I help you and your
teams to
overcome cultural differences in the
international workplace.
You can lead your business effectively to better results in a global economy.
Are you a professional, leading in an international environment, working with other cultures and curious how I can support you and your organization?
Being able to influence others is essential for your business success.
Your capability to drive your message, to motivate people, encourage teamwork and optimize
communication – is key to success.
You could almost say that your business success depends on the capabilities of being able to influence people within a global economy.
Your organization operates internationally and as much as you believe that your corporate or company culture, should speak to all – when interacting with people from other cultural backgrounds, it is not always a walk in the park.
You, your colleagues and cross-cultural teams face miscommunications, misunderstandings and it is clear that time is lost on managing frustrations and picking up the pieces.
And to be honest, sometimes you understand when your teams are telling you that things go faster when they are executed with colleagues from the same cultural background.
You truly believe that the international aspect within the organization, should be something to be proud and you are not proud of the pointing fingers, different camps and pleasing each other for the sake of doing so mentality.
Your teams are pinpointing at each other and they do not 100% seem to understand how to embrace the cultural diversity.
What if you are trying too hard to understand the other? And the answer lays in understanding cultural perception, your own cultural preference and how that effects others….
Someone’s cultural background influence leadership style and preferences significantly.
The way you communicate, how you refer and defer to authority or the way you believe good feedback is given, are all culturally influenced.
Being able to influence others is essential for your business success.
Your capability to drive your message, to motivate people, encourage teamwork and optimize
communication – is key to success.
You could almost say that your business success depends on the capabilities of being able to influence people within a global economy.
Your organization operates internationally and as much as you believe that your corporate or company culture, should speak to all – when interacting with people from other cultural backgrounds, it is not always a walk in the park.
You, your colleagues and cross-cultural teams face miscommunications, misunderstandings and it is clear that time is lost on managing frustrations and picking up the pieces.
And to be honest, sometimes you understand when your teams are telling you that things go faster when they are executed with colleagues from the same cultural background.
You truly believe that the international aspect within the organization, should be something to be proud and you are not proud of the pointing fingers, different camps and pleasing each other for the sake of doing so mentality.
Your teams are pinpointing at each other and they do not 100% seem to understand how to embrace the cultural diversity.
What if you are trying too hard to understand the other? And the answer lays in understanding cultural perception, your own cultural preference and how that effects others….
Someone’s cultural background influence leadership style and preferences significantly.
The way you communicate, how you refer and defer to authority or the way you believe good feedback is given, are all culturally influenced.
Doing business internationally requires cultural sensitivity and inclusion.
You can learn as much as you want of 1 specific culture, the do’s and don’ts but that doesn’t teach you anything about your own cultural background.
Learning about cultural perception, how we perceive each other across the globe, is an effective way of improving your skills to lead in a global economy.
I hear you think, your company values are strong and solid and those should mean the same to everyone. But have you ever asked yourself if they have the same meaning to someone from another cultural background across the globe?
Imagine that…
Regardless of cultural differences, everyone within the organization will be able to be the authentic version of themselves and teams work flawless together.
There will be minimal miscommunications, more time effective meetings and everyone understands each other without issues.
Teams are happier and instead of pointing fingers in the spirit of ‘they simply don’t understand me’ people within the organization embraced cultural diversity.
The frustrations have been eliminated and people know how to optimize cultural diversity to increase business results.
You can set your business strategy based on the cultural context, things like planning and execution are in line with what gives the best results.
Regardless of cultural differences, everyone within the organization will be able to be the authentic version of themselves and teams work flawless together.
There will be minimal miscommunications, more time effective meetings and everyone understands each other without issues.
Teams are happier and instead of pointing fingers in the spirit of ‘they simply don’t understand me’ people within the organization embraced cultural diversity.
The frustrations have been eliminated and people know how to optimize cultural diversity to increase business results.
You can set your business strategy based on the cultural context, things like planning and execution are in line with what gives the best results.
About Coco
Hi,
my name is Coco and when I got the opportunity to move abroad in 2016 – it hit me.
Organizations invest thousands of dollars on leadership and business development but when doing business internationally, they don’t prepare themselves properly for the cultural aspect.
I think that is because the pain it causes, is often connected to other problems.
’I sometimes say that it seems that I offer a solution for a problem, that companies dont know they have.’’
In 2016 I got the opportunity to move from The Netherlands, my home country to Tokyo Japan.
I worked for a multinational retailer in an executive management role.
I worked as a crisis manager but leading a cross-cultural team, while being Dutch, living in Japan, was a crisis I was not prepared for.
After 6 months in Japan I started to feel frustrated on a level that I did not recognize.
Working for a Swedish company, an American boss, leading a team of Japanese and Hong Kongese.
To be honest with you, I did not prepare myself to the cultural aspect of international business either. I did my research on how to work in Japan, but in that research I did not learn anything about the fact that I was Dutch and what potentially could be my triggers, let alone – how I would come across within a global environment.
If I close me eyes and I go back to that moment, it still makes me feel ashamed.
I gave a presentation for a big group of people. I, being Dutch believe that a discussion improves the final results and will not at all harm the relationship.
If only I knew how the differences in confrontation and the need for consensus would be.
In Japan, you can push as much as you want as a manager, but the interest of the group is bigger than the interest of the individual, so expecting someone to disagree with me publicly?
Forget it…
They must have thought I was crazy.
Fast forward to 2018 when I moved for the same company to South America. Working the countries Chile, Peru and Uruguay. Leading a massive team, with people from all over the world was a dream.
If only I knew what I know now, I would have done things so different.
‘If I could advise myself back then? Start with learning about cultural perception, how do we come across and what do you know about your own preferences when it comes to for example communication, hierarchy and trust. That only would have saved me months of going back and forth and a lifetime of frustration.
Oh and my employer? They would have gotten the results much earlier.
’I’ve had the pleasure to work with Coco and she is a great example of how someone through strong results and high values accomplishes many milestones.
In her work, Coco connects, leads and she does it all in the most inspiring way. She managed to simplify the most difficult topics and knows how to build bridges – even when the challenges are based on different continents.
Her vast international perspective and proven track record of delivering great results in various leadership roles all over the world, give her a lot of credibility.
Her amazing experience, capability to get the message across, engage groups and individuals and her versatility combined with her broad international management experience, make Coco hands down the best expert to break down cultural barriers or international coaching.
And on top of this all, Coco is great fun. I would recommend her always and highly.’’
We very often believe only expats that move abroad require cultural intelligence. The truth is, that whether you want to hire a colleague from abroad, you want to establish a business relation with someone from another cultural background or if you are a multinational operating globally, cultural differences are always present.
It is time to embrace them and make sure your organization is culturally inclusive.