I decided to study the expatriation process in my research paper because I am committed to supporting people as a coach going through this transition. Expatriation is the process of relocating to another country with a culture different from the country of upbringing.
My research helped me to collect some new learnings, which I used as the foundation for my coaching model:
- The ‘culture shock’ is experienced by the majority of the expats. It is a term used to describe the anxiety and feelings of surprise, disorientation, and confusion amongst others, which are felt when people have to operate within an entirely different cultural or social environment.
- The culture shock grows out of the challenges in assimilating to the new culture, causing difficulty in knowing what is appropriate and what is not. The expat person gets confused and anxious because the old behaviors and assumptions do not necessarily align with the new culture.
- The personal perception of the expatriation experience differs from person to person. Depending on the personal characteristics, situational awareness, the support network, the internal and external resources, and coping strategies the length and intensity of the adaptation process can show great variability.
- After the beginning of the foreign assignment, it takes several months until the person develops new coping mechanisms, and calibrates their beliefs and assumptions in a way that enables them to navigate the new culture successfully.
- As the personal support system is one of the key influencing factors, coaching can be immensely useful to fill this void and provide ongoing support during the long process of adaptation, until the expat feels fully enabled and capable of navigating in the new environment.
- The expatriation process can be very draining, therefore setting up effective self-care routines already from the very beginning is essential.
I was aiming to develop a coaching model that is customized to support people going through the challenging transition of the expatriation process from the moment of relocation until they feel resourceful enough to navigate their life in their new environment.
My coaching model is the SURF IT model, which is composed of 6 different steps built on each other, each letter representing one of these steps. Overall, it facilitates the process that enables the expat person to increase their awareness of their assumptions, needs, and resources during the transition to explore and test potential coping mechanisms and eventually, to enjoy surfing the waves of change.
I find the analogy of surfing very powerful in this context because it helps to understand that the waves of change are mainly out of our control, but we can harness their power and stay on top of them, instead of being overthrown or overwhelmed by them. Being on top of the waves helps us to have a bird’s eye perspective, and a better understanding of what is at play, and eventually, makes us feel more resourceful to find the right coping strategies. Surfing is also associated with the feeling of freedom and fun, which could inspire my future clients to create an engaging vision of their future selves and their lives in their new environment.
The SURF IT model is built on the following 6 steps, which represent a logical order, however, they should be applied in a flexible way, adapted to the coaching purpose.
The SURF IT Coaching Model
S – Situational Awareness
The first step is to help the client increase their awareness of the situation. Exploring questions, like:
- What is going on? What do you experience right now?
- What has changed? What makes the current situation challenging for you?
- Where are you in the transition process?
- What is within your control and what is beyond?
- What is your vision? What is that ideal state you would like to achieve? What should happen to make you feel accomplished? What is getting in the way?
U – Underlying assumptions and beliefs
This section is aiming to explore the assumptions and beliefs of the client. It might be that some assumptions are not adequate anymore in their new environment, or can be that others are limiting them to use their full potential to cope, or as well they might have some hidden conflicting commitments which paralyse them to make a decision or take an action.
- What are your assumptions about the world around you?
- What are your assumptions about yourself: your expectations, values, capabilities, opportunities, and obstacles?
- What are those assumptions that might not serve you anymore, or are invalid in this new environment?
- What assumptions are holding you back from adapting or seeing your reality from a different perspective?
R – Resources
In this phase, the goal is to help the client get connected to their internal or external resources, to make them feel more empowered and energized. By resources, I mean sources of empowerment and enablement, that might be helpful to cope successfully with the expatriation process. These are for example personal characteristics, competencies, perspectives, self-awareness, cultural awareness, flexibility, social orientation, collaborative conflict resolution, degree of ethnocentricity, openness to new experiences, resilience, and external support networks, like friends, family, successful coping routines, wellbeing regimes, or hobbies.
Amidst the transition, having access to some of the resources might not necessarily be available anymore (ie. friends and family, hobby groups, or other sources of recreation left behind), or might need an extra effort to make them available. Therefore, identifying the resources and becoming more intentional about them might be an important contributor to coping.
- What internal resources can you rely on?
- What external resources can support you?
- What are those self-care routines or recreational resources that help you feel well and energized?
F – Forward steps
This phase is focusing on facilitating action planning, to ensure that the learnings are translated into actionable steps.
- What are you doing to do to get closer to your vision?
- What is the next step you would like to put into practice?
I – Iterate
It is helpful to keep in mind that the expatriation process stretches over several months, consisting of several waves of challenges, with tiny wins and setbacks on the way. It might be helpful to think about it as a journey with continuous learning and adjusting, where iteration is key to enable experimenting.
- What did you learn from trying out something new?
- How would you like to tweak it?
T – Time to enjoy the ride
As the person progresses with adaptation and the development of new coping strategies, there are a lot of tiny wins to celebrate already from the beginning. Discovering joy during the process can be an energizing power source that can make the transition more fun.
- What tiny wins can you celebrate?
- What additional resources did you discover on the way?
- What strengths and capabilities did you discover about this new version of yourself?
- How has this experience helped you to grow as a person?
- What’s the most significant change you noticed in how you approach challenges?
- How can you ensure to grow and adapt beyond this coaching relationship?
The SURF IT model can be used to support people going through an expatriation process. This might include for example professionals taking part in a foreign assignment that lasts more than 6 months; family members of professionals in mobility programs; people who move to another country for family reunion purposes, often leaving behind their jobs, or people who relocate to another country without a job opportunity with the intention to establish themselves there for a longer period. The model can be used – with some adjustments – equally in a 1:1 coaching process or in a group setting as well.