By Grant Hall. Founder of League Cultural Diplomacy
The globalised life isn’t for everyone, but in this world where it’s becoming more difficult to earn a buck in many places, it might be just the thing for you!
There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
From Julius Caesar Act 4, Scene 3 (Shakespeare)
In an earlier post I explained why your business should be prepared to globalise in the sense that Yip uses in his book Total Global Strategy II:
… the global company does not have to be everywhere, but it has the capability to go anywhere, deploy any assets and access any resources, and it maximises its profits on a global basis[i]
In my introduction to the Going Global series I quoted an Entrepreneur piece titled How to Take Your Company Global that says by going global, among other things:
You can extend the sales life of existing products and services by finding new markets to sell them in.
Think about this in terms of your own life. Do you have a shelf life? An expiry date? A skill that is becoming increasingly less in demand? Can you extend your earning potential by an ability to deploy your skills abroad?
I provide corporate cultural diplomacy consultation and facilitation services through my business League Cultural Diplomacy. Imagine if I only had the capacity to operate my business in Australia, my home country. Australia has a small population, its government has historically cared very little for deploying cultural diplomacy and so few international businesses are headquartered in Australia that my services would struggle to remain relevant to the demands of that particular individual market. Living in South East Asia I can be in Hong Kong, Singapore or any of the other regional business capitals to deploy my assets and resources at short notice.
Some friends of mine are engineers or geologists working in the mining industry. As mining companies in Australia are reducing their investment in research and exploration, engineers and geologists, with their shelf life slowly expiring in Australia, are finding work across the globe in countries that are exploring territory or commencing work on new mines.
By only having the capacity to operate in your home market you are intrinsically dependent on that sole market. By going global and having the ability to operate in different markets you can reach the market that values you the highest and pays accordingly.
In the early 2000’s the Australian dollar was very low. As an arts administrator I saw an opportunity in the UK to exploit the higher British pound and superior wages normally received by arts administrators working there at the time. It worked – I made more money than I would have in Australia and when I visited home my wallet was fat due to the exchange rate. Many Australian teachers and health professionals did the same thing in those years, and those who didn’t piss up all their UK quid at a Walkabout Pub laid down deposits on houses when they returned home. These days there is very little work available in Australia for a cultural diplomacy consultant and facilitator – but because I am able to work in various other markets, my livelihood is not subject to the temperament of a single market.
Are you, as a product, affected by seasonal changes and demand cycles? Can you counteract similar destabilising fluctuations by developing the capacity to globalise?In the early 2000’s the Australian dollar was very low. As an arts administrator I saw an opportunity in the UK to exploit the higher British pound and superior wages normally received by arts administrators working there at the time. It worked – I made more money than I would have in Australia and when I visited home my wallet was fat due to the exchange rate. Many Australian teachers and health professionals did the same thing in those years, and those who didn’t piss up all their UK quid at a Walkabout Pub laid down deposits on houses when they returned home. These days there is very little work available in Australia for a cultural diplomacy consultant and facilitator – but because I am able to work in various other markets, my livelihood is not subject to the temperament of a single market.
Many Australian arts workers, including technical personnel and performers are in demand during the warmer Australian summer months when festivals are frequent but struggle to find work in the winter as festivals rarely require a full contingent of staff on a year-round basis. What many Australian festival workers and performers do in the winter is head to the Northern Hemisphere to work during the northern summer months. They have globalised themselves! If you go to the Adelaide Fringe Festival in March in South Australia and then the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in August you will be able to see many of the same shows with the same performers managed by the same people behind the scenes.
Joel Backaler, in a post for Forbes titled 5 Reasons Why Chinese Companies Go Global highlights how going global can allow you to:Many Australian arts workers, including technical personnel and performers are in demand during the warmer Australian summer months when festivals are frequent but struggle to find work in the winter as festivals rarely require a full contingent of staff on a year-round basis. What many Australian festival workers and performers do in the winter is head to the Northern Hemisphere to work during the northern summer months. They have globalised themselves! If you go to the Adelaide Fringe Festival in March in South Australia and then the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in August you will be able to see many of the same shows with the same performers managed by the same people behind the scenes.
Access advanced technologies
and
Incorporate global management expertise
I have experience of both of these myself. Living abroad forced me to become an early adopter of various technologies because maximising efficiency becomes paramount when you are living abroad and quite often living out a of a suitcase. I used social media early because it was a cheaper way to keep in touch with family back home and negated the problem of incompatible time-zones. This gave me a new skill that I was able to use to great benefit when I started working at the Adelaide Festival Centre where I developed a strategic plan for audience development using new media technologies. When you are a globalised individual you need to think globally and interact with others in the same circumstances as you; through these interactions and online study I developed a strategic global expertise, much of which I will write about in the Going Global blog series.
Finally, Stephen Johnson in a blog titled Why Go Global? 6 Benefits of International Expansion, recommends:I have experience of both of these myself. Living abroad forced me to become an early adopter of various technologies because maximising efficiency becomes paramount when you are living abroad and quite often living out a of a suitcase. I used social media early because it was a cheaper way to keep in touch with family back home and negated the problem of incompatible time-zones. This gave me a new skill that I was able to use to great benefit when I started working at the Adelaide Festival Centre where I developed a strategic plan for audience development using new media technologies. When you are a globalised individual you need to think globally and interact with others in the same circumstances as you; through these interactions and online study I developed a strategic global expertise, much of which I will write about in the Going Global blog series.
businesses should go global because it’s the future[ii]
And so it is with individuals! Globalised individuals are the future as much as globalised companies are.
I might have experienced long periods of unemployment or low-paid jobs in Australia if I hadn’t globalised myself. Instead I have been in full employment or undertaking study and have ‘lived the dream’ by residing and working on four continents over the last twelve years. When I attend networking events abroad I meet people who are far more globalised than I am – and most of them, like me, wouldn’t have it any other way!
High-income jobs can become low-income or non-existent within a period of months
It’s such a rapidly changing world that high-income jobs can become low-income or non-existent within a period of months. Just ask my friend who was making $140,000 driving a truck that now drives itself. It rendered him obsolete and reduced his income by two thirds. My first job out of school was as a musician. Later I spent time as a theatre producer. I loved both of these jobs but the wages for both have decreased in Australia relative to inflation – being globalised meant that I could pursue better income abroad.
Many might fear globalising themselves because of the impact it will have on their families. I’m married with two kids and I meet many married couples with more children than me who manage to have globalised lives and maintain a healthy family life. Bringing up children in a globalised environment gives kids many advantages in life. This is a common topic of conversation among expatriate families and the advantages for children often discussed include the ability to speak multiple languages, developing cultural intelligence, gaining an ability to adapt, making friends across the globe and more. Many children, such as mine, will grow up with dual nationalities; this is a huge advantage because if one nation’s situation is diminished they can move to the other country of which they hold a passport. Every parent wants the best for their children, and globalising them is one of the greatest gifts parents can give to their kids.
So what are the skills you need to globalise yourself? I would say creativity, patience, resourcefulness and adaptability. Some people have professions that are more in demand internationally than others, such as engineers or English teachers, but for those of us who aren’t in a demand profession we need to get by on our wits.
The globalised life isn’t for everyone, but in this world where it’s becoming more difficult to earn a buck in many places, it might be just the thing for you!
Endnotes and sources are on the next page
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