EB-1A Green Card: An Alien of Extraordinary Ability

Will they trust you after you move?

The Existential Mistake Made When Immigrating

The Great Trauma We Never Expect, That Often Hits Us

You can't change other people, You Can Only Change Your Reaction to Other People  In this new Legacy program,  we cover probably one of the most important insights. It's based on the work Michael and I have been doing with clients worldwide at a senior level, and even at not-so-senior levels, and across cultures. It's a very important, great trauma—a sense of betrayal, pain, and hurt—that many clients are going to experience in the future, but they're not prepared for it. It's so common that we thought it was worth discussing. We cover: - A trauma that many clients are going to experience in the future but are not prepared for (0:30) - A big issue we see with clients (2:00) - Clients dealing with perceived injustice (3:15) - A normal developmental phase that American clients go through earlier in life that Indian and Chinese born clients may go through at around 35-40 years old (4:00) - An important phase clients who immigrated from India, China, and some other parts of the world go through. Once you see it in yourself, you can’t unsee it (6:00) - Dealing with (perceived) injustice (7:28) - One of the greatest tragedies in our culture (7:40)…

The immigrant discount

The immigrant discount As a management consultant, I once worked on a landmark study that became significant for the firm. I managed to turn around the study when it was running well behind schedule. I ended up playing a key role in a road show to raise funding to launch a financial services company in Eastern Europe. I met billionaires, government officials, and CEOs of major companies. In that study, we figured out that there was a segment of the population that was profitable to serve since they submitted fewer insurance claims. Our goal was to build an entire business around them. This study was so successful that I became good friends with the billionaire owner of the business and his wife. This study made my career. I even wrote up the work as an article that the firm sent to all our clients. When I moved to the USA and Canada, that successful study was painfully discounted in the eyes of recruiters and my employers. Since it was an African company exploring opportunities in Eastern Europe, people in Canada and the USA automatically assumed the study was not prestigious and they had nothing to learn from the insights. That is ironic, considering that…

Investment Planning for Immigrants

Investment Planning for Immigrants My friends often talk about their investment strategies. They have 401(k) and Roth IRAs, health savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and investment properties. I live in a very nice area, and my friends are well-educated business leaders who had successful parents who taught them well. They are wealthy people. Their parents often encouraged them to set up their investment accounts in their twenties, and they benefited from compounding growth over decades. Many have education savings and investment accounts to pay for their children’s education. Some have just one child. Yet, they often seem incredibly stressed about finances, investing, and retirement. They often tell me I am lucky not to have kids because it’s too expensive and tiring. As an immigrant, my financial obligations are far larger than that of my friends. And I do not have support. I have to do my investing and retirement planning to ensure I can support myself and my extended family. I am not just planning for my retirement. I am planning everyone's lives and their retirements as well. I am the backstop. Yet, I do not have anyone to bail me out if I even need support. What makes it hard is the limited influence one has…

Are Professional Immigrants Great Leaders?

As someone who immigrated 3 times in my life, I am part of a group that I call professional immigrants. Meaning, I am really good at navigating the steps needed to pick up my life and move to another country where I don't know anyone, and build a professional career and life there. I can also call myself a professional immigrant because I am considered to be highly skilled and highly educated. I worked at top consulting companies in the world, where I received accelerated promotions. I was a corporate finance director at a top-3 Canadian bank where I managed a portfolio of over 1 billion dollars and received an accelerated promotion and an award. Myself, Michael, and our incredible team run a very influential business that moves forward strategy thinking and management consulting profession around the world. Very few people can say that when they speak to competitors, they can see their books on the competitor's bookshelf and where a competitor is telling you how much your books or book helped them in their business. This happened to me multiple times. What makes professional immigrants exceptional leaders We are often highly trained and highly motivated, and highly educated professionals who leave…