Scenario

The client was working for a global bank operating in 77 countries with a new Shared Service Centre in Lisbon, Portugal. He was establishing a new team with a new reporting structure and it was his first experience of working with a Portuguese team.

Clients Challenge

He was a recently appointed manager with no prior experience of living and working in Portugal. He required specific cultural information to help him in his new leadership role, particularly how to lead a Portuguese team but also information that would help him manage his personal situation in a new country.

Our Way

6 hours individual session delivered in English. In this session we explored general information about living in Portugal and more theoretical cultural insights such as different communication and leadership styles in Portugal and low context versus high context in giving and receiving feedback. This was to help in how he communicated and managed business in a work and personal context.

The session was led in English by a consultant, Magdalena Kishizawa, who lives and works in Portugal since 8 years. Magdalena has 20 years experience in working globally and has worked with participants from more than 20 different cultures. She lived and worked in Germany, Irland, United Kingdom and Portugal and is very closely connected with Japanese culture via her family links. She studied at the University of Heidelberg in Germany (Diplom-Psychology), Catholic University of Lublin in Poland (Education Science) and School of Management of University of Bradford (Master of Business Administration). She works in English, German and Polish.