I be flexible. And in my own spiritual practice, I had to rebuild a well-understood sense of self-worth and self-love. This is essential in building powerful leadership that is clear on own boundries.

I wish you a great business journey and the creation of the best teams with honest, warm and empathetic attitude. That’s the foundation for success on every continent, because it creates what we all desire – mutual trust.

The journey begins with getting to know yourself first and foremost. Self-awareness is the greatest responsibility of any leader.

I will explore further the topics discussed here on my portal. I cordially invite you.

With love,
Joanna