Kyle Hegarty, Author of The Accidental Business Nomad at Leadership Nomad
Kyle Hegarty helps organizations grow globally. From start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Kyle empowers leaders and teams to find new ways to communicate and lead across our shrinking planet.
His sales training programs help clients increase business across regions, and his global communications programs help strengthen teams, build trust, and prepare next-gen leaders for tomorrow's threats and opportunities.
His first book, The Accidental Business Nomad: A Survival Guide for Working Across a Shrinking Planet is available worldwide. An unvarnished, story-driven, practical guide to working across cultures.
The book features real stories of companies going global and highlights the realities of doing business overseas in a post-globalization world. Each story gives fascinating insights and lessons into the cultural realities and unexpected surprises of modern globalization.
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Go away. That's my advice. Pick a part of the world that interests you and start finding work there.
Maybe that's doing things virtually in the short term, but make a plan to go away and get experience in a foreign market. I've never ever met anyone who has regretted studying or working overseas.
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Kyle Hegarty
The Accidental Business Nomad is for anyone working in a more global environment and who is looking to gain critical insights and communications skills needed for a shrinking world.
As Managing Director of TSL Marketing's Leadership Nomad group, Kyle Hegarty has deciphered the culture code of doing business in Asia and the fastest-growing markets.
Hegarty reports on his triumphs and failures, including tales where unexpected lessons abound. The result is a no-holds-barred, gritty, and unvarnished guide to doing business across cultures.
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your current career/role or areas of focus.
I help remote global teams communicate better with themselves and with their clients. I lead workshops, sales training programs and one-on-one coaching to help people overcome cross-cultural working challenges. And I just had my first book published on that very topic!
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
First and foremost is my wonderful family and the intense lego-building sessions with my two kids. In terms of hobbies, I train for and compete in half and full ironman distance triathlons. I find training for these races helps organize my thoughts, and it's where I come up with new business and writing ideas.
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
"There are truths on this side of the Pyrenees, which are falsehoods on the other." - Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662
What are you most proud of in your life?
Personally, I am most proud of my kids and my family. Professionally, I am most proud of the people I've hired and watched their careers grow.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
I'm a fairly stubborn and task-focused person, so I wish I had known that not everyone is like that!
Learning about different behaviour styles and the importance to adjust to those styles is something I wish I knew earlier. But better late than never!
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
I like Elon Musk's guts, swagger and vision. Some of his conclusions are bat-sh*t crazy, and I disagree with, but his ability to overcome huge odds is inspiring.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I have a pretty strong B.S. detector, and one thing I've noticed is that the companies who spend a lot of time and money telling the world about how strong their culture is are often in the most need of help.
I am always looking for companies who are doing the global expansion plan the right way, and I have yet to find a company that has cracked this code.
Some companies tell a good story, but I'm not interested in PR campaigns. What I've found is there are individuals within a number of organizations who have created really powerful teams, so I'm interested in studying what makes those people tick.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
A friend's father, who built his own business told me early in my career to read Parent Effectiveness Training, a book about talking to your kids. He said that if I could speak effectively to a five-year-old, I'd be successful when talking to CEOs. I always liked that advice!
What drives or motivates you each day in a work environment?
Magellan. It was precisely 500 years ago when he tried to circumnavigate the globe. He gets credited as the first person who did it, but in reality, he didn't come close. He was killed in the Philippines; only a few crew members made it all the way around.
Every day I think about how far we've come in terms of doing business around the globe, but I also think about how much further we have to go. We've got to communicate better and collaborate better. The problems the planet faces today don't care about borders nor should our solutions. I'm motivated by helping, in my own small way, to get people around the globe working better together.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
I think it will continue to fragment. This is good and bad. The good will be the thoughtful and effective networks that develop where groups will make each of their members better. The bad will be the networks that focus on outward blame and anger rather than constructive problem-solving.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
That's like asking what's your favourite poisonous snake you like to handle!
I'm the guy who has never been on Facebook although I think my team put a page up to promote the book. I do like Twitter, but it requires active management and effort to find thoughtful contributors.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
One of the big questions I ask in my book is "what does the ideal global team leader look like?" I wrote about Axel, who was based on a mentor of mine.
He gave me both tactical and strategic advice when it came to working across cultures. He also taught me how to be a great mentor to others.
How do you network? What is your preferred way to network?
Recently, I was talking to someone who made a quick comment about how her toddler wasn't sleeping well, and we started sharing parenting stories. This was supposed to be an introductory call to discuss a workshop, but we spent most of our time talking about how to get babies to sleep through the night!
It went from strangers talking to two people connecting, admitting vulnerability, and it's those moments of humanity where relationships get created. This year more than ever, we need to do more of that kind of networking.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
Go away. That's my advice. Pick a part of the world that interests you and start finding work there.
Maybe that's doing things virtually in the short term, but make a plan to go away and get experience in a foreign market. I've never ever met anyone who has regretted studying or working overseas.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I'm a sales and marketing guy, and in that world, the most common reason for failure is that people try short term bursts of ideas; whether it's a one-time campaign, or social selling approach or cold calling or name the tactic, people fail because they quit too soon.
If you are starting up, take your marketing plan and double it. Take your estimated sales cycle and double it. Take whatever effort you think is required and double it. I find many parallels to endurance race training.
If you think it's going to take three months to get in shape, consider slowing down the plan and stretching it to six months. There's less chance of injury, more time to adjust to unanticipated changes along the way, and it's more enjoyable.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
Success is a very personal concept, so I'd rather have people come up with their own definition. The lessons I'd like to share are jammed into my book. Start there.
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
Being able to learn new topics quickly. I'm not saying getting to mastery, but being able to understand new topics and be able to work with and communicate those ideas effectively.
I was a liberal arts graduate, and you had to walk into classes where you know nothing about and quickly be able to figure things out. I've started calling this Agile Learning, and I think it's more important now than ever.
Is there anything new that you are working on or involved in that you would like to share?
I published a book called The Accidental Business Nomad: A Survival Guide for Working Across A Shrinking Planet.
I'm enjoying spreading this message, finding people who are interested in failures and triumphs of growing businesses into overseas markets and how to communicate better with people who are different from you.