Leading When Everything Feels New

by Pinar Koyuncu Oktar

When you move to a new country, something shifts inside your leadership as well. I have done it twice and both times I felt the transformation immediately. The way I speak, connect, decide, and carry myself becomes new. I still know exactly who I am, yet the environment around me has changed so much that my familiar ways of leading no longer land in the same way. What happens is a soft reset that I never asked for but eventually grew grateful for.

This experience is not only emotional. It is supported by science. Research on cultural adaptation shows that when people relocate, the brain engages in what psychologists call cognitive flexibility, the ability to adjust mental frameworks as the environment changes. Studies from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology reveal that living abroad increases integrative complexity, which is the capacity to hold multiple perspectives at once.

These are the very skills that define modern leadership.

You know you carry experience and wisdom, but the context around you has shifted. And this gap between who you have been and where you now find yourself becomes a powerful observer. It shows you the parts of your leadership that were tied to comfort and familiarity, and the parts that truly belong to you, no matter the country.

Leading in a new environment requires a different kind of strength. It is no longer about control. It becomes about curiosity. It is not about proving what you know. It becomes about learning how things work in this new rhythm, this new culture, this new language. Cross cultural leadership studies highlight that leaders who practice active curiosity are far more successful because curiosity reduces bias and increases psychological safety for everyone involved.

• When you lead abroad, you begin to see what leadership looks like when titles and comfort fall away. Your presence matters more than your position. You realize that no one owes you credibility. You earn it again through listening, empathy, and consistency. Research from the Center for Creative Leadership shows that these three behaviours are the strongest predictors of trusted leadership in multicultural settings.

• You start leading with humility instead of hierarchy. You understand that you do not need to know everything. You only need to be open enough to learn. Leadership studies repeatedly show that humility strengthens team performance because it encourages collaboration and lowers defensiveness.

• You begin to lead through connection instead of control. Influence grows through trust. Authority becomes secondary. Studies from INSEAD and MIT show that relational trust is the main factor that determines whether leaders are followed in new environments, especially when the leader is an outsider.

Relocation becomes more than a personal transition. It becomes a professional awakening. It reveals how adaptable you are, how flexible your communication can be, and how much of your leadership is rooted in who you are rather than where you are.

So if you ever consider moving abroad and worry about how you will lead, remember this. You are not losing your leadership. You are refining it. Every fresh beginning stretches your empathy, expands your curiosity, and deepens your understanding of people. And this is exactly what modern leadership needs.

If you want me to explore more of this journey, just send me a message.

Let us discover it together.