Are you ready to be an expat? You can find out in our new article, “What Does It Take to Be an Expat?”
One of the most interesting people I’ve interviewed is author and educator Erin Meyer. She knows all about what it takes to be an expat.
Erin and her family have lived in France for over 15 years. Born in Minnesota, she joined the Peace Corps after college and has lived in southern Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe.
Her job as an affiliate professor at international business school INSEAD, which is located just outside of Paris in Fontainebleau, is teaching global managers how to be more effective when they’re working with people from cultures other than their own.
She also just penned a book called, “The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business.”
Erin ticks off 10 attributes she thinks are necessary for expat success, beginning with cultural understanding and flexibility, the top two.
“I think one of the most important things expats need to have is an understanding of the culture they are moving to,” she says. “But even more important, they need to learn how the culture sees them.”
Flexibility is also high on the list. “The flexibility to be able to adapt to whatever situation might arise,” she says, “is very important. If you get flexibility down, the other things are not quite so difficult.”
But in the end, she says, trust is key. “I think the #1 thing to remember when you go to live in another country is that you need to focus on learning how to build trust right away, because if you build trust with your colleagues and your community, then things will be much easier. Invest time at the beginning to build friendships and personal connections. If you get the trust right, then everything else will fall into place.”