I was sitting at the counter of an open-air kitchen in Bali when he said it. He was a Tahitian gentleman, a friend of a friend, someone I barely knew, someone who grew up a world away from me. Though we had just met, somehow we put it together that we had both lost our…
For 25 years, I have been teaching communication. Some people call me a communication expert. I still feel slightly uncomfortable with that phrase. If expert means someone who has devoted decades to testing, refining, failing at, and rebuilding approaches to communication across cultures and industries, then perhaps it applies. If it means someone who does…
People often wonder why a white woman has committed her life to DEI. It’s time for me to tell my story. As many of you know, I help leaders who are committed to creating inclusive cultures build teams that trust each other, collaborate effectively, and unleash their collective intelligence. My commitment to this work began…
Businesses are strained. I speak with leaders who describe the stress of budget cuts, mass layoffs, shifting priorities, and more. Under strain, leaders often focus on fixing processes. They convene stakeholders to adjust strategy or make quick decisions to stabilize the business. But one of the most important leadership priorities often gets overlooked: repairing and…
The headlines are loud. The rules keep changing. And leaders are left asking: How do we protect our people? How do we keep our culture strong? How do we adapt—without getting pulled into a polarizing debate? It starts by focusing less on slogans and more on outcomes. Not just what people are talking about—but what…
As published on Devex.com, July 7, 2014 Cross-cultural collaboration. Why is it so hard? As international development practitioners, we are typically working toward the same well-intentioned goal. If our interests are aligned, then why isn’t it easier? Well, many reasons: funding, deadlines, limited or misdirected resources, language differences … the list goes on. But…
Too often, we leave trust up to chance. We think it will just happen naturally over time. And sometimes that is true. But often this is not the case, especially when working with people who seem very different from ourselves. Here is what I see working with corporate clients: people are assigned to work together…
You are facing a deadline for a big presentation. Time is flying. The content is just not coming together. Your mind races. You sit at your desk and bury your head in your hands. An attentive colleague walks up and says, “You look stressed! You should take a walk or get a massage.” You think,…
As published on Devex.com, Feb 9, 2013 As it turns out, fruit dryers were unpopular in a coastal village in Nicaragua where a group of engineers were working. Had they known that “yes” in Nicaragua could sometimes mean “we don’t want to offend you,” they could have provided a different service. In another instance,…
