Reflections on Migration, Adaptation & Resilience
An immigrant professional carries his family, faith, and cultural roots with him as he presents, connects with colleagues, and builds relationships in new work settings.
Moving to a new country can change our relationship with things we once did without thinking. Introducing ourselves, asking a question, or understanding what a manager expects may suddenly require more attention. Familiar competence meets unfamiliar expectations.
There may also be less visible changes: missing the ease of being understood, reconsidering how we express ourselves, or wondering when a new place will begin to feel like home.
Cultural Intelligence (CQ®) assessments explore our capability to relate and work effectively across cultural differences. The CQ framework helps us understand how we engage with unfamiliar perspectives and adapt our approach in different cultural settings.
Hogan’s personality assessments explore characteristics that influence our behavior at work. The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI), in particular, offers insight into everyday tendencies that shape how others experience us as colleagues and leaders.
These distinct assessment tools offer complementary perspectives on migration, adaptation and resilience. CQ supports effectiveness across cultural differences, while Hogan deepens awareness of our workplace tendencies. Insights from each can help us recognize what we bring, understand a new environment, and identify opportunities to grow.
Learn the context while keeping your own perspective
In an unfamiliar workplace, it can be tempting to treat every difference as an instruction to change. If colleagues speak more assertively, perhaps we should too. If they avoid disagreement, perhaps we should keep our concerns to ourselves.
But understanding a norm and deciding how to respond are separate tasks.
CQ Knowledge encourages us to learn about cultural differences without assuming that everyone from a particular background behaves alike. CQ Strategy involves planning for those differences and checking our assumptions. These capabilities create room to investigate before drawing conclusions.
A colleague’s brief response, for example, could reflect time pressure, communication preferences, or the relationship itself. National culture is one possible influence among several. Asking a trusted colleague how decisions are usually discussed may reveal more than silently trying to decode every interaction.
This approach makes adaptation more deliberate. We can learn how to communicate effectively while deciding which practices fit our values and which expectations deserve a respectful question.
Understand what adjustment asks of you
Two people can enter the same environment and experience its demands differently. One may welcome frequent introductions but struggle with unclear procedures. Another may enjoy solving unfamiliar problems while finding constant social interaction exhausting.
Hogan’s HPI framework distinguishes tendencies related to social interaction, organization, and composure under pressure. These distinctions offer a useful starting point for considering which parts of a transition require the most effort from us.
The practical question becomes: What is taking the most energy, and what support would help?
Someone who values preparation might benefit from an agenda before a meeting. Someone who processes ideas through conversation might need a colleague with whom to think aloud. These are concrete ways to make participation more manageable.
It also helps to notice where we feel comfortable enough to stop monitoring ourselves. Relationships in which we can ask basic questions, acknowledge confusion, or share familiar humor can offer relief during a demanding transition. Building a life in a new place includes finding people with whom we can feel at ease.
Notice when familiar strengths become less effective
An approach that earned trust in one environment may have a different effect in another. Waiting for a manager’s direction might once have communicated respect, while a new team expects employees to act independently. Carefully reviewing every detail may have been essential in a previous role, while a new position requires more delegation.
These differences invite us to examine how our behavior serves the situation.
The Hogan Development Survey (HDS) explores tendencies that can disrupt relationships and effectiveness, particularly under increased strain. Helpful qualities can become counterproductive when overused: thoroughness can become excessive control, and willingness to support a supervisor can become difficulty expressing disagreement.
The connection to migration requires care. A behavior being unfamiliar to colleagues does not, by itself, make it a derailer. We need to consider cultural expectations, the demands of the work, and the behavior’s actual impact.
For reflection, we might ask: When I feel uncertain, do I rely more heavily on an approach that has worked before? Is it still helping?
Feedback from trusted colleagues can help us distinguish between an unfamiliar style and a pattern that needs attention. That gives us a clearer basis for deciding what to adjust.
Stay connected to what matters to you
Learning new ways of working can raise a deeper question: Which changes help me grow, and which leave me feeling disconnected from myself?
Hogan’s Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) explores the core motives, values, and interests that influence what we pursue and the environments we find rewarding. It offers another starting point for understanding why certain aspects of a transition feel energizing while others feel difficult to sustain.
Reflecting on those insights can help us make more intentional choices. Someone who values helping others might find meaning through mentoring or sharing knowledge. Someone who values connection might need to build relationships beyond the immediate demands of a job.
We can also find new ways to express an enduring value. Respect, for example, may be communicated through careful listening in one setting and thoughtful questions in another. The outward behavior changes while the intention remains recognizable to us.
Staying authentic involves understanding what matters enough to preserve, where we are willing to experiment, and which boundaries we need to communicate. That awareness can help us participate more fully without feeling that acceptance requires us to continually set ourselves aside.
Give progress a fair hearing
During migration and career change, the distance still to travel can dominate our attention. A delayed opportunity or difficult conversation may seem to outweigh months of learning.
A more balanced reflection makes room for evidence that is easy to overlook. Perhaps a process that once felt confusing is now familiar. Perhaps we asked for clarification sooner, made a useful connection, or recognized an expectation we previously missed.
Gratitude can become part of that reflection: an opportunity to notice help received, skills developed, and moments of connection. It can sit alongside disappointment and the desire for something better.
Hogan’s Adjustment scale concerns tendencies related to composure and self-criticism, among other characteristics. It offers a prompt for considering how we respond when something goes wrong. It does not determine the meaning of a difficult day or the value of someone’s migration journey.
For everyday reflection, we might ask: Am I evaluating this experience fairly, or allowing one setback to describe everything?
Writing down a small sign of progress can help us answer with something more concrete than the mood of the moment.
Let experience inform the next step
Unfamiliar expectations can make preparation feel endless. We may want complete confidence before initiating a conversation, attending an event, or offering an idea.
Yet some understanding becomes available only through participation.
CQ Action involves adapting behavior when a situation calls for it. Applied thoughtfully, this can mean trying a different way of asking a question, observing the response, and adjusting our approach.
A manageable step gives us something to learn from. We might ask one person about an unfamiliar process or contribute one point in a meeting. Afterward, we can consider what helped, what remained unclear, and what we would change next time.
The size of the step should fit its consequences. Some decisions require careful advice and preparation. Everyday opportunities to connect and contribute often allow more room to learn as we go.
Make adaptation a shared responsibility
These reflections also matter for employers. Newcomers should be able to ask how a workplace operates without having their competence questioned.
For leaders and managers of global teams, applying CQ begins with examining their own expectations. How should employees raise concerns? What does initiative look like? Which communication habits are necessary for the work, and which simply feel familiar?
Managers can explain how decisions are made, make expectations explicit, and offer more than one way to contribute. They can also ask team members how their experience might improve an existing practice.
When an employee appears hesitant, a useful conversation explores what would help them participate. Clearer information, an introduction, or time to prepare may make a meaningful difference.
Resilience deserves support. Workplaces help create that support when they take concerns seriously and allow employees’ experience to influence how work gets done.
Finding our footing takes time. Along the way, we can remain curious about our surroundings, recognize when familiar approaches need adjusting, and make choices that reflect what matters to us.
As you reflect on your own transition, what are you learning to do differently—and what helps you stay connected to who you are?
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Accentuate! offers CQ and Hogan assessments with coaching to help you understand your tendencies, navigate cultural differences, and make thoughtful choices about work and growth. For those leading or managing global team members, coaching can help you examine assumptions, understand different motivations and working styles, and adapt your leadership to support participation and contribution across cultures. Explore the possibilities at Get Started — Accentuate!
