Career moves, family compulsions, conflicting cultural values, difficulties in adjustment to work aspects and many such issues could disrupt life at any point of time for ‘global cosmopolitans’. How to overcome various challenges while ensuring career growth without sacrificing family life could be charted out by trying to understand complexity of the situation and taking a step by step approach to resolution of the issue.
Linda Brimm, INSEAD Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour and author of Global Cosmopolitans, claims to have developed a framework called the Seven C’s of Change and Development to help people arrive at such decisions with greater clarity.
Writing in INSEAD Knowledge blog, she illustrates her theory taking the example of Amy and Jeff, a young British couple working in Singapore. Having been together for 15 years, they have already lived and worked in Malaysia and Singapore before moving to Singapore five years ago. With their two children enrolled in an international pre-school and having a live-in maid, they are well settled.
But then Amy gets an excellent offer for a career move to Dubai. Jeff, happy at work in Singapore had no plans of moving elsewhere when a phone call from his mother informing him about dad suffering a heart attack makes him consider a shift back to home.
According to Brimm, this would be the first stage of the seven ‘C’s, Complexity, that of identifying and understanding the implications created by a change. Initial reaction of Jeff, who hates indecision, is to quit and go back to London. Amy, however, is open to exploring multiple options and seeks opinion of friends, co-workers and her current boss.
In the second stage, the couple arrive at clarity. All the discussions with colleagues and others help them decide on Dubai that would benefit them both. For Jeff, it was closer home and for Amy, a move up the career ladder. This was achieved through a coherent understanding of the complex issue and formulating a plan.
The objective of this stage is to achieve a coherent understanding of the complex issues raised in the first stage and start to form a plan. Thus, Jeff thought he could spend about five years in Dubai and then move to London. Likewise, Amy consulted her prospective employer to ensure that she would get enough time for family.
The third stage is Confidence. Jeff, after having put away his earlier concerns, went about finding the right contacts in a new region.
At the fourth stage, that of Creativity, Jeff decided that some more management experience and training in addition to dealing with people in the oil and gas industry that has been his domain so far, would improve his prospects. He found that looking outside of his comfort zone actually felt right and opened creative ways to develop his career.
Creativity can sometimes mean letting go of the idea that you must continue to follow your current path. In Jeff’s case, this meant looking at alternative career options, but it could also mean a staggered move, with one partner moving first and the other taking time to find the right fit before committing to the change, says Brimm.
Stage 5 is that of Commitment. Having firmed up the plans, implementation comes next. This meant Amy having to start on her new job and Jeff leaving his job and trying to join a new organisation. In the midst of all this churning, schools have to be found for the children and a large amount of complicated and time consuming paperwork, apart from saying goodbye to friends and others. But there is no going back and a fresh start has to be made.
Stage 6 is of Consolidation. Having realised that they needed all the help they could get, the couple informed their parents about their plans and the result was that the parents even offered to look after the children during the transition.
Stage 7 is Living the change. While it is a new beginning, there could be unintended consequences, mistakes or discomforts. These should be seen in the light of learning opportunities rather than feelings of regret, which can lead to feelings of loss and an aversion to future movement. Helping others accept the change can be half the battle, so it’s important to work through the change in as structured and considered a way as possible, says Brimm.
“Embracing complex change can be invigorating, but daunting. Aligning this process in a relationship can be exciting, but complex. The Seven C’s framework has helped many executives and their families break the process down into workable parts. While sharing the process of global decision-making is not easy, understanding the impact of individual needs on the process can facilitate acceptance of a decision, clarify sources of resilience and help take the cycle of change forward. Following this framework can become the cornerstone of creating successful global lives,” she adds.