A Decade of Cross Cultural Experiences in Four Fundamental Practices

After spending over a decade of my life in Finland/Europe and the U.S., and having had the great opportunity to interact and work with talented individuals and leaders from various cultural backgrounds and journeys, I wanted to synthesize and share some of my key experiences and lessons in cross-cultural experiences.  

Working and living across countries/cultures may present great opportunities and at the same time, they hold numerous challenges. The ability to work effectively with, lead and manage across cultures are competencies that are becoming very important in a world that continues to get smaller and closer, due to rapid advances in technology and social media. As glamorous as it may seem from a distance, adapting to and succeeding in a very different culture are not at all easy. Those who choose to be ignorant of this topic will lose great opportunities for personal and professional growth.  

There're numerous studies and research articles on this topic and some of my thinking has been influenced by them.  

"If you come to another's turf with empathy, sensitivity and open ears - what the Zen masters call 'beginner's mind' - you're halfway home". – Tom Peters

1. Respect

Being aware, sensitive to and noticing some of the key themes, norms and behaviors in a new environment constitute an important starting point. This can help one to understand how things work, life patterns flow and what is valued in that setting. Many of the norms would be very different from one’s own conditioning and would seem strange initially. Being respectful to individuals and cultural norms helps to adapt faster to any new environment. One would also need to be respectful of the differences and try to understand the background without being judgmental. There is a possibility of feeling disrespected or ignored, in some instances. Chances are that, not everyone in a different culture is aware of the nuances of your culture and interaction styles. Irrespective of how you feel initially, your mature approach and respectful presence can increase your acceptance, credibility and prevent you from getting stuck in a frustration zone.  

2. Openness To New Experiences Without Judging

This is vital for making progress in a different cultural setting. Stephen Covey's teaching, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood" is a very useful advice to keep in mind while interacting with people from a different culture. It is useful to be aware of our own biases and that our biases and environmental conditioning may easily lead us into the questioning, judging, confusing and eventually distrusting zone.  Individuals from different backgrounds can look at the same scenario and perceive it very differently.  Categorizing something in your mind as superior or inferior, right or wrong, good or bad etc. will impact your own thinking ability and responses to situations and people.  Open communication with authenticity is fundamental to avoiding misunderstandings. During initial stages of interactions, it's useful to explain the reason behind doing or asking for something that impacts others, and clarifying the same with others without creating a ‘threat’ state, when there are questions in your mind. This avoids confusion, especially in the initial stages of relationship building.

3. Flexibility

As mentioned earlier, I realized that my own way of seeing a topic was very different from how others from a different background related to the same topic.  Being flexible relates to building self-awareness and using that awareness effectively to understand and manage through various scenarios.  This would also mean shifting/stretching ways of thinking and adjusting/ changing one's own approaches.  Taking the responsibility to tackle an unpleasant situation with maturity and emotional intelligence requires a lot of flexibility, to flex one's own thinking frames. It's very useful to have a positive 'forgiving' and 'forgetful/let go' attitude with unpleasant experiences, while being aware of one's own learning.  Very seldom does anyone win an argument of being right or wrong.  'Co-regulation' beyond 'self-regulation' is very helpful.  Vicious responses only result in cycles of vicious interactions and stress, which take the relationships further into the red zone.  On the other hand, not engaging in a proactive, positive conversation results in increasing distance.  

4. Coping with the unknown and fear of failure

There're a lot of unknowns in a new environment. Finding information through formal and informal channels and making personal connections are very helpful to put one at ease initially. One has to also find relevant ways to accept, understand and cope with stress related to uncertainties of the new environment. It generally will take a certain amount of time before adjusting and feeling comfortable in a different cultural environment.  Patience is fundamental to work through times of frustration, disappointment and negativity.  It may not be uncharacteristic to go through a feeling of ‘being lost’ at times.  It is really important to find one's own support from ‘comfort zones’, secure bases and ‘connections’ in those situations.

It is helpful to be prepared for mistakes and misunderstandings along the way. Fear of failure can inhibit people from experimenting or experiencing new things, which reduce the impact of the cultural experience, knowledge and personal development. The normal tendency might be to stay within one's own comfort zones most of the time. 

According to a leading expert in this field Fons Trompenaars, "We need a certain amount of humility and a sense of humor to discover cultures other than our own; a readiness to enter a room in the dark and stumble over unfamiliar furniture until the pain in our shins reminds us of where things are."

Your willingness and openness to step into the new world can take you to a totally new dimension of personal growth, deep connections and confidence.  Enjoy the journey.  Best wishes…

Please share your valuable learning and experiences!

 Note:  The topic of 'culture' can be reviewed at different levels or frames.  I've tried to focus on the country culture aspect here.  Some of these practices can be useful in working through other aspects, like organizational culture differences.  

Leading the world - Food for thought for Corporate Leaders in India

As someone following the world of leadership, human capital and organization development discussions, I could not resist sharing some observations and food for thinking for corporate and business leaders in India.  The following themes appeared to me across conversations and experiences during my time in India.  There are of course many exceptions but one would need to openly challenge some notions, if more Indian companies and leaders aspire to be relevant in today’s connected world and tap into the high promise potential of our younger generations. 

1. The Big Picture
The popular expression, ‘Seeing the trees and not the forest’ seems to be a major area for many leaders to reflect on.

There seems to be a general tendency to focus heavily on the details and costs, without sufficient emphasis on critical strategic leadership elements like value creation, organizational alignment and stakeholder engagement.  While the technical aspects and analytical skills seem to be an area of strength, it is important to remember that as leaders of organizations, your mandate is much bigger. It may be comfortable to focus on tasks and activities that are more tangible in nature (‘comfort zone’) than those like discovering new business directions, making strategic choices or understanding the emotional quotient in your organisation. Organisations should indeed be efficient bodies with improving process and cost management - yet the need for finding new directions, being agile, adapting in a constantly shifting world in a sustainable manner, and the ability to ‘connect the dots’ is critical.  An important example of a real time topic is the recent discussion around the future of India’s IT sector and how companies need to evolve and flourish in a shifting environment. Communication, language skills and influencing across stakeholders can be challenging, yet critical. Cross cultural awareness and openness especially for companies and leaders expanding across the world is fundamental for success.

In his latest book ‘Focus’, Daniel Goleman notes that for leaders to get results, they need three kinds of focus – Inner focus (our intuitions, guiding values), Other focus (connections to the people in our lives) and Outer focus (larger world).

2. Understanding and Realising the Power of Human Capital.
How many leaders see high value in investing in a product or physical assets vs. investing in talented people? Are investments on talent management, human capital or leadership development seen with similar importance and bottom line impact (starting with the self)?  Who creates great products, services, strategies or innovations in organisations, and what leads to those creations?  What is the amount of discretionary effort that an individual has and can stretch in any effort? Seeing the golden link between business results and highly effective employee practices are fundamental to sustainable success.

A lack of concerted development effort results in a vicious cycle for an organization – eg. lack of investment in leadership development results in lack of quality thinking, reflection and improvement of leadership effectiveness at an individual and organizational level.  I've heard from few leaders that they're so busy running that they don't have time to stop and think. As a result, the focus tends to become narrow across the board (often unconscious).  The organization can help consciously provide that space.

For the non-believer, it might be worthwhile to think about the disruptions in many areas (especially technology) and generational shifts we have seen in recent times. One also could think about the Indians who have flourished in global environments like the U.S. and what the difference is.  Core factors like Certainty, Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose, Relatedness, Fairness (ref. David Rock/NeuroLeadership Group, Dan Pink) are relevant everywhere and should be actively adopted by leaders.

3. Challenging the status quo and changing traditional management approaches.
This is a major area for change and the need to change traditional management approaches to reflect today’s world is extremely high.  We still cling on to many approaches from previous century to manage organizations and workforces in 2014.  Even factors like restrictive hierarchies and mindsets haven’t shifted sufficiently to realize the potential of evolved knowledge work and potential.  As technologies turn the talent pyramid upside down for potential disruptions, a leader has to find a way to understand and truly tap into reframing one’s own mind map.  This does not mean that old ideas and philosophies become totally irrelevant.  Even institutions like Harvard are actively adopting and applying the age old wisdom of mindfulness and meditation to the business environment. 

There seems to be a reluctance to empower and trust across the organization.  Some of this may stem from the historical, cultural and environmental /social aspects of heavy competition and conflict. As a leader, one needs to think how he or she can build true collaboration and change such a culture or value system to enable significant output.  Role modeling is fundamental and well-designed HR systems can be strong enablers.

4. Wellbeing, Effectiveness of self and others
Last but not least, many findings today relate to individual wellbeing, effectiveness and personal sustainability.  It is not uncommon to find young professionals in India who spend lots of overtime at work, ignore exercise and a healthy lifestyle.  Many leaders also today seem to be heavily distracted, over worked, juggling too many things while ignoring the options to engage/empower team members, and apply the same principles and role modeling to their direct reports. Multiple research studies show the negative impacts of continuous high stress on mental and physical health. Combined with these working habits, the lack of exercise and constant overtime at work leads to a tired brain in a constant ‘threat’ state and poor decisions.  Neuroscience studies indicate that a tired brain does not support innovation or fresh thinking.

As a leader, how would you rate yourself on curiosity, interest in learning and applying some of the recent studies/findings to your ways of working?  The leading consulting firm Korn Ferry found that ‘learning agility’ is a fundamental trait among successful leaders.

There is not much doubt that having high quality leaders and talent are fundamental success drivers for any organization or even a country.  The sooner a leader realizes it, the better for the system and the people in it. Leadership starts at the individual level (with self-awareness, management) and needs to be developed consciously at the systems level for truly high impact. 

Leadership in government functions is probably a different discussion, with higher priority due to the scale and scope of impact on general public and seeming lack of current attention to the topic. 

Institutions (especially Universities) and organizations also play a key role in leading the drive for influencing and changing practices at a systemic level, even beyond their own countries. There is probably a higher need to communicate that information and interact actively with individuals (eg. leading universities in the U.S. using social media to disseminate latest studies and discussions). 

If you aspire to be a respected, world-class leader, I leave you with three final questions:

1. What Leadership Brand (ref. RBL Group) would you like to build for yourself?

2. What would you want your Leadership Legacy to be when you are not around?

3. If you’ve found one useful takeaway from this reading, what will you do about it next?

Curious and interested to hear your thoughts about this topic...

I wish you the very best on your journey. 

Few Notes of Wisdom for Reflection from 'How Will You Measure Your Life?' (Book by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, Karen Dillon)

• Solving the challenges in your life requires a deep understanding of what causes what to happen.
• "The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven't found it yet, keep looking.  Don't settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it." - Steve Jobs
• Too many of us who start down the path of compromise will never make it back.
• What's most important to you in your career?
• Problem is that what we think matters most in our jobs often doesn't align with what will really make us happy.
• Good intentions are not enough...spend your resources consistent with your intentions.
• The opposite of job dissatisfaction isn't job satisfaction, but rather an absence of job dissatisfaction.

Are you building a sustainable organization?

Very Important for all leaders and boards to reflect on: ARE YOU BUILDING SUSTAINABLE ORGANIZATIONS?

As the discussions focus on economic challenges, changes, unpredictable environments, global dynamics and impact on organizations:
* How are the actions of leaders in your organization linked or measured with creating long term value and building organizations to last long term? 
 * How are leaders measured on this dimension? What behaviors does that encourage? 
 * How do boards and organizations find the right ratio in requiring leaders to create short term vs. long term value?

Importance of 'Practice' in Training Programs & Leadership Development - From 'Primal Leadership'

Improving an emotional intelligence competence takes months, rather than days, because the emotional centers of the brain are involved-not just the neocortex, the thinking brain where technical skills & purely cognitive abilities are learned...But the basal ganglia & its links to the emotional centers learn differently: To master a new skill, they need repetition & practice. That's why it's hard to learn leadership abilities effectively in a classroom.

A teacher can't instruct your brain circuits that carry old habits of leadership to relearn new habits. What's needed is practice: The more often a behavioral sequence repeats, the stronger the underlying brain circuits become. People thereby literally rewire their brains: Learning new habits strengthens pathways between neurons, and may even foster neurogenesis-growth of new neurons.

Notes from the book "Life Strategies" by Phillip McGraw

Recently completed reading "Life Strategies" by Phillip McGraw. Sharing some of my notes.

* Ask yourself: Do you really have a strategy in your life, or are you just reactively going from day to day, taking what comes?
* Problems and challenges almost never resolve themselves; they don't get better with inattention.
* Forget about being right or winning the argument about who is right. If what you're doing is not working, change it.
* Sometimes, the hardest part in learning something new is unlearning the old way of doing it.
* You are accountable for your life...If you don't accept accountability, you will misdiagnose every problem you have...By convincing yourself that you are a victim, you are guaranteed to have no progress, no healing and no victory.
* Bottom line: You are not a victim. You are creating the situations you are in; you are creating the emotions that flow from those situations...You must be willing to move your position, and, however difficult or unusual it may seem, embrace the fact that you own the problem.
* It is at the very core of human nature to blame other people; it is fundamental self preservation to try to escape accountability.
* The bad news is that the burden is on you. The good news is that the choice is yours.
* Abstract thoughts have the power to produce tangible and dramatic physiological events...Your physiology determines your energy and action level.
* Our most active and consistent dialogue is the conversation we have with ourselves.
* The principle of reciprocity simply says that "you get what you give." The manner, style and level you use to engage people will determine how they respond to you.
* Break out of your habitual doldrums. Climb out of that rut and look around...The longer you have been trapped in an irrational and painful lifestyle, the harder it is to create a new one.
* Knowing what you need to know and knowing how to do it are two very different things.
* If you won't take ownership of your role in a situation-then you cannot and will not change it.
* Denial, is what kills dreams. It kills hope.
* You can know a hundredfold today than you knew a week ago, but if you don't do anything about it, you aren't any more effective than you were last week, in your unenlightened state..Life rewards action.
* Lives move by trends and momentum...If you begin to do different things,..your actions will gain momentum.
* Choose to give yourself the chance. It's normal to be anxious and afraid, but you can't be dominated by the fear.
* Identify the filters through which you view the world. Acknowledge your history without being controlled by it..If you continue to view the world through a filter created by past events, then you are allowing your past to control and dictate both your present and your future...You are undeniably accountable for how you react to it 'now'.
* Get to know your limiting beliefs so well that if one begins to show even a hint of its presence, alarms will go off and you will counteract it.
* Simply put, never in your life are you without problems and challenges.
* Long established fact of psychological functioning is that it is not so much the particular circumstance that upsets the person involved, as it is the violation of his or her expectations.
* You shape the behavior of those with whom you interact.
* Don't give in to your negative momentum. Require more of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and behaviorally.
* You are your number one worldly resource. Manage it and manage it well.

Best wishes for a happy 2011.

Six Ways HR Leaders Can Become More Effective Business Partners ("The Talent Masters")

From the book, The Talent Masters by Bill Conaty and Ram Charan.

1. Understand your business and industry dynamics
* Financials and key operating levers that affect your business
2. Build your HR vision and strategies around the business model
3. Become problem solvers versus problem identifiers
* Remove issues from the plate instead of adding to the existing pile
4. Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously
* Stay cool/provide a sense of balance and calm in the storm
5. Have the personal independence, self-confidence, and courage to push back or challenge the system when necessary
* Don’t salute every command..But pick your spots.
* Stay true to your personal values and convictions, those moments can make or break your career.
6. Never forget why you’re at the table
* Obligation to balance strong business partnership role with employee advocacy role
* People implications of decisions
* Never forget the “human” in human resources