Welcome to the 106th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. September’s focus is all about culture and cultural awareness. To kick off the month, we are starting with one of my favourite topics, cross-cultural understanding at work. To join me in doing this is Dr Nathalie van Meurs.
Listen to the episode
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About my guest Dr Nathalie van Meurs
Dr. Nathalie van Meurs (PhD University of Sussex), is an academic with a background in cross-cultural psychology. She is a senior lecturer, researcher and author of fiction in her spare time. She is also one of the co-founders, Directors and Secretary of the Dutch Academic Network in the UK, set up in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy after Brexit to foster the bilateral relationships with the Netherlands and Britain and help Dutch academics and researchers manage the other new normal.
Her teaching and research is focused on values, justice and cultural intelligence. Recently she published a 17-nation study about how formalisation can help employees collaborate and voice ideas in uncertain times and another on the role of cultural psychology in journalism.
She set up her own website, Identity Research, and a podcast Polaris about making academic research related to navigating this complex globalised world more accessible. Recently, she was on a panel of experts for ICF coaches on how to incorporate diversity and sustainability in their coaching work. She set up a group on LinkedIn, Mindfulness Meditation & Psychology, that has over a 1000 followers.
In today’s show about cross-cultural understanding at work
- About Dr Nathalie van Meurs and what she does. [02:40]
- Why she decided to become an expert in cross-cultural psychology. [04:01]
- What the term “culture” means to her. [11:32]
- Her thoughts on why workplaces struggle to identify their culture. [19:21]
- Her top 3 tips for looking after her mental health. [40:15]
Quotes on cross-cultural understanding at work
- Culture is a system of shared meaning.
- Organisational culture is different from national culture.
- People who work for organisations are not robots, they are social beings, and one of their identities is their nationality.
- I really care about mental health, because I see an increase in students who really struggle with it. It’s gone exponential among young people.
- I recently spoke to a GP, and she said that the number of people that come through her door with mental health issues is is huge.
Connect with my guest and learn more about about cross-cultural understanding at work
- Dr Nathalie van Meurs website
- Dr Nathalie van Meurs on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
- Podcast Resource: Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man with Emmanuel Acho
Work with me
Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC
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Remember to tune in next week, where I’ll bring you more insights on mental health and inclusion.