An intercultural context under strain: when everything seems to work... on the surface
When I was asked to accompany David (first name changed), his situation was already fragile. For several weeks, decision-making had been slowing down between Paris and Brussels. Two key employees were no longer speaking directly to each other. Meetings are becoming more formal and less productive. An important reporting exercise has fallen behind schedule, putting compliance requirements at risk.
David was appointed manager a few months ago in a company in the financial sector with a demanding management culture. He knows his job inside out and his technical skills are recognised. But he is discovering management, and above all, the complexity of a team spread over two countries, with different ways of working and implicit unexpressed expectations often linked to different social norms. The difficulties don't just stem from the cultural differences of an international environment. They arise above all from what is not said about these differences, sometimes reinforced by implicit stereotypes.
He was faced with a classic dilemma: impose a framework and risk alienating people, or leave things alone and lose control. The challenge of his support is to enable David to regain control quickly by establishing clear, shared frameworks. This was confirmed by the HR Director and his N+1 during the initial discussions: David had to be reassured when he took up his new post, before he completely lost the trust of his former colleagues, which would be costly and difficult to make up for.
Particularly since, in finance, a manager also bears direct responsibility for the financial performance and compliance of operations. With immediate risks for the company: decisions blocked or circumvented, loss of coordination on sensitive investment funds and increased exposure to non-compliance.
The challenges of coaching: transforming a fragile job into a clear position
This is David's first managerial role. He goes from being a recognised expert to managing his former colleagues in a multicultural team. This change is far from neutral. From the outset, he had many doubts:
«I still don't know how to position myself in front of colleagues I worked with yesterday.»
«I have the impression that everyone does their job well... but not really together.»
Behind these observations, the challenges are very real:
- Establishing your legitimacy without overplaying your authority
- Find the right level of demands and adjust your interpersonal skills, because if David is too prescriptive, he'll alienate people, and if he's too flexible, he'll lose credibility.
- Getting a team to work together across two sites, two countries, different nationalities and sometimes divergent working methods.
- Combining «production» on the one hand, and arbitration and managerial decisions on the other, while meeting the expectations of the hierarchy.
A tailor-made approach to intercultural recruitment
The programme was based on three key points:
- An initial multi-party session with the coachee, his or her N+1 and the HR Director. Objective: to clarify expectations and define concrete indicators of success.
- Six 90-minute individual coaching sessions, with concrete, directly applicable tools, focusing on managerial posture and delegation, intercultural communication, and working remotely and under pressure.
- A final multi-stakeholder review to measure the progress made, share feedback and anchor the achievements.
The coachee's journey: from recognised expert to legitimate manager
Until now, David had tried to maintain a balance between his team in Paris and his team in Brussels. During a tense meeting, he decided to set a clearer framework, even if it meant creating some discomfort. At the next meeting, he told me: «I thought it was going to create conflict. In reality, it has restored clarity».»
From then on, a number of developments began:
- Moving from «doing» to «getting things done» by stopping systematically repeating subjects. The team gains in autonomy and David develops a more accurate self-assessment of his position.
- Naming problems that had not been formulated. Certain tensions between the sites become explicit, and can therefore be dealt with, allowing professional relations to be readjusted.
- Adapt your communication, including your gestures and attitudes, realising that certain reactions are not linked to resistance, but to different cultural codes.
- Dare to make decisions that are imperfect but that allow us to move forward.
These adjustments gradually changed the team dynamic. Cooperation between the sites has become more fluid, and David has gained in legitimacy. This was confirmed by his N+1 during the review, when he spoke of his ability to take decisions more quickly and of the fewer blocking points that had been brought to the attention of management.
Key success factors for coaching
Several factors were decisive:
- Work based on real-life situations, with each session starting in the field and including occasional role-playing.
- Genuine consideration of cultural differences, where differences and tensions are neither erased nor over-interpreted.
- The involvement of David, who agreed to test and adjust, and also to challenge himself.
This type of situation is common when a manager takes up a new post for the first time: the difficulties are not immediately visible, but they quickly become established if they are not dealt with. Coaching helps to make these new roles more secure, by giving the manager concrete and directly usable reference points.
