Expertise, Resilience and what I do
I have some expertise besides in business coaching and in supervision.
Where is your expertise found?
Besides having and using my MA in pedagogy (teaching and curriculum development), this business coach and supervisor (I) had certification to train others in intercultural communication AND that is exactly what I am teaching this semester at the FHNW; that and teaching negotiations, I mean.
My intercultural awareness comes in handy with my clients (and former ones), who range from Swiss to German to SE Asian to Belgian to Eastern European to Indian to N. American to… you get what I mean.
I have also coached or supervised people who are single, people with young, older, AND grown children, people who were in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. Age is not a barrier for me. A few have had or still have difficult diagnoses, too. Walking with people dealing with illness is part of my experience.
Some of my favorite clients have been leaders or owners of startups and SMEs, as the energy of their companies is very infectious, and change is the name of their game.
Then besides the business, resilience and burnout can be their themes, though helping them to run their company or their team is often the main topic of the session.
I have had extensive work with those looking for jobs and a few moving on to retirement, as well.
Because I promise not to tell anything more than generalities about my clients, it is hard to tell a story without giving away too many details, especially in Switzerland where the expat community is very small. Thus, I speak in generalities.
A friend mentioned last weekend that she seems to have connections with a lot of people. In her words: they have either gone to school with me, worked at the same company or lived in the same place. Sometimes I feel the very same, how about you? But not every connection feels real.
Loneliness is one of the issues that expats have as a common denominator and unless you have moved across the globe with a family or have married abroad, there will be times when you feel especially lonely. Thus, you need to work out plans to help avoid to much alone time, unless you come from a so-called introverted culture. There are cultures who appreciate being alone more than being with people all the time. Of course, there are introverts, too. But we all need our people to be more resilient, especially as we age, according to research.
A client has recently asked for a short answer to how to be more resilient and I wrote this:
“The best thing for resilience is hanging out with “your” people. Then exercise and good food (& enough sleep). Then having fun and finding the good in things (being thankful) - there is a very cool course called the Happiness Course from Yale (I think it is free).”
I hope you have a wonderful week doing what you are good at and learning new skills and hanging out with “your” people..
Patricia Jehle patricia@jehle-coaching.com
