Coco Hofs - The international & Cross-Cultural business podcast

Hoewel ik (heel) vaak practice what I preach, heb ik vandaag gefaald . - Bij de loodgieter lekt het dak.  De gevolgen? Een geblokkeerde auto, niet weg kunnen rijden, spanning, stress en een hoop gezeur.  Maar ook, mijn lering in deze 13 minuten - voor jou. Ik neem je mee tijdens een wandeling, dus de geluidskwaliteit is niet de allerbeste, de inhoud denk ik wel. In deze afleveringen zitten twee wa...

Je investeert in leiderschapstrainingen, communicatie en feedback… Maar toch merk je: het landt niet. Niet overal. Niet bij iedereen. In deze aflevering deel ik wat ik keer op keer zie in internationale organisaties (en mij mateloos over verbaas). We trainen op gedrag - Maar negeren de culturele realiteit waarin dat gedrag moet werken. Met als voorbeeld: een internationale feedback training, volle...

Naar aanleiding van een leuke vraag van een luisteraar, neem ik dit voor je op. 20 minuten, ongeremd en Nederlands perspectief op Cultural Awareness training en jour rol daarin. Over de aflevering: Ik deel met jou mijn inzichten over het belang van gedragsverandering na awareness workshops en waarom bewustwording alleen niet genoeg is voor effectieve interculturele communicatie en verandering. En...

There is a first for everything. Mijn eerste Nederlandstalige podcast. Vier keer dezelfde vraag in één week. Toen dacht ik: oké, grote stappen snel thuis. Ik neem dit op. Want hier kan iedereen wat mee. Als Nederlandse leider in een internationale context herken je dit misschien wel: Je vraagt om input… maar je krijgt het niet. Je zegt het waarschijnlijk regelmatig: “Mijn deur staat altijd open.”...

Want to get in touch? Find me ⁠here.⁠ In this episode, I’ll be talking about how cultural differences can impact communication in the global workplace. I’ll share some real-life examples and practical tips on how to better understand these differences, improve collaboration, and make working in intercultural teams better. I hope this episode gives you some useful insights into making cultural diff...

How does constructive feedback has a different meaning in each culture? And most of all… How to prevent screwing up, giving feedback in a cultural context? In this episode 𝐈 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝗪𝐇𝐘 - why it is important to give feedback effectively across people from different cultures. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝗪𝐇𝐀𝐓 - What are the differences and how to recognize them? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐎𝗪 - How to adjust your feedback so it becomes...

I was talking to a 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞; I call him Paul. Paul (German) leads a team of Germans, Swiss, and Austrians and believes that those countries are culturally not so different. In this episode you 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 how my conversation with Paul unfolded and the insights 💡 that came with it. This podcast episode is for you if you: 🌎 Would like to explore the impact of subtle cultural differences...

On the 7th of December, I am hosting a free (online) training ; 'How to lead your cross-cultural team towards better results' This episode is for you if: You are doubting if this training is for you... You wonder what this training will be about... Ask yourself, why you should invest your time in this... You are curious why I dare to say that my business success depended on being able to n...

In todays episode you will hear: Cultural diversity drives innovation and improves business performance. Ignoring cultural differences can lead to miscommunications and employee dissatisfaction. Cross-cultural leadership training doesn't eliminate differences but increases awareness and understanding. Effective training transforms your organization by fostering an environment of global excelle...

That moment when you have been announcing your LinkedIn live with great fanfare but then just as you're about to go live everything stops working... 🙈 Ah well, as (former) expats Amanda Molenaar and myself, dealt with much greater challenges! Flexibility is our middle name. That's why after some failed attempts we ditched the livestream and decided to record a Zoom session instead. Thankf...

My name is ⁠Coco Hofs⁠ and I support businesses from all over the world on how to overcome cultural differences in the international workplace. In this podcast episode you will learn the 5 things you need to know when working with the Dutch. Because lets face it, the Dutch culture is one-of-a-kind. This episode is for you when you are an international business professional working with the Dutch....

Elzelien Hoekstra, CEO and founder of Kenza imports, distributes and sells Dutch brands in Chile. Elzelien, Dutch from origin moved to Chile and started Kenza Design. Something that started as bringing her favorite Dutch bean bag to Chile has grown into a full interior design business. Kenza Design represents brands like Fatboy, IXXIE, Miffy and Essenza Home. Elzelien Hoekstra, started importing F...

In todays episode I talk with Lydia Koken. Lydia is a Mindset & Alignment Expert. Psychologist & Coach (MsC) and she helps busy and ambitious women, to create and live a life they LOVE and really desire. She definitely is a busy and ambitious women herself as well. She lives as an expat spouse in Spain and is about to move with her entire family to 'The Big Apple'. Lydia shares abo...

In todays episode I talk with Lauren Brown. Lauren is born in the USA but has been living in Latin America for over a decade. We look back at her leap of faith moving from San Francisco to Latin America. Lauren has worked in different countries and in different roles. Currently, Lauren works for a commercial real estate company based in Chile in the role as Head of investor relations. She interact...

In today's episode I talk to Annette van der Feltz. Annette has been living in the US for 24 years and is the founder of 'Dutch American connection' . In this episode you will hear: How Anette as a teenager, moved with her family to the US for 3 years. How she met her Swedish husband in the laundry room in Sweden while she was living there (no joke) She moved to the US for an initial p...

I today's episode I talk to Myrthe Warmenhoven. Myrthe is the CEO and founder of BOLD Network. A network community for ambitious, Dutch entrepreneurs that live and work from abroad. Myrthe left behind a career in HR management and with that, also her country of origin, The Netherlands. She worked as an entrepreneur in Bali, when she felt lonely and searched for connections on a deeper level, with...

Book a free of charge exploration call with Coco here. In this episode I talk with Amanda Molenaar. Amanda always dreamed of a life abroad, and she managed to follow that dream. A journey that was supposed to be for only months, turned out to become 1,5 years of traveling. The long lasting travels were followed by an expat assignment for the Dutch government. Amanda represented the Dutch governmen...

In today's episode I talk to Veerle Beelen Da Costa David. Veerle worked as a corporate immigration lawyer and was based in Australia. After losing her job and with that, also her visa that allowed her to stay in Australia, Veerle changes her life 180 degrees. Veerle moved to The Netherlands and started following her dream to become an entrepreneur. She decided to start providing the help that she...

In this episode I talk with Kimberley van Tol. in 2013, Kimberley moved from The Netherlands to Canada. From a career in education where she stood in front of the classroom,  to running several businesses as an entrepreneur. With 1 of Kimberley's businesses Language Arts she helps international companies to express their messages in the right way. With Language arts she translates your compan...

In this Episode I talk with Tess de Weerd. Tess left the traditional education system, in order to make a bigger impact in peoples lives. She helps professionals & entrepreneurs with international ambitions to become more confident when communicating in English. We talk about how English is a tool to achieve something bigger, how all humans regardless of cultural background are human relation...

In this episode I talk with Debby van Boxtel. Debby is an expert in all Spanish and a Neuro Langauge coach. It is her mission to teach Dutch expats to speak more than 'un pocito de Español'. In her early years, she started to explore her passion for the Spanish language and lived in Barcelona for a year. Nicaragua and intens traveling through Central America followed. In 2006 she started her onlin...

In this episode I talk with Konstandinos Skourtis . Konstandinos was determined to leave his home country - Greece.  For his employer he moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where he has been living for more than 10 years. Konstandinos worked in several executive roles for multinational companies. He shares about his experience managing crisis situations and how cultural differences has played a part....

What is culture? and how does it influence leadership & business? In this episode I will explain you the basics about 'human programming' in order to explain what culture is and how it is wired in our brain.  (Source) I share how managing cultural differences almost took a toll on me while working in Japan. Managing a cross-cultural team, reporting to an American boss and daily contact with the he...