Prague post offers an “unforgettable” experience

The first 6 years of my Allianz Trade career were spent working in commercial account management and sales. Things took an unexpected turn when I was asked to take over a one-year contract for the regional team. During that time, I commuted to London three days a week while my family stayed back in the Netherlands.

The next thing I knew, a commercial director position opened up in Central and Eastern Europe. I’m fortunate to have married someone who shares my passion for adventure so, together with my wife, we relocated our family to Prague in 2018.

While we faced challenges, and quickly became well-acquainted with Google Translate, the three years we spent in Prague were unforgettable. Being there during the COVID-19 pandemic meant we spent a lot of time outdoors exploring the incredible natural surroundings. Mountain biking through the hills and skiing in the winter were particular highlights.

Three years later, I got a call saying that a commercial director position had opened up in Benelux, a new location for Allianz. I started the role on a commuting basis, but in early 2022 we moved the whole family to Brussels.

Belgium is very different from the Netherlands; the culture is much more relationship-based and hierarchical. I’m slowly acclimatizing, but it’s not a one-way-street – the people here are getting used to me, too.

When we integrated the Belgian and Dutch offices, we asked the team to come up with all the stereotypes they could think of about each other’s culture. Not every stereotype is true, of course, but running these sessions confirmed that there are differences in how we behave. For example, Dutch people are known for being quite direct in our communication and dominant in meetings. Understanding these differences is essential to successful collaboration.

Thanks to working for an international organization, living in Prague, and now being based in a bilingual city, I’ve experienced my fair share of language-based difficulty. I’ve been in business meetings where I had no idea what was being discussed for parts of it. In those moments, you feel like an outsider. But I realized something: it’s okay. People are happy to see you show up and put in the effort.

I kind of learnt that from my kids. They don’t feel the same reluctance that adults do about “looking like a fool” – my children make friends wherever they go. Many times, I’ve watched them play happily with children who don’t understand a word they’re saying. Body language speaks volumes! Moving abroad and being put in these situations has helped me lose some of those inhibitions I gained when I grew up.