Written by: Adelina Stefan, Senior Level Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Over the last decade, creating an inclusive and diverse working environment has been crucial for global organisations that have invested greatly in providing training and development opportunities to facilitate growth. However, these types of initiatives through solely training didn’t seem to bring a long-term result, as was evidenced in my research on Fostering cross-cultural understanding and skills in global organizations through intercultural training (2019).
During the last few years, it has been proved that there is a better way to develop dedicated leaders who would feel empowered to take meaningful actions and ensure that employees are being heard, listened actively, and can thrive in a safe environment. An organisation’s approach towards creating an inclusive culture where employees feel mentally supported and psychologically safe is a vital part of leadership.
A coaching approach across to leadership development frames the conversation differently than the traditional training as it’s people-centred and focused on empowering individuals themselves to reconnect to their inner essence, maximize their potential, take charge, and identify their own solutions instead of being told what path they should follow.
What is coaching?
Coaching is facilitating a system of relationships, empowering people to feel more connected both to each other and their own self. Coaching is extremely powerful no matter what you specialise in. Career Coaching in particular, an area very close to my heart, enables individuals to identify their passion in what they do and allows them to move forward in that direction. The focus and attention individuals get from a Career Coach are very valuable and the process becomes more like a journey to self-discovery with respect to what they want to do for their living and beyond.
“My goal is to forge a better workplace and create a coaching culture where individuals feel emotionally and psychologically safe, empowered to deliver excellence and strive for the best.
As a passionate advocate of the entrepreneurial spirit, a life-long learner, and an expat myself, I was always interested in learning about other cultures and supporting individuals to deal with the cultural shock while trying to make a seamless career transition, using their unique skills and talent. “
How can you cultivate an inclusive coaching culture?
One of the most crucial elements of a productive workplace and a crucial part of developing leadership seems to be feeling trusted. Trust may have an impact on people's communication and thought processes as well as organizational hierarchies and workplace customs, all of which could be significant roadblocks in cross-border cooperation.
The value of coaching is inherited and contributes to the creation of highly trustful relationships within organisations, which would have a series of positive outcomes including higher collaboration, higher levels of positivity, higher employee engagement, job satisfaction, and retention, and more effective problem-solving.
Building trust is crucial to foster an inclusive diverse environment and as such, it depends on key values such as: respect, active listening, cultural awareness, and sensitivity, as well as different communication and personality types. For a diverse team to be strong, it needs to be inclusive. If hiring a diverse workforce is relatively easy, fostering inclusivity proves to be more challenging. This can be achieved through open communication in which members can express freely how they communicate and how they make decisions; in other words, by talking about diversity openly and finding a creative way through coaching to work effectively together.
“I chose to become an Expat Career Coach and transition from training to coaching as I I felt that the impact of creating a positive change for people in transitions through coaching was aligned with my “what truly matters,” to empower professionals and leaders to articulate their value and talent with more impact, gain more clarity on their goals, purpose, and fulfillment in their life, and achieve sustainable career success.”
Learn more about our Professional Coaching Mastery Certification for leaders and individuals who aspire to become Certified Professional Coaches ICF accredited
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Adelina Stefan, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Adelina Stefan is a Professional Certified Coach & Intercultural Facilitator specialized in Career Development, with a deep expertise in international HR recruitment and selection and Training and Development. Having worked for 10+ years across cultures, Adelina seeks to catalyze individuals’ potential, helping them create and implement their unique career blueprint and, at the same time, achieve a healthy work-life balance. She specializes in working with expats and mid- to senior-level executives dealing with challenging work environments that can affect both their performance and well-being. She supports organizations in building a corporate coaching culture by highlighting individuals’ maximum potential and engagement so that they become dedicated and highly successful employees. Her practice includes Career, Life, Executive, and Agile Coaching for individuals, as well as developing and implementing corporate Human Resources practices for improving intercultural relations.
