SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL TRANSITION
Coaching. Change. Global-mobility. Decision-making. Adjustment.
We are moving again, this time without the safety net of a job that awaits, but with a prospect of becoming citizens and feel we belong again.
There’s no one correct checklist to forecast a successful transition assimilation. One of the best years of my life was in St. Lucia, a place not many would have considered, nor “survived” and enjoyed. It is back to basics, simplicity, and effortless living. I miss it. There you can be yourself without judgement and with great inclusiveness. It’s the opposite from Bermuda in almost everything. In Bermuda I have the fine restaurants, modern setting, plentiful activities for children at the highest standard but it’s back to western world judgmental mindset. Coming back to St Lucia from a business trip truly felt like coming home, while Bermuda always reminds you that you are merely a guest. This is not to ‘blame’ Bermuda, it is just an example of how life unfolds in mysterious ways. How one place can fill the void while another constantly reminds you of the things you miss.
When you are a visitor, a work-permit holder, a bystander, a passing caller – do you really have a choice? Or the search for a place you can truly feel you belong to is an inherent inevitability that drives the unceasing search?
If I want to have a choice I will probably need to move again. I want to choose whether I wish to continue my professional work or maybe embark on a new career adventure. I want to say again that I’m a citizen and not just a visitor. I want to allow my daughters to choose if they want to set a Lemonade stand, babysit, or work during summertime. I want to enable them to choose their identity without anyone questioning if they belong or not. I want to allow myself to make free-standing choices and not to be forced to choose or be driven away. I guess I will have to move again.
As a coach, the questions I pose to others are the same ones I ask myself: what do you value in your life? What are you missing? What are you expecting to gain when moving? What matters to you most? And more…