International coaching is a form of professional coaching that takes into account the international context in which the individual works: for example, mobility between different countries, regional or global responsibility, managing a multicultural team, or liaising with head office or overseas subsidiaries.
It may involve a significant intercultural dimension, though it is not limited to that.
It is not, therefore, an entirely different coaching method. Like any professional coaching, it starts with a defined situation and set objectives. The work may involve revisiting a specific situation, comparing different interpretations, distinguishing between factors relating to the person being coached, their role, the organisation or the cultural context, and then preparing a decision, a conversation or a different course of action.
What characterises international coaching is, above all, the significance of the international context within the situation being addressed.
What are the key features of coaching in an international context?
The principles of professional coaching remain the same. However, certain aspects of the situation may require particular attention when several countries, languages, cultures or organisational ways of working are involved.
What may initially appear to be an individual difficulty may, for example, also be linked to the differing expectations of head office and a subsidiary, to the way in which authority is exercised remotely, or to what each person considers to be «normal» or expected in a working relationship.
The role of the international coach is not to decide in advance which of these explanations is the correct one, but to help examine them without favouring one too quickly.
An international role does not necessarily involve living abroad
The’expatriation or international mobility are obvious situations in which the international context may be a factor. But they are not a prerequisite.
A person can remain in their own country whilst fulfilling a role with a distinctly international dimension: taking on regional or global responsibility, leading a team spread across several countries, reporting to a manager based abroad, or working on a day-to-day basis with a head office and subsidiaries whose interests may sometimes differ.
A taking up a post abroad It does not, therefore, necessarily mean moving house.
Nor does the language used in sessions define international coaching. Coaching conducted in French may address a highly international situation; conversely, conducting a session in English is not in itself sufficient to make it international.
The international context is not limited to cultural differences
Cultural differences can play a significant role. The way in which people express disagreement, make decisions, exercise authority or build trust is not always interpreted in the same way, depending on the individuals and the environments in which they have worked.
However, not every problem encountered abroad is necessarily a cultural one.
A manager might, for example, attribute a disagreement with a foreign counterpart to their respective cultures, when in fact they have simply been given different definitions of their decision-making powers.
Similarly, a regional manager may feel that they lack influence over the subsidiaries, when in fact their role gives them little formal authority over them.
In other situations, language, culture, organisation and hierarchical relationships all come into play at the same time.
The point, therefore, is neither to ignore cultural differences nor to use them alone to explain a more complex situation.
International coaching and intercultural coaching: what’s the difference?
International coaching and intercultural coaching often overlap, though they are not synonymous.
In intercultural coaching, differences in the ways people understand a situation, communicate or work are particularly significant. What one person regards as an obvious professional attitude may, for example, be interpreted quite differently by the person they are speaking to.
International coaching can involve a significant intercultural dimension. However, it may also focus on other aspects of working across several countries: mobility, regional responsibilities, remote coordination, relations between head office and subsidiaries, or international governance.
Conversely, an intercultural issue may arise without the person being posted abroad or moving to another country.
This distinction is useful because it prevents us from too hastily labelling as «cultural» factors that may also relate to individuals, their roles, their relationships or the organisation.
The coach must remain cautious when faced with such interpretations. Attributing a behaviour straight away to the culture of the country in question may lead to overlooking another, equally important explanation.
In what situations do we talk about international coaching?
The term can cover a wide range of work-related situations, including:
- international mobility, moving to another country or returning from an expatriate posting
- taking up a post abroad or expanding a role to cover several countries
- managing a multicultural team or one spread across several countries
- a regional or global role involving working with different organisations without having the same reporting lines everywhere
- a reflection on a international career
In each of these situations, the international aspect is not necessarily the focus of the coaching. It forms the context in which the professional issue arises.
An expatriate manager may therefore wish to address a difficulty with delegation that does not stem primarily from being an expatriate. Conversely, someone who has never moved to another country may encounter issues relating to legitimacy, decision-making or cooperation that are directly linked to the exercise of international responsibilities.
It is therefore not the individual’s status that defines international coaching, but the role played by the international context in the situation they wish to work on.
International coaching, intercultural training and consultancy: what are the differences?
An international situation may give rise to a number of needs: acquiring knowledge, drawing on expertise, or refining one’s own approach. Training, consultancy and coaching do not address exactly the same need and can complement one another.
Coaching or intercultural training?
Intercultural training primarily imparts knowledge, models or methods. For example, it can provide a framework for understanding certain differences in communication or professional practices.
The approach is primarily top-down: trainers have content which they pass on.
Coaching takes as its starting point the unique circumstances of the person being coached. It is not primarily about teaching them how they ought to behave in a particular country, but about exploring with them what is happening in a real-life situation, their interpretations of it, the choices available to them and how they wish to act.
Training can therefore provide guidance where knowledge is lacking. And coaching enables the individual to work on how they deal with their situation.
Coaching or intercultural consultancy?
Consultants are generally called upon for their expertise, analysis or recommendations. In an international context, they can provide specific knowledge of a country, a market or an intercultural issue, and suggest a course of action.
Coaches do not necessarily fulfil this role as experts.
Their international experience can enable them to identify issues or assumptions that would otherwise go unnoticed. Coaches do not have a catalogue of «right answers» for every country, nor do they infer a person’s behaviour from their nationality.
International coaching is therefore, first and foremost, professional coaching applied to a situation in which the international aspect is significant enough to warrant consideration.
To find out how this support can be provided in practice within a company: international coaching support.
Further reading: key points on coaching in an international context
- International Coaching Federation (ICF): resources on cross-cultural coaching, cultural competence and awareness of a coach’s biases in different cultural contexts.
- ICF Research Portal: research into intercultural and cross-cultural coaching, particularly focusing on the actual role of culture in the coaching relationship and within international teams.