Third Culture President

I received the following email this morning from Ruth van Reken, author of the book Third Culture Kids and thought it was worth sharing.

In the Financial Times this a.m. there is an article calle “Handshake brokered by Obama saves day”

It is talking about the last minutes of talks between Mr. Sarkozy of France and Mr. Hu of China…

here’s what it says:

“According to the account, confirmed by non-US officials, Mr. Obama got the two leaders to agree that the G20 would “take note” of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development list of rogue offshore tax havens rather than “endorse” that list.
This allowed the Chinese to save face, since they do not belong to the 30-member Paris-based .OECD. And it allowed Mr. Sarkozy to claim back home that he had chalked up a blow against Anglo-Saxon capitalism.”

If we are looking for how a TCK childhood can influence the way that person operates in his or her adult life in their chosen career, it is this type of subtle of nuance that’s recognized adn dealt with can make all the difference…Obama’s experience in the non-Western world is clear here to me..that he helped find a way to not back others into a corner but recognize that there were factors beyond the details of the facts that were/are important in this type of relationship…..In fact, the article begins..

“Ultimately it boiled down to an Obama-brokered handshake between Hu Jintao and Nicolas Sarkozy, according to US officials…”

Just listening to his town hall meeting in France right now and agian, that tone change…that we don’t want to be “patrons but partners” and dealing with “both sides”..the feelings of US towards Europe and vice versa…to me it’s interesting to listen to HOW he says things, not only what he says…politics in and of themselves aside…