Archives For intercultural teams

Working Across Borders: How Hard Can It Be?

February 5, 2015 — Leave a comment

In today’s competitive environment most of us work across borders of one kind or another, but for me it is at the core of what I do… who I am.

The reality is that we live in a global economy – with instantaneous communication, online connectivity, unlimited tools, and the ability to see and interact with people on the other side of the world. You have to pause and ask yourself – how hard can it be to interact successfully with supervisors, subordinates, suppliers, customers, and/or partners from around the world? As it turns out, a whole lot harder than it looks…

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From personal experience, I can tell you that helping people accelerate as effective leaders in a global economy is complex… and critically important. Continue Reading…

In alignment, Behavior, Business Results, Communication, Cross-cultural, Culture & Global Leadership Series, Executive Coaching, Global Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Multinational, Strategic Planning, Value Creation, Virtual Teams , , , , , ,
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You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide

February 22, 2014 — 2 Comments

Every organization is comprised of people with different worldviews. It is inescapable – recent statistics indicate upwards of 90% of business’ have a culturally diverse workforce. What does this mean for you as a leader? It means… You Can Run, But You Cannot Hide. It means… if you want to succeed, Cultural Integration should become a critical component of your business strategy.

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We all have different worldviews based on our various life experiences. In today’s business environment, bringing people from different backgrounds together and appreciating the diversity of viewpoints and perspectives in a cohesive way becomes very complex. Cultural Integration is really, in its simplest form, about bringing those diverse people together to leverage the unique strengths of the individual parts to create a stronger, more competitive whole.

So what can you do to build Cultural Integration into your organization?

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In alignment, Communication, Cross-cultural, Culture, Global Leadership, Leadership, Multinational, Planning, Potential, Strategy, Team Building, Value Creation, Vision , , , , , ,
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Intentionality: Cross-cultural Communications, Part Three

February 25, 2013 — 2 Comments

Did you know that an estimated 70% of international ventures fail due to poor cross-cultural interactions?  When individuals from different cultural backgrounds don’t understand each other, it inevitably leads to failed projects and suboptimal results.  Culture forms the way we think and act – across all spectrums – often causing members of our organizations to perceive reality very differently across boundaries and borders.

All organizations have the capacity to generate significant results… if they follow the four golden rules of cross-cultural communications. In order to mobilize the cross-cultural power in your organization, you need to invest in cultural integration from 4 critical angles: Continue Reading…

In alignment, Communication, Cross-cultural, Education, Global, International, Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Potential, Strategy, Team Building, Value Creation , , , , , , , , , ,
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Intentionality: Cross-cultural Communications, Part Two

February 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

While cultural misinterpretations can make for a good laugh amongst friends, the same mistake in a business setting can permanently damage your reputation with colleagues, employees… or clients.

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As the world becomes “smaller”, the need for strong cross-cultural skills continues to increase at an alarming pace. Whether you work in your home country with people from other cultures or you live in a culture other than your own, doing business with people having alternative worldviews is always a challenge.Technological advances in transportation and communication may make logistics easier, but the challenge of cross-cultural communication remains constant. As you consider how to work with people different from yourself, consider some basic tips that you may find helpful: Continue Reading…

In alignment, Communication, Cross-cultural, Global, Global Leadership, Leadership , , , , , , ,
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Intentionality: Cross-cultural Communications, Part One

February 11, 2013 — 3 Comments

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Communicating is probably this single most important thing we do – yet we often pay little attention to how we communicate. While basic communications are important, in the business world cross-cultural communications have become essential.  Even if you do not work across regions, it is highly likely that the person in the office next to you, or perhaps even your boss, is from a culture different from your own. Even though you may speak a common language, communication goes much deeper.  In the spirit of understanding that different cultures espouse different worldviews, here are just a few of the orientations that often differ and may help you gain some perspective as to why it is often difficult to communicate across boundaries & borders: Continue Reading…

In alignment, Communication, Cross-cultural, Global, International, Leadership, Multicultural Teams , , , , , , , , , ,
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Virtual Success: The Dark Side of Virtual Teams

June 19, 2012 — 4 Comments

Poor management, communications breakdowns, unsuitable or badly integrated team members, ill-equipped staff, personality clashes — there are many reasons why virtual teams fail. Not surprisingly, despite years of research on how to do virtual teams better (not to mention the development of great technological tools), virtual teams still fail at an alarming rate – varied research results suggest that failure rates for virtual teams may be as high as 70%.

While virtual teams create the opportunity to bring together the best and most appropriate individuals based on their expertise and skills, it is often the inability of these individuals to work together towards a common goal (in a virtual context) that results in failure. In order to perform well, virtual teams have to work harder and use distinct methodologies, processes and behaviors to build communication, trust and a sense of team cohesiveness. But what happens when they don’t? Usually… epic failure!

From my experience, here are a few of the key reasons virtual teams continue to fail in a bit more detail:

Continue Reading…

In Communication, Cross-cultural, Global, Global Leadership, Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Planning, Virtual Teams , , , , ,
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