On a recent visit to Berlin, intercultures expert Adrienne Rubatos dropped in to our coordination office and exchanged a few views on her experiences as a Romanian-born trainer working in Germany and Central and Eastern Europe with and for Germans and Central and Eastern Europeans.
Adrienne Rubatos
With the fall of communism 17 years ago, a Pandora’s Box of opportunities and challenges was opened up. According to Adrienne, at the time, Germans working in the region were perceived as both condescending and congenial, offering to help the locals to learn. The latter, in turn, were made to feel »less worthy« and expended enormous amounts of energy fighting burdensome stereotypes.
»Today, there is more of a balance. Western Europeans value their central and eastern European counterparts more, particularly the thoroughness of their education and training, realizing more and more that openness to other viewpoints has its rewards«, reports Adrienne. Collaborating is no longer a novelty, and as bidirectional movement from one multinational company to another increases, former feelings of exasperation and perceptions of existence on parallel planes are gradually disappearing. Where conflicts tended to be heated and acrimonious, they are now moderated by mutual appreciation.
Adrienne continues, »The presence of Central and Eastern European executives leading companies without western support is now commonplace; as elsewhere, it is the type of company, leadership style and experience that determine how successful enterprises are.« In concluding, she postulated that realistically, it would probably take at least another generation of interaction to fully surmount the deeply-rooted, reciprocal notions of otherness often present today.