Blog Archives

 
 
By Martin Moon

by Martin Moon

“How does conflict make you feel when working internationally?” is a good question to ask yourself. Then, how do you react to conflict? Do you tend to avoid it, address it on the spot, do you welcome it while wondering how this feels for the other?

Conflict often takes a big toll on business. This week, the news about how the Seattle business community reacted to the City Council’s new head tax traveled quickly around the world. There were probably articles about many other similar incidents, too. And how about the ones in your very own office, with your colleagues, board members, business partners, vendors, clients…

Additionally, doing business internationally takes the probability and complexity of conflict to a different level. Cultural, structural and geographic differences can add many new dimensions to conflict.

We were thrilled that Howard G. Beasey, the President and CEO of the American Turkish Council (ATC) was able to contribute to the Culture Curious Global Minds blog this week.

It is great to be able to elaborate on the importance of diplomacy skills when wanting to succeed in international business based on Mr. Beasey’s extensive experience in the U.S. – Turkey commercial relationship. There are surely many differences between the U.S. and Turkish markets. Yet the bilateral history is full of mutual journeys and business partnerships. We hope that this interview is a resource to those who work and want to work in this commercial space:

How do you see conflicts turn into opportunities in your efforts facilitating trade and investment between the United States and Turkey?

HB: When it comes to trade and investment it is important to remember that for a healthy bilateral relationship the trade must flow both ways.  The duality of prosperous trade relations creates a great deal of room for compromise and fertile ground for win/win opportunities if one is willing to look for them. 

What skills have you found most helpful when addressing conflicts? 

HB: The willingness and mental agility to accept the fact that business norms and cultures can and will differ and that these differences should not be viewed as good or bad but simply as the reality.  The sooner a person can come to this mindset the faster they will then be able to react and navigate the path for a successful outcome.  Too often we get caught up in the difference itself and cannot move past this to find a way forward. 

What life experiences do you find were/are critical to fulfilling the diplomacy and relationship building requirements in your job today? 

HB: I have had a number of interesting experiences in my career that have helped me to be more or less successful in building and maintaining professional cross-cultural relations.  For starters I have always espoused a “yes” mentality. In other words, one must start with the notion that yes is the answer and let’s figure out how to make this happen.  We have all met the individual who starts with “no” and then must be convinced that something can be done, who already starts from a deficit.  Additionally, I think that the experience of working in a multi-language environment over the years is helpful.  When you are working in these types of environments with or without interpreters you tend to use simple, concise, and direct language when communicating and secondly you will take time to listen and ensure you are understanding the subject or discussion before responding.  This professional patience and careful listening pays big dividends in this setting or frankly, any meaningful relationship.  

If interested in learning more about the nuances of doing business between the United States and Turkey consider signing up for “Work with a Global Mindset on the U.S. – Turkey Commercial Highway” to learn applicable leadership, management and communications models and engage in a Q & A session.

Unlocking the Global Mindset Energy Well: How often do you celebrate accomplishments? Celebrating the 12th Issue of StrategicStraits Weekly today – published in twelve consecutive weeks! Please use link if you would like this Newsletter conveniently delivered to your inbox every week.

 

No Comments
 
 

02G69742This week, a business leader asked how he can make his team aware of the importance of global mindset.

We encounter this question often. Also, research shows that the number one concern for business leaders in internationally growing organizations is how to create business functions (departments/units) that are globally ready. The number one concern for the HR leaders of internationally growing organizations is how to find the globally ready talent.

Starting conversations by asking a few questions may help create an initial awareness about the importance of a global mindset among your employees and business partners:

  • What differences and similarities do we have among our current and future customers?
  • How do we differ from each other or how could we define diversity in our organization?
  • Your email this morning was very clear. Do you think that (…) cc:d got the message, too?
  • How do our organizational and personal culture profile(s) on tools like GlobeSmart compare with external environments?
  • What shared beliefs and values make our organization unique?
  • Studies show that a major path to international success is via intercultural effectiveness. What is culture?
  • What are we doing right today and why?
  • Where are our revenues coming from and what may change in the future?
  • Why is understanding competition important for business success and what is competition like in a foreign market or at global level?
  • How comfortable do we feel with doing business in Country X?
  • What are the rules and regulations for our field there?
  • How are we going to get paid and how are we going to pay for services? What is the cost of…?
  • What is our reputation like in Country X?
  • Who do we know in Country X?
  • What is our time difference with Country X and how is this going to affect our business?

Can you think of questions to start conversations about cultural, administrative, geographic and economic differences in your team or organization?  Some organizations have global coffee mornings.  These types of events are great to start these global conversations and identify next steps.

New! Unlocking the Global Mindset Energy Well: feedback this week suggested to focus on energy since “being/feeling energetic” is the significant Global Mindset attribute internationally working professionals need to keep at high levels. Maintaining good mind and body health is critical to enjoying life and being successful. “Negotiators can achieve buoyancy and build trust with their counterparts by developing full cognitive, emotional, social, physical and spiritual awareness and equilibrium.” says Dr. Karen Walch in her new book Quantum Negotiation.

No Comments
 
 

man holding cell phone in front national flag of el salvador symbolizing mobile communication and telecommunication

Recent advancements in 3D-printing allow the Oregon company Icon Construction and Development to aim building homes within 12-24 hours for projects in other countries where homes at this construction speed and cost will be much valued.

Important to notice is also how increasingly more venture capital firms are investing in multinational innovation and recognizing the value of multicultural start-up founder teams.  History validates this strategy. More than 40% of Fortune 500 companies listed in 2017 were started by immigrant founders or their children. The Brookings Institution reported that this figure was more than half among the top 35 firms.

Data from the intercultural field shows that multicultural teams outperform homogeneous teams when the leader is able to lead across cultures and systems unlike his or her own.

Last week we shared Julie Yoder’s blog about helping non-native speakers participate in group conversations with confidence.  Stay tuned for more on this topic while we also start conversations about the importance and ways of integrating international diversity and markets for business growth and multicultural team performance.

No Comments
 
 

Do you and your members see value in your association’s international growth?  Below are a few things you need to do to prepare for global thinking and action.  Why global thinking?  This is critical because markets are interdependent due to their relationships with other markets as well as the growing influence of technology every single day.

Develop a global mindset first. Familiarize yourself with the Global Mindset® leadership concept of Thunderbird School of Global Management.  The definition of the Global Mindset is influence across organizations, systems and cultures unlike the leaders.  The Global Mindset helps leaders become not only culturally aware but knowledgeable, strategic, confident and diplomatic. Hence this is a very comprehensive and scientifically researched leadership concept for the executives of internationally growing organizations.

Work with a human centered business model. Association executives need to know how to analyze the decision making rationale of customers, members, key stakeholders and their staff as well as board members.  A good level of alignment needs to be achieved among all these human aspects of the organization to be able to articulate the comparative advantage of the association and help achieve highest potential engagement in its activities from its customers, members and stakeholders.  The importance of strategic thinking has multiplied in our interconnected world as has the importance of creative thinking and agility that support strategic thinking.  However, good research will help identify different growth and communication scenarios preparing the association for the very dynamic and complex world of global business.

Cultural awareness is important and becomes most functional when it results in curiosity.  Firstly, cultural awareness is important because associations are not viewed in the same way in different countries.  The American association concept for instance is very much rooted in the U.S. American culture and experience.  Secondly, to be able to connect well emotionally which is the path to long term collaborative potential as well an open mind, association executives need to become self-aware, curious about the other and diplomatic to be able to integrate different perspectives in pleasant and productive ways.  Cultural awareness training needs to be experiential to be able to fully debrief experiences in relation to learners and prepare them well for the real world.

Be prepared for international ventures and partnerships. Associations may grow in various different ways in new markets including partnerships and even mergers.  To be prepared for negotiations executives need to familiarize themselves with the Global Mindset and become culture-aware ahead of negotiations.  This will require only a minimum investment compared with what can go wrong or undermine performance during and after negotiations.  Once decisions are made about partnerships it is critical to engage in global team building processes that help all sides become culturally aware and also agree on the key elements of high performance global teams like agreeing on vision and values, goals, communications, meeting management and conflict management processes.  Coaching and even peer-to-peer coaching should be engaged to maximize return on organizational and professional development efforts.

Associations need to educate themselves on the importance and elements of global trust building to guide their members. As the world globalizes companies are quick to jump into opportunities.  However, for these ventures to be successful in the long-term the leaders of these businesses need to understand the anatomy of global trust building.  Being able to demonstrate guidance in this to their members is a great opportunity for associations and will add to the long term success of the associations’ efforts locally, internationally and globally.

With globalization offering so many opportunities as well as challenges or pitfalls I see many opportunities for transparent and global minded association management, and believe that these efforts will lead to globalization efforts that contribute to local wealth, social engagement, environmental health and stability enhancing the value of associations in return.

No Comments
 
 

Ironically, during the first week of the largest competitive global sports event I spent much of my time at the leadership conference of an inspiring nonprofit organization which has affiliates in 37 countries. The theme of the conference was “collaboration”.  There could be no better organization to talk about collaboration.  There were representatives from 37 countries but united by the vision they shared together and the belief that they could make a difference in the lives of people – providing them with hope and meaning.

The timing of this conference made it inevitable to talk about Herb Brooks, the legendary coach of the young U.S. Hockey Team that beat the experienced and all time champion Soviet Hockey team during the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1980.  We discussed history as told through the movie “Miracle” about this “miracle” team and Herb Brooks.  The inspiring head coach Herb Brooks had the conviction that a group of players who thinks, plays and feels like a team would be able to succeed.  He picked the players according to their ability to play in the team and also put them through rigorous training that emphasized the importance of this goal.  When he asked the players “Who do you play for?” at the beginning of their journey to the championship each player answered with the college or university he played for prior to getting picked for the Olympic Team.  It took Mike Eruzione, the captain of the team to call out “I’m Mike Eruzione.  I play for the United States of America.”  for Herb to end a never-ending conditioning exercise. It was Herb Brooks again who rewarded the team with the following words in the changing room right before the final game against the Soviet team: “Tonight, WE are the greatest hockey team in the world. You were born to be hockey players. Every one of you. And you were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Now go out there and take it.”

There are many factors that contribute to the success of collaboration such as connecting via a shared vision, agreeing on how decision making and problem solving will take place in the organization, how communication will change, how the organization will work across cultures to engage different perspectives and what kind of values need to be in place to make this happen.  However, a lot of responsibility lies with the leader.  Research shows that multicultural teams underperform single-culture teams when the leader is not able to lead across cultures but they surpass in performance and creativity if the leader is effective. Leaders need to be able to help set strategic goals towards the vision. Global leaders need to engage people and stakeholders from different backgrounds to help create a good foundation for the success factors. The success factors for collaboration need to be endorsed by the leaders of the organization.

One attendee at the conference said that the entire organization was inspired when one of their board members said “I believe in fairies.”  After meeting the attendees of this conference I believed in fairies, too.  Not only was the vision they shared noble but there was something about the attendees’ ability to intently listen and be present in the moment despite their unique backgrounds and circumstances they work in.  It takes a leader with an ability to connect differences, a leader with conviction and self-assurance and a leader with a dream even if it sounds adventurous if not a little out there to inspire people.  But this is how miracle teams are made and this is how collaboration becomes real and succeeds.

And I should stop writing as I have now articulated my perspective on the success of collaboration.  I will do so after offering a resource for developing this often times naturally occurring leadership capability.

If we wanted to examine what capabilities would be needed to put our heart out there as a global leader and to have the ability to say “I believe in fairies” the practical global leadership concept called the Global Mindset® concept offers a learning platform especially via its “psychological capital” component. This is the hardest component to develop within the leadership concept.  But the concept breaks down the component into attributes that are so specific that they offer attainable learning goals. Research at Thunderbird School of Global Management and my own experience show that we can learn to inspire not only by building trust across cultures but also by our ability to connect diverse perspectives, diving into a new adventure and doing so in a confident manner.

Click here to learn more about the Global Mindset® concept.

And enjoy the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics which despite their competitive nature are the result of immense global collaboration and offer us new leaders who will continue to inspire us for many years to come.  Thank you Russia for a fantastic Opening Ceremony!

 

 

No Comments