Writing & conversations

I grew up in a small town in western Finland. My family was a typical middle-class Finnish family, except that we come from the small Swedish-speaking minority. Both of my parents grew up on farms. Neither of them graduated high…

During the holidays I usually take time to catch up on the year’s movies. This year I decided to take a look at the hype around the Hobbit. I enjoyed the first two Hobbit movies, I was whisked away to the fantasy world created by…

Being married to someone from a different cultural background than your own is both exciting and challenging. The differences that brought the two of you together may, over time, become those that cause most friction. As one half…

A couple of years ago I gave a presentation on SISU-Resilience the Finnish Way at a conference. Today I’d like to revisit and elaborate on that topic . In Finland we have something called Sisu. It is considered a core trait of…

I like to garden. When I am not working or being a mother and wife, I am gardening. It’s become an obsession, I admit. After spending several weeks traveling, either for work or visiting family, the lawn and garden did not look…

We recently had some work done on the house. The carpenter showed up with his van full of tools and toolboxes in various sizes and shapes. Depending on what needed to be done, he selected a different tool from a different box. As…

By Philip DiDio European vacations inspire dreams of cathedrals, museums, Mediterranean beaches, speedy train rides arriving on schedules defined by 24 hour clocks. It’s the Europe of the Mission Impossible and Bourne movie…

In my cross-cultural career workshops for expatriates or immigrants to the USA, we have an exercise where we brainstorm and discuss assumptions, biases and fears. The purpose of the exercise is to identify our own fears and…

One of my workshop participants once said that it feels as she left her best self in her country of origin and that her current version of her self is inferior: less self confident, successful and happy. Professionally she does…

Tell me about yourself! What is your story? Where have you been and where are you heading? How many of us have not been caught by surprise when someone we just met asks us to introduce ourselves, or stumbled at the common first…

Today’s blog is written by a guest, Philip DiDio After a setback during the financial crisis, hedge funds have resumed performing well and attracting assets. Hedge fund employment and compensation have grown in tandem. How can…

I moved to the US over 12 years ago. I still recall my first attempts to look for a job. The economy was strong so there were plenty of jobs around. The New York Times job section was several pages long. As I was new to the…