Cross-Cultural Course "LIVING AND WORKING IN POLAND"

by Dominika Hirsch

This course can be used as:

• a self-assessment program that potential expatriates can take to decide if moving to Poland will work for them and their families
• a full cross-cultural course that offers expats and business leaders information they need to understand in order to succeed in Poland
• a facilitating material for in-house training (see license information)
  

Robert Louis Stevenson wisely noticed that “There are no foreign lands. It is only the traveler who is foreign.” Over thirteen years ago, when I left Poland, my native country, I learnt how true it is. After spending over six years living and working in Germany and in the Netherlands and having been living in Spain since 2005, I also found out that discovering a new country can be a very exciting adventure. However, it is not free of challenges, difficulties or misunderstandings.

That’s why now an important part of my work as an Intercultural Trainer as well as Attorney-at-Law is to support people who decide to live and work in Poland and to help them to find their new homes there. I also support organizations that want to establish their subsidiaries in Poland and I help them to implement successfully their businesses in the land of the white eagle. Through pre-departure, post-arrival, repatriation and team building training programs as well as international consulting, I support cultural adjustment and development of intercultural competence of individuals, families and organizations in global transition as well as multicultural teams.

This is what brought me to collaborate with my colleague Margarita Gokun Silver in the creation of the Cross-Cultural Course "LIVING AND WORKING IN POLAND".

Although my life center has been outside Poland for so many years, I spend a considerable amount of time each year there. As I interact and work with Poles and foreigners from many different countries who live in Poland, they taught me to see my native country from many different perspectives. In this course I take into consideration this outsider and insider perspective and I will share with you my whole life experience about what Poland was in the past, is at the moment and the direction in which the country is developing.

So whether you are planning to relocate to Poland, marrying a Pole, or working with Polish colleagues in a global project, this course:

• provides you with a foundation of what the Polish culture is all about;
• through the Culture Mastery Process helps you understand the gap between your way of thinking and that of the majority of people of Poland
  
• equips you with extensive tools to negotiate the difference
• blends cross-cultural information with a coaching approach to understanding and becoming successful in any culture.

I am convinced that every expat, every business traveler, and every international business will benefit from cross cultural training, but for various reasons not all can have effective in-person training. And that’s why we decided to make “LIVING AND WORKING IN POLAND” available on line.

WE OFTEN GET ASKED: why would I buy this course if I can find information on the internet for free?

Two reasons:

I. If you simply want to learn about the do's and don'ts of the country, you can, in fact, buy a book or search through a variety of internet resources.  However, if

...you want to know how to successfully interact with people

...you want to learn what motivates them

...you want to learn how to manage them effectively,

...you want to know how to communicate and how not to communicate,

you'll need to know their prevalent cultural blueprint as well as your own!  Both will become clear to you as you test yourself through our Culture Mastery Module's 11 cultural variables and then compare your score with that of the country you are going to.   

This depth of information isn't available on the internet.

II.  Once you know your cultural blueprint and their cultural blueprint -- and once you compare the two -- you will discover gaps.  Our course teaches you how to negotiate those gaps with the use of Culture Mastery process that includes:

•    the co-active coaching model
•    the neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) tools
•    the systems and relationship approach

You won't find that on the internet either.

WHAT DO YOU GET?

 
This “LIVING AND WORKING IN POLAND” course consists of eight chapters of information, a video file, and an audio podcast:

•    Audio 1 and Chapter 1:  Managing Culture Shock
A unique approach to handling Culture Shock in any situation.  Three handy tools to carry with you whenever you move and change cultures.

•    Video 2/Chapter 2: The National Culture of Poland
A video-presentation featuring photos from all over Poland, accompanied by a recording that will tell you about the National Culture of Poland.

•    Chapter 3: The proverbs of Poland
Country’s proverbs can tell a lot about the country.  This chapter contains proverbs that will help you understand Poland.

•    Chapter 4: The Corporate Culture
Doing business in Poland?  Managing staff?  If you are going to work in Poland, you’d want to familiarize yourself with what to expect when doing business. Locals in Poland have their own and unique business style affecting decision-making, the way they conduct meetings and their working style.

•    Chapter 5: Culture Mastery -- Your Cultural Blueprint
Learn about your own cultural preferences.  How do you compare within the eleven cultural variables?

•    Chapter 6: The Polish Cultural Blueprint
Learn about the Polish cultural variables.  How wide is the gap between you and them?

•    Chapter 7: Culture Mastery -- Adjusting Your Cultural Habits
Manage the gap you discovered in the previous chapter.  Enjoy the variety of coaching and training exercises to close the gap and, thus, become more effective in Poland.

•    Chapter 8: Culture Mastery -- Cultural Negotiation and Alliances

Excellent tools for those gaps that are not so easy to close.

This wealth of information is available to you anytime, from anywhere and for the fraction of the cost of traditional cross-cultural training courses .

CAN I PREVIEW THIS COURSE?

If you are considering a purchase of this course for a few people in your company, a complimentary preview login is available. Please contact us here to request your login.

HOW MUCH DOES THE COURSE COST COST?

Cross-Cultural training is usually expensive — it can run anywhere between $500 and $2000 dollars — and that’s why most of the time your company would have to provide it.  Yet companies often decide to economize on this part of the expatriate experience and very few expats get the benefit of a real cross-cultural training.

Business travelers and companies doing business in Poland almost never get the benefit of a cross-cultural training.  Yet this training is essential to their success.

That's why we have created this online course and that's why we are making it affordable.  The training we are offering you on-line is available for $199.  This includes FREE short e-mail consultations with the course creators in the first 30 days after purchasing the course.

Register here.

WHEN DOES THE COURSE TAKE PLACE?

Your choice entirely!

The course materials are stored on a server for you to access and learn whenever you want.  There is no expiration date, no class to be late for, and no time zones to negotiate.  Just log in and study as many times as you want. 

HOW DO I SIGN UP?

Signing up is hassle-free! Just click HERE and you will be taken to the Global Coach Center Academy where you can enroll in the course.  Once you are there, just register for the Academy and pay with PayPal (you can choose to pay via your PayPal account or with your credit card) and that’s it.

Don’t wait. REGISTER NOW.

Moving to and working in Poland doesn’t have to be a stressful experience.  Go prepared — get ready with our LIVING AND WORKING IN POLAND on-line course.

STILL NOT SURE?

• How much do you think you are worth?

• And how much is being at your creative best and being stress-free worth to you?

• How much making a cultural miscalculation can hurt your business?