Engaging with cultural differences

Do you reflect on the strategies you use at your work place to communicate with individuals who have a different cultural background from you? Do you use the same strategies you use with the co-worker or customer who is culturally different from you as you use with the co-worker or customer who shares the same culture as you? What about active listening? How would active listening be used in an intercultural interaction? 

[Read more…] about 5 Listening Strategies for Creating More Meaningful Intercultural Interactions

Do certain strategies lend themselves better to the management of a diverse team? Could these strategies improve our interactions and relationships with people from cultural backgrounds that are different from ours? Would these strategies help to bridge cultural differences that affect productivity in our organizations? The answer to all these questions is a resounding “Yes!”

What then, begs the question, might these strategies be? [Read more…] about 4 strategies that leaders can use to improve intercultural relationships and productivity.

I have been privileged to attend many cultural events and festivals in the city I call home, and I am thankful for that. I have sampled many tasty bites of different ethnic[1] cuisines, been entertained to the core by numerous dances, and tapped my feet to the beat of many musical performances. In these instances, I behaved like a tourist: a spectator and consumer of culture[2].

What does this have to do with leadership development in intercultural competence[3]?

[Read more…] about The “tourist approach” to engaging with diversity: an 8-question guide to tossing it out.