Dr Promise Monday

The Extra Work Nobody Sees There is a form of workplace labour that rarely appears in a job description. Some professionals spend significant cognitive energy calculating, before every interaction: Should I soften this? Will my accent change how this lands? Should I speak now, or wait? Will this level of warmth look unprofessional here? Is my directness going to be read as competence or aggression? This is the invisible work of cultural self-translation. And for those who do it constantly, it adds a layer of effort their colleagues may never notice. The person already doing this translation work is often managing performance in two registers simultaneously: their professional role, and the cultural interpretation of that role by others. It is tiring. And it is not evenly distributed. Culturally fluent leadership does not eliminate the need for adaptation. But it asks whether the team environment makes that translation work slightly less necessary — or whether the organisation relies on some people to carry all of it. Reflection: Who in your workplace is doing the most cultural self-translation? Is that work being recognised? → Read more on cultural fluency: https://thirdcultureleadership.com/articles #ThirdCultureLeadership #CulturalFluency #Leadership