S2 EP007 | Joyride With Expatriates – UK Expat’s Perspectives About China 

[00:00:00] INTRODUCTION

[00:00:00]

[00:00:05] Taty Fittipaldi: Hello and welcome to The Leadership Nest podcast. This is season two of the global leadership podcast that combines stories, knowledge and science to soar the leadership in you. I’m your host Taty Fittipaldi. During this season, we invited 20 different expatriates from around the world to share their stories, their learning journeys, and their tips to make you a better leader and an inspired person. You can also watch the live interviews on our YouTube channel! Search for coaching expatriates channel, then select the playlist called joyride with expatriates.

[00:00:43] Taty Fittipaldi: In today’s episode, we will talk with Adrian Leighton, a marketing strategist who lived abroad in China for some years and originally comes from the UK. Here is his story.

[00:00:57] JOYRIDE WITH AN EXPATRIATE

(This section’s transcript was AI-generated and may contain errors)

[00:00:57] Taty Fittipaldi: So, Adrian, thank [00:01:00] you so much for joining our show today. Thank you.

[00:01:03] Adrian Leighton: Hi, Taty. Well, thanks for, thanks for having me. I’m really happy to be here.

[00:01:06] Taty Fittipaldi: I’m happy, too. I’m happy, too. So, how about we start by you telling us where did you come from? What is your original country? And what did you do before you moved, first moved to China?

[00:01:20] Adrian Leighton: Well, I’m English. Uh, my original country is England. Uh, I’m back here now. Uh, I was, uh, born in the West Midlands and actually I’m back in my hometown, so I really have gone back to the very beginning. Uh, the West Midlands is for anybody wondering. It’s near Birmingham, which is the second city of England and, and the uk.

[00:01:43] Adrian Leighton: I started off. as a salesman after I’d finished university. So this was probably around the age of 22 and I went into sales. I was a trained salesman. I’ve got qualifications somewhere, certifications for sales. And I did that for a couple of years. [00:02:00] And um, I think that sales was quite a difficult career to go into because as you may know, it requires a lot of Of effort, it requires a lot of discipline and, you know, if you don’t sell, you don’t really earn.

[00:02:13] Adrian Leighton: And so I think from a very young age, I, I learned some good skills with sales, but as you’ve mentioned, I went to China and I was still pretty young when I went to China. So sales wasn’t in, I don’t think it was my destiny. And that was one of the driving forces behind me actually, uh, leaving, uh, England to, to go out across the world.

[00:02:33] Taty Fittipaldi: Wow, that’s fabulous. You mentioned that when you moved to China, you were pretty young. So, so what drove you to move to China?

[00:02:43] Adrian Leighton: Well, when we spoke before I, I mentioned this and it’s always difficult for me to answer this question because, um, looking back at 25 year old me and, You know, speaking to you now and I’m sort of knocking on 40, it’s, it’s really hard to sort of think back and think, well, what was my state of [00:03:00] mind when I was 25?

[00:03:01] Adrian Leighton: And I decided to sort of just give everything up and move to China with, with nothing. I just had a suitcase with some clothes. Like I was really not prepared. Um, I think I wanted adventure. I think I wanted to really. do something different before I’d gotten too old and settled down and, and sort of did the same thing as everyone else does.

[00:03:21] Adrian Leighton: And why China is a really difficult, um, question as well, because I guess I could have gone anywhere, but when I thought about China, because I’d been on a family holiday to China, actually in the late nineties, so I think it was about 1997. So maybe I was kind of fairly ahead of the game when it came to visiting China going in the nineties, it was It was very, very different in the nineties to how it was when I went, um, later on and, and indeed it is today.

[00:03:51] Adrian Leighton: And, and I think I’ve got something in my mind about China. I think it was, I think it had eaten at me and I’d kind of got really interested in China and Chinese culture and I kind of got the [00:04:00] bugs. So that’s why I thought. Right. I’m going to go and I’m going to go to China.

[00:04:04] Taty Fittipaldi: So, you arrived there, probably didn’t have a lot of expectations because of the things you just mentioned. So what was the biggest challenge you faced when you arrived there?

[00:04:17] Adrian Leighton: Honestly, I think, I think like everything was a huge challenge. I’m not going to lie. Although as, as we discuss this, you’ll discover that my feelings about China are, um, Very positive. And, and I’ve got a lot of love for China, but I must admit in the early days of being in China, I didn’t have a lot of love for China and I found it extremely difficult.

[00:04:39] Adrian Leighton: I think the language, the culture, the hunger, because it was so hard to even sort of buy food and to, and to, to, to eat properly, um, with having food. you know, zero knowledge of what, what things were and, and how to buy things. And, and honestly, not a lot of money [00:05:00] either, um, at first. Um, so I think. I think kind of the culture shock of going from a Western culture to something which is completely outlandish compared to the West, even now really.

[00:05:18] Adrian Leighton: Um, I’m used to China, but I mean, most Western people are like, Whoa, China, that’s like the moon. Um, it was just a huge, huge, um, huge leap to make to actually, you know, start to settle down in China and to feel more at ease of being there. And I mean, this is a journey that probably took a good couple of years before I’d even, probably even began to like being in China, but I’m very, I said, no, I’m here now.

[00:05:45] Adrian Leighton: I’m going to see it through. And, uh, and in the end it was, it was probably the experience of my life.

[00:05:51] Taty Fittipaldi: Absolutely. And, and could you give us a, like a one or two examples of this cultural shock that you mentioned?

[00:05:58] Adrian Leighton: Uh, the language [00:06:00] and inability to read anything, inability to communicate. I mean, how can you do anything when you can’t communicate?

[00:06:05] Adrian Leighton: It’s really, really difficult.

[00:06:06] Taty Fittipaldi: And understand what’s written, right?

[00:06:08] Adrian Leighton: Exactly. Exactly. I mean, look, in fairness, in fairness to China, a lot of their road signs have an English version. They have like the pinyin, the pinyin version is written, but it, but still, if you don’t know what that is, it is. It is still difficult.

[00:06:22] Adrian Leighton: So I think communication barrier was massive because it was so hard to do everything. I could see what I wanted to do, but I just couldn’t do it.

[00:06:32] Taty Fittipaldi: And how did you manage? Did you get a translator or did you get some friends to help you? What, how do you manage?

[00:06:39] Adrian Leighton: Yeah, I think initially making some friends, making, um, expat friends certainly was probably the fastest thing that I did, but, um, which, which is human nature, I think, but also Chinese friends.

[00:06:51] Adrian Leighton: I remember I managed to join a gym, which I was really, really pleased about. Um, It was not a very busy gym and the gym instructors were all [00:07:00] Chinese and a couple of them spoke a little bit of English and actually looking back now, they, they kind of really helped me because they did teach me little bits in Chinese that, that now I think back and I’m like, wow, that’s so basic.

[00:07:12] Adrian Leighton: It’s, but, but actually it was very, very valuable. So yeah, I think, I think making some friends and, and putting yourself out there was, was a really important way to sort of jump that hurdle and, and this will kind of go on. Into, you know, um, I’ll go into this a little bit later on, but changing your mindset and becoming more open and becoming more open to making friends and meeting new people.

[00:07:38] Adrian Leighton: I mean, without doing that, and sometimes it’s, you know, put me out of my comfort zone, but without doing that, I would have been finished. It would have just been so hard because I just don’t think you can do the expat thing. On your own. It’s just not, it’s not that kind of, it’s not that kind of lifestyle.

[00:07:53] Taty Fittipaldi: Absolutely. Like, yeah, you have to be willing to connect because otherwise it’s too difficult. And [00:08:00] you mentioned to me offline that actually what was really challenging, and I was fascinated, I’m super super curious to listen to what you have to say, you mentioned your repatriation was really challenging. So, for the viewers who don’t know what repatriation is, is when you lived in another country and then you come back to your original country. So Adrian, tell us how was your experience?

[00:08:27] Adrian Leighton: Yeah. I mean, I was in China for quite a long time, almost a decade. And, um, it, it didn’t really hit home how long that was until I actually went back to England. And then when I went back to England, China changes a lot faster than the West, in my opinion, After a decade, still, there was huge changes in England.

[00:08:50] Adrian Leighton: Um, the way things are, my friends, a lot of them have moved away. Maybe they’ve got children and, uh, and their lives have changed very, very differently. [00:09:00] And I didn’t naively expect everything to be the same, but it was so very different. And, and again, I speak about that alone, that feeling of being alone.

[00:09:08] Adrian Leighton: Um, I kind of went through that upon coming back to England. Of course, I could communicate. Of course, I could walk down the street and people wouldn’t really notice me. You know, in China, sometimes you might get attention for being a foreigner, maybe less so these days in the big cities for sure. But, but still, but in England, I’m just walking around.

[00:09:26] Adrian Leighton: I’m an English guy. Nobody cares. That’s fine. But just sort of reintegrate into society and being so alone, having very little support other than a few of my immediate family made it very, very challenging as well. And I must mention my wife at the same time because my wife’s Chinese. We were married for quite a number of years in China before I actually came back to the UK.

[00:09:47] Adrian Leighton: But because of the, um, the immigration in the UK, the way that we had to do it was that I had to come back first on my own. So, um, Not only was it kind of difficult to reintegrate into British society, because I [00:10:00] didn’t really know what being British was anymore. Um, I was also kind of on my own away from my wife, which made it sort of doubly hard.

[00:10:08] Adrian Leighton: I just think, I just think the kind of feeling of, of having to do stuff alone, like having to go and plug yourself back into the matrix of being in England, you know, renting somewhere to live or buying a house, uh, you know, getting, getting all of your internet set up, your phone, all of these things, which were completely alien to me by, by then.

[00:10:30] Adrian Leighton: And of course I was able to manage, but it was, it just was really, really hard. Um, just, and yes, I think the, the feeling of being alone and, and a very little support, that’s what sort of got me. And, and in the same way, as I said, it took, you know, a couple of years to integrate into. China. I think it probably took me a good year or more to really feel kind of back at home, at home.

[00:10:51] Taty Fittipaldi: That’s interesting because usually, I think most expatriates, they don’t think how difficult it could be to actually get back. They only [00:11:00] think about how difficult it was when they first were expatriated. So it’s interesting to see the other side of the coin too. That’s interesting. Quite interesting. And no wonder you had this feeling of loneliness, leaving your wife behind for, for a while until things worked out. It must have been really hard. So I actually congratulate you for going through this, everything and managing. So, so good job. Good job there!

[00:11:24] Adrian Leighton: We got there in the end. We got there in the end, but yeah, I mean, I’m sort of four years into being back in the UK now and. It’s really, really, it’s fine. It’s not to say that I don’t miss China. Actually, I miss it an awful lot. But, um, I think myself and my wife, uh, are both integrated. And, and it took, it took her some time to sort of feel at home as well.

[00:11:46] Adrian Leighton: Maybe. Maybe kind of similar to my feeling when I was first in, in China, except she can speak really good English. So she was always able to communicate. And I think, I think the UK is kind of a more, uh, more [00:12:00] cosmopolitan society. So I don’t really get the feeling that people here sort of. see her and say, Oh, she’s Chinese.

[00:12:06] Adrian Leighton: They kind of just see her and think, Oh, that’s, that’s, that’s a person. So I think it’s maybe a little bit different. I guess you can find out from her at some point, but, um, but, but yeah, it’s four years in, we’re okay. But I think it’s, I think it’s the removal of the roots. You’ve got roots in your home country.

[00:12:24] Adrian Leighton: And then when you go abroad for so long, when you come back, you just can’t expect them all to still be there. I think I’ve kind of had to like put down new roots now.

[00:12:32] Taty Fittipaldi: Yeah, that’s a good analogy. That’s a great analogy. Actually, you grew some roots also when you were there, right? So now you have a combination actually of many things. You’re a different person.

[00:12:44] Adrian Leighton: Absolutely.

[00:12:45] Taty Fittipaldi: Yeah. So, and during all this time, so you said, well, 10 years is a lot of time, so you probably have learned a bunch of things. You created a lot of things. So you work now with social media, you mentioned help content creators [00:13:00] and businesses to grow and market their business in the internet.

[00:13:04] Taty Fittipaldi: So Having lived in China and, being brought up in the UK, how people engage and relate In these two different countries?

[00:13:16] Adrian Leighton: In terms of, uh, in terms of being online.

[00:13:20] Taty Fittipaldi: Yeah. In terms of relating to each other, how people in the Western world, you think, they relate to each other and how the Chinese people relate to each other. So, and more with a vision of content marketing.

[00:13:33] Adrian Leighton: Okay. Well, I think that in China, if you go, you’ll notice, and I suppose in every country now we see people on their phones a lot and you might think people are on their phones such a lot.

[00:13:45] Adrian Leighton: It can’t be possible that people somewhere else are using their phones more. I’m telling you now it’s possible because in China, people basically live on their phone. It’s sort of like 24 7. So I think that If you think about the way that things are [00:14:00] starting to be done, and I do think that the pandemic that unfortunately we’re going through has really sort of hastened along, um, a lot of the way that people are using technology for marketing or, or even getting together, you know, like what we’re doing at the moment.

[00:14:13] Adrian Leighton: Um, It’s advanced in a year, probably what would have taken three or four or five years to advance in the West. But in China, they were already there years ago. And I think that creating video, for example, is one thing which I think is massive in China. They even have schools where people go and learn to be sort of an online influence or where they have, they set up their, they set up their phone and they’re sort of judged and educated on how to advertise products and, and, or their business and, and, you know, The way that it’s so advanced and so mobile first is really, really, I think quite different to the West.

[00:14:51] Adrian Leighton: I think that the West is catching up, but it’s still way behind that. So I think, I think any, um, business wanting to go and do business in China is probably really [00:15:00] want going to want to invest in a very, very solid mobile strategy to make sure the video. is a big part of their mix. And of course, it’s got to be very relevant to the Chinese audience.

[00:15:12] Adrian Leighton: I think that different things attract the Chinese compared to a Western audience. And so you’ve got to have an understanding of Chinese culture and what, you know, the, the, the younger, probably, Generations in China who are spending a lot of the money on, on products these days, what they really want. So just, just having a strong product in the West, even if you’re a well established brand, for example, doesn’t mean you can just go and start selling it in China.

[00:15:38] Adrian Leighton: They may, and they have failed, uh, Doing that, you’ve really got to have a, a very, very, um, China savvy approach to it.

[00:15:46] Taty Fittipaldi: That’s interesting. So not only the technology, but you have to embed the cultural knowledge also in, in what, whatever you’re creating. That’s a very good tip. Yeah, that’s awesome.

[00:15:57] Taty Fittipaldi: And so you are an entrepreneur [00:16:00] yourself. You have a lot of knowledge from both countries, from both sides of the globe. So tell us a little bit, how do you manage yourself as an entrepreneur? How do you manage your time, your schedule? How do you manage to be so productive and efficient?

[00:16:17] Adrian Leighton: Well, first of all, I’d probably bring it back to my ancient history in sales, which I kind of mentioned at the top of the interview. So, I think being in sales kind of instilled a good work ethic into me. And when I get working, I really work. Um, so that’s definitely a positive, which I sort of never have left behind.

[00:16:38] Adrian Leighton: Being somebody that works from home, I think that, During the pandemic, a lot of people have had to really pivot and to make a big transition to homeworking. This by all accounts has affected productivity in certain industries. Uh, negatively for me, because I’ve been either semi office based or working from home for a number of years, that was never [00:17:00] an issue for me.

[00:17:00] Adrian Leighton: And I’ve really remained, um, as productive as I can be, which has been a good thing. I think you get used to managing your own time. I use project management software. Uh, Basecamp it’s called a lot of the time. And so I recommend anything like this because it allows collaborative working and, you know, real time messages when somebody does something or asks something of you or whatever.

[00:17:24] Adrian Leighton: So that’s a massive help. There’s a load of different options out there. Of course, online communication has gotten a lot easier in recent years with Zoom. Of course, Skype for old school people, Microsoft Teams, all of these sorts of applications really, really help to have meetings and, and, and, uh, So I think there’s a lot less traveling and things like that required now for, for a lot of people, but yeah, for me, for me personally, I think just managing the projects using software and, um, and.

[00:17:56] Adrian Leighton: Having a good relationship with the people that I’m working with and [00:18:00] getting an understanding of the people that I’m working with. I’ll often work with a web developer. I’ll often work with a graphic designer. I know these guys quite well, and we’re really, really used to working together. So we have quite a good rapport when something’s got to be done.

[00:18:13] Adrian Leighton: So all of the sort of gears start working in the right way and things can come out quite quickly. And that comes with time. I suppose it comes with a bit of luck. That you can work with people that you really are on the right wavelength with. That’s really helped me. So really getting to know how my colleagues are working and what they do is really, really helpful.

[00:18:35] Adrian Leighton: But yeah, other than that, I just think being quite, um, being quite regimented, maybe people that don’t work from home have a Uh, romantic view of it and think, ah, you know, working from home, it must be really relaxing. You can just sort of chill out and whatever. But, you know, when I sit down and work from home, I really work.

[00:18:54] Adrian Leighton: I don’t, I don’t mess around and, and, and I get a decent amount done. And then when I [00:19:00] feel that I’m done, then I can kick back and relax a little bit more. One of the benefits is if you are controlling your time, as long as you are doing what needs to be done, you do have more flexibility to spend more time with loved ones, to take care of chores that need doing and things like that.

[00:19:15] Adrian Leighton: So for me, I mean, I much rather work from home or at least have some time at home and some time in the office, perhaps than, than just to be stuck in an office all day, every day.

[00:19:25] Taty Fittipaldi: So, you mentioned some interesting things and even piggybacked on the pandemic thing about, working from home, you said things like, oh, you have to have the self discipline to be able to focus when you are from home, use a task manager if you can, so that you can keep things organized. You mentioned about connections, which was amazing because, Indeed, this people skill end up being important to get things more efficiently done.

[00:19:53] Taty Fittipaldi: So I, I thought that was a fabulous tip too. I’m super thankful for this tips. These are [00:20:00] great. This is very aligned with our next question that, when expatriates move to another country, they’re the foreigners, new people, nobody knows them, they don’t have a reputation yet.

[00:20:12] Taty Fittipaldi: So you get there, and basically you have to prove yourself, right, you have to prove yourself to potential employers. If you want to insert yourself in a community and so on. So what would be some tips, besides the ones that you already gave, that are interesting about the things that you learned in your journey, what are some of the tips for expatriates to help them prove themselves when they get in a new country?

[00:20:39] Adrian Leighton: Well, Other than some of the points I made earlier, I think, uh, I’d go with embrace the culture. That’s so important for me. I’ve had good and bad days with China. I’ve had a up and down relationship with China, I suppose. But overall, I would say my [00:21:00] experience has been positive. And one thing that always confuses me is, you know, um, and I’m sure it’s the same with any country, but.

[00:21:08] Adrian Leighton: I’ve, I know people that have been in China for some time or, uh, or have been a regular visitor at least. And still to this day, they, they don’t really seem to have a lot of interest in Chinese culture. Um, maybe when they were there, they never tried to integrate or now not being there, they don’t, they don’t really have, they don’t seem to have fond memories of China or say something positive about China and its culture.

[00:21:34] Adrian Leighton: And for me. Any country has good and bad points, but I think that if you’re going to go and live somewhere, you, you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth, and you’ve got to try to accept their culture and to sort of open your heart and to let it in and to, Be kind of, take yourself out of your Western mindset [00:22:00] or your English or American mindset or wherever you’re from, and try to sort of give a blank canvas and, and to be open to the way things are there.

[00:22:08] Adrian Leighton: Some things may be better than your country, some things may not be better, and that’s fine. But if you’re not open to it, you’ll kind of always be closed off and I think that doesn’t help you then to integrate and to sort of build those friendships and those relationships, which are really going to help you just to not lose your mind when you’re there.

[00:22:26] Adrian Leighton: And so I think that that’s really important. And I’m not saying that I went to China and I was instantly Mr. China and immediately. Opened up to it and everything. It took me some years before I really sort of embraced it. But honestly, now when I go back to China, I prefer to do sort of Chinese stuff than to go to the bar with my expat friends or whatever.

[00:22:48] Adrian Leighton: There’s always time for that. And that’s great. But, um, you know, I really enjoy going back for spring festival, going to visit my wife’s family and, uh, you know, have the traditional foods at the time of year and stuff like [00:23:00] this. And a lot of expats that I just don’t think they would be interested in this.

[00:23:04] Adrian Leighton: And. For, for me, I just don’t think that helps you to integrate. I think another, another point is try to learn some of the language. I spoke about the inability to communicate before, and I was woefully underprepared to go to China. A lot of people go to China and they’ve already studied Chinese. They’ve taken some classes.

[00:23:22] Adrian Leighton: Maybe they did it at university. Great. And if you did do that. You’re one step ahead of me because I went and I was not prepared at all. And I had zero Chinese ability and I was, it was just a train wreck at first. But, uh, but over time I learned some Chinese and I’m not going to say my Chinese is amazing now, but what I think it would be fair to say is that if I went to China, if you sort of parachuted me in now.

[00:23:48] Adrian Leighton: I could sort of land on the ground and start speaking to people and kind of, I wouldn’t starve to death and I’d be okay to sort of do what I needed to do. So, Maybe I’ve just done the bare minimum. I [00:24:00] don’t know. But, uh, but I would definitely recommend try to make a bit of an effort with the language. And again, I would say, you know, I’ve definitely met expats in China who never learned like any Chinese and maybe you can exist.

[00:24:13] Adrian Leighton: But I think it’s not so conducive to settling in, but not only settling in, I think having like a positive China experience. You know, do you want to go and live in a country for 10 years, 20 years and not integrate and yeah, you might make a living and you’re okay and you’re happy and you’re healthy, but you sort of when you leave that country, you just leave it behind and it just doesn’t really have an impact on your life.

[00:24:37] Adrian Leighton: That’s not the life I want to live because I feel really sort of privileged to have been able to spend such a long time in, in China and to learn. About, you know, all the wonderful and weird things that they do and whatever. And it’s just been great. So I think, I think, um, language as well, really, really important.

[00:24:55] Adrian Leighton: And I think just, yeah, have an open heart, be open to the food, be [00:25:00] open to the culture, be open to the people, um, really open yourself up. And I mean, You know what they say about the British, British people are quite reserved. And I guess I am quite, maybe I’m becoming more of a reserve now. I’m sort of in reverse, um, but, but, uh, now to sort of reintegrate in English society, but being in China, being reserved, it’s just not going to get you anywhere.

[00:25:23] Adrian Leighton: You’ve got to sort of, you’ve got to get out there and take yourself out of your comfort zone and make new friends, whether they’re from, Ecuador or China or, or Nigeria or wherever. And, you know, you just got to do that. And, and I think that takes some sort of mental effort as well. So I think all of these things I would say are absolutely worth doing.

[00:25:44] Taty Fittipaldi: And I think the more you start to get exposed to things, and as you said, being open minded and curious to, to the differences and understanding the culture, and the more you are exposed to things. Then the appreciation starts to build, I think. so [00:26:00] that’s why sometimes, you know, expatriates, when they first arrived, they, they didn’t have any appreciation, but in the end they say, Oh, I love that country, et cetera.

[00:26:09] Taty Fittipaldi: I think it’s because, you know, bit by bit, if you make the effort, as you said, if you make the effort to try to integrate, to try to understand the culture, et cetera, you end up appreciating you because it’s human nature. We are able to see good things in, in everything, you know? So, so, yeah.

[00:26:27] Adrian Leighton: Hundred percent. That’s a hundred percent.

[00:26:28] Taty Fittipaldi: That’s fabulous. So, Adrian, you mentioned that you were super under prepared when you went to China, so imagine someone who is trying to prepare themselves to move to another country, either, China or anywhere else in the world.

[00:26:45] Taty Fittipaldi: So, thinking in hindside, what advice would you give to these people so that they could prepare better before moving?

[00:26:53] Adrian Leighton: Yeah, well, uh, I suppose sort of continuing on from what I was just saying about the language. [00:27:00] If the language is going to be an issue, so if you’re going somewhere where either the language is completely different to English, like in China, or maybe the level of understanding of English is going to be quite low, I would definitely recommend trying to, Prepare by learning some of the language.

[00:27:17] Adrian Leighton: I think the culture is that’s going to come in time. So I don’t think necessarily knowing about, you know, festivals and things is necessarily a must. But I would say, try to be kind of prepared to be able to communicate a little bit. To be able to, you know, order food, to, to be able to go to the bank or whatever, all of these things, take a taxi, you know, all of these things are really going to help you if you just go without any of this.

[00:27:42] Adrian Leighton: I think it’s, it’s really, really hard as a, as a sort of perspective. prospective expat. If you’re going to go to a country, maybe there are some sort of groups or, or, you know, some sort of expat communities online that you could potentially join and get to know people a little bit before you [00:28:00] arrive. Uh, I didn’t do this myself.

[00:28:03] Adrian Leighton: Which won’t surprise you because I did nothing and I just turned up in China. Um, so I’m not exactly practicing what I preach, but I imagine, especially these days on social media, Instagram, whatever, there’s going to be opportunities to do that. So I definitely think doing something like that is, is just start to try and start building those bridges perhaps.

[00:28:21] Adrian Leighton: Uh, and it’s really, really going to help.

[00:28:24] Taty Fittipaldi: That’s very curious, many of our interviews, interviewees, they mentioned how the language is important. And some people go crazy and they think, they have to study like, five years before they move or something like that.

[00:28:39] Taty Fittipaldi: From your perspective, what exactly do you think, a person in terms of learning a language, it would be enough, so that they can say, okay, I have the bare minimum. I’m I’m, I’m good to go.

[00:28:50] Adrian Leighton: Um, for China. I just, I don’t think you need to have a degree in Chinese. I don’t think you need to study the language for five [00:29:00] years before you go.

[00:29:01] Adrian Leighton: That’s not going to be necessary. If you go into a big city in China. Especially now, and I went in 2007, maybe, uh, maybe then it was less so, but now, honestly, the level of English that you’re going to see, sort of like the subway map, the, the road signs, signs, signage everywhere. There’s a lot of English.

[00:29:24] Adrian Leighton: Probably in terms of being able to read what’s going on, you’re going to be all right. But in terms of communication, it’s a lot of people do probably speak some English in China, but they’re very shy to just start speaking English. So learning some Chinese is your best bet. But I would say Being able to communicate with the basics is really going to help.

[00:29:43] Adrian Leighton: So can you talk about money? Can you say prices? Can you say that you want to buy something? Can you tell a taxi where you want to go? Can you order food? Um, I’d say this sort of basic vocabulary, if you’ve got that [00:30:00] down. You’re going to be in a lot better situation than I was when I first went to China.

[00:30:05] Adrian Leighton: So the Chinese have, um, uh, educational standard for foreigners when they’re learning Chinese, which is called HSK. And there’s different levels of HSK, one, two, three, and it goes up from there. You don’t need the most advanced one. I would say if, if you are sort of competent to HSK one level and a lot of the apps that you get on your smartphone, a lot of them are free.

[00:30:27] Adrian Leighton: They will actually. teach all of the sentences and vocabulary and grammar needed to be at that sort of standard. If you were able to use a lot of the Chinese to the HSK1 level, I would say that you are going to be in really good shape as a new expat to China.

[00:30:45] Taty Fittipaldi: Awesome tip. I, I didn’t know about that.

[00:30:47] Taty Fittipaldi: That’s an awesome tip. And indeed, there are many free apps out there that are very good. Not only for learning Chinese, but they teach all sorts of languages, you know, Japanese, Spanish, and so many [00:31:00] different languages. So that’s, that’s a very. That’s a very good tip.

[00:31:04] Taty Fittipaldi: So we’re almost at the end of our interview and now it comes the time for a card reading session. Are you interested in a reading? Let me, so, so for those who are here for the first time, let me tell you about our card. We developed a card called Locus of Control, and basically it’s a card to help you exercise mind resilience.

[00:31:30] Taty Fittipaldi: And what I am proposing to our interviews here in joyride with expatriate is that you know they read one of the cards I select a random card for them, and they read the card, and they tell anything that comes to their mind. So let me share the screen with you, Adrian, to show you the card.

[00:31:53] Taty Fittipaldi: So, um, if you could read the card and then you can tell me anything that comes [00:32:00] to your mind.

[00:32:01] Adrian Leighton: Okay, the card is, uh, titled Control. I decide what happens in my life. I am in control of my life. Hurdles are easily transformed into growth opportunities and innovative accomplishments through my actions. So yeah, control. I mean, I suppose that’s quite a good one for me. I don’t know. Uh, you can confirm with my wife, but I would probably describe myself as a bit of a control freak.

[00:32:26] Adrian Leighton: So, um, yeah, it, it kind of, it does, it does, it does resonate with me. When it comes to. Control, if I can, if I can, um, if I can relate back to with the concept of control to my life in China, if I may, I think when I was first in China, I was a lot younger and I was just kind of being carried along on the waves of being a young expat and not really knowing what was going on and, and having fun and sort of being [00:33:00] carefree and having sort of uprooted myself from England, being in a country with no roots, no expectations.

[00:33:06] Adrian Leighton: Few expectations from Chinese people, you know, and, and whatever. And I do think there was a lot of lack of control and it was only once I’d started to seriously integrate into Chinese society. And once I was married for sure I did. Um, and once I sort of started to take my work as a marketer more seriously, that I started to feel that I was having a lot more.

[00:33:30] Adrian Leighton: Uh, control on my life and my career. Uh, and, and, and yeah, I think the putting down of roots in China gave me an anchor to make me feel more control. And certainly now here in England as well, where I’m with my wife and, you know, we are putting down roots here. I feel more in control yet still. I think transitioning from being employed to self employed, I think initially my confidence probably took a knock, [00:34:00] but.

[00:34:01] Adrian Leighton: Now, having spent more time being completely in charge of myself and in control of what I do and how I do it. Actually, I’d say I feel kind of more confident than ever. So I think the control has, has really come back. And I went from being in a situation in China where I was kind of, very loose and having little control of my life, like a sort of little boat bobbing on the, on, on a big ocean to now being somebody who’s quite focused, uh, the Chinese experience and the people that I’ve met in China, whether they’re clients and, You know, um, who have a great relationship with, or people that I work with, who I’ve built up also a good relationship with, has really allowed me to sort of put down the roots that I have today and to operate as somebody who is, you know, doing basically my own business.

[00:34:55] Adrian Leighton: And to feel that I have gained more of an opportunity than I ever [00:35:00] had before. And so with that comes sort of more of a measure of control. I don’t know. Does that make any sense?

[00:35:06] Taty Fittipaldi: Yeah, it does. And I think it’s, quite interesting the comment that you made, the correlation that you made between, you know, control and confidence. So, do you want to talk a little bit about that? How do you think one impacts the, the other?

[00:35:18] Adrian Leighton: Well, I think confidence probably impacts everything.

[00:35:22] Adrian Leighton: I am, I think I’m naturally quite a stoic person. I will get on with things, even if it’s difficult, I’ll try and do it. And I’ll just sort of do it. I might grumble a bit. Maybe that’s just a British thing, but, um, but I’ll, I’ll get on with things. I’m not sure I would always describe myself as a very confident person, but that in itself maybe is a bit of a, it’s sort of a, it’s a bit of a trap because Maybe it’s kind of a human nature to, to doubt oneself and, and, uh, and, and I think when you start to accept, you know, Hey, do you know what, I am in control things.

[00:35:59] Adrian Leighton: I’m [00:36:00] doing the best that I can and what I’m doing is good enough. And, and, uh, You know, I’ve got the power to try hard and to, to try and learn and to do better things. That’s when you start to feel certainly in my, my case, uh, more confident and, uh, ease with the fact that I can be confident in what I’m doing.

[00:36:22] Adrian Leighton: I, I have improved my, my situation. I have learned. I’ve, I have built up good relationships with people that weren’t there before. And so with that comes more confidence. So I don’t always feel super confident, believe me, but, um, but I think that, uh, my confidence has improved as an individual, certainly.

[00:36:43] Adrian Leighton: And, and, and that’s, that’s definitely hand in hand with, with the control that I feel on what I’m doing.

[00:36:49] Taty Fittipaldi: That’s very interesting. It’s really amazing. So you connected three things that are really amazing. And which is, confidence, control, and you also mentioned [00:37:00] growth. How you learned throughout your journey and the things and the connections you make, it helps you grow.

[00:37:05] Taty Fittipaldi: It’s helps you get that confidence and then helps you feel also in control .And it’s it seems to be like a feedback: control feeds confidence and confidence feeds control. It’s such an interesting take. That’s interesting take.

[00:37:21] Adrian Leighton: Oh absolutely i think i i just think everything is so so interdependent and, you know, it’s, it’s almost like they say there’s the triangle for fire.

[00:37:32] Adrian Leighton: You’ve got to have, you know, you’ve got to have heat, oxygen and fuel or whatever. And, and if you, if you start to feel like something’s lacking, then other things will start to fall down as well. And my wife is a, is a coach, perhaps in some ways, similar to yourself. And. Although I’m not a coach and I’m not as sort of plugged into that world as she is, I think her influence on me has been good as well.

[00:37:58] Adrian Leighton: I think that, you [00:38:00] know, the willingness to be open to meditation and to trying to understand how the mind works and to practice things like mindfulness and, and, you know, gratitude and whatever. Um, I think that these things have definitely helped me, um, to. in the respect of what we were talking about as well.

[00:38:20] Adrian Leighton: So, you know, as well as trying hard in your work and trying to have a good relationship with whoever you’re working with or working for, all of this is fine, but you’ve got to have control over your mind as well. And I know this has kind of gone far away from talking about my time in China, but you know, as, as, as an individual, I just think that, um, the, the, the, the I like to go to the gym.

[00:38:45] Adrian Leighton: I like to stay fit, but you’ve got to consider the fitness of your mind as well. And I think this is something that perhaps a lot of people, maybe they don’t really do much work on, or maybe they’re not really aware of the impact of that.

[00:38:59] Taty Fittipaldi: True. [00:39:00] That’s true. And that’s something that I think it’s important to bring, even though, you know, we, we might have gone out of the tangent and then, started to talk about the mind fitness. I think it’s important to bring awareness to people about this. It’s an important topic, so I appreciate you for, for bringing that up. And I appreciate you for being here. So thank you so much for being here, for sharing your experiences, sharing the learning that you had. it’s important for other people to hear what expatriates have gone through and they can also learn through, you know, other people’s experiences. So thank you so much for everything.

[00:39:39] Adrian Leighton: No problem. I’m always happy to speak about China. It’s a place that’s very, very close to my heart. I mean, I would 100 percent recommend it to anybody, even if it’s just for a holiday.

[00:39:50] Adrian Leighton: I think, you know, we hear some negative things about China in the news and, and, and online and whatever, but honestly, it’s such a vast place [00:40:00] with so many things going on. I just wholeheartedly recommend, even if it’s just for a holiday, you know, you got to go and check it out. It’s just an amazing place.

[00:40:08] Taty Fittipaldi: Yeah, absolutely. And I bet, people who are open minded, they will want to explore, you know, new places and fabulous places like China, like, countries that we sometimes we think are too different from ours and we get scared, right? But if you are open minded, probably, people will take your advice.

[00:40:26] Adrian Leighton: Absolutely.

[00:40:28] Taty Fittipaldi: Thank you so much again, Adrian. Thank you very, very much.

[00:40:31] Adrian Leighton: No problem. Pleasure to be here.

[00:40:33]

[00:40:35] HIGHLIGHTS

[00:40:35] Taty Fittipaldi: This brings us to the end of this Leadership Nest episode. I trust you found value in acquiring insights that can elevate your decisions and performance in critical global leadership roles and situations. Stay tuned for a next joy ride with expatriates interview! We promise to surprise you with new stories and concepts to help you learn more about international relocation, [00:41:00] acclimation and cultural integrations.

[00:41:02] Taty Fittipaldi: Wherever you are in the globe, this is Taty Fittipaldi wishing you a beautiful day.

[00:41:07] Taty Fittipaldi: If you have any questions, you’d like us to answer in a future episode of this show, just go to speakpipe.com/tatyfittipaldi or click the link in the show notes, to leave us a brief audio message.

[00:41:25] Taty Fittipaldi: Make sure to visit us on our website www.theleadershipnest.com, where you can subscribe to our show anywhere podcasts are streamed, so you never miss the fun.

[00:41:38] Taty Fittipaldi: While there, if you find value in our show, you can also subscribe to our global leadership weekly newsletter from Coaching Expatriates®, where we deliver bite-sized lessons on global leadership, decision-making, and cultural competence to help you learn how to think, relate and strategize in a whole different way as a global [00:42:00] leader.

[00:42:00] Taty Fittipaldi: If you liked our show, you might want to check her online global executive leadership program. A nine week leadership development and learning system, that will help you lead internationally while making financially conscious and impactful business decisions.

[00:42:16] Taty Fittipaldi: Taty Fittipaldi is also available for private coaching. See the websites for more details at www.coachingexpatriates.com/executive-coaching.

[00:42:28] Taty Fittipaldi: Thanks for joining us this week on The Leadership Nest podcast. I trust you found value in acquiring insights that can elevate your performance in critical global leadership roles and situations.

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