Are you leading in a multicultural organization and you want to get
better at connecting with your senior leaders and stakeholders,
especially when you're in a virtual meeting and you are meeting with
people all around the world.
If that's your situation, you want to get better at that,
multicultural communications, and this is what I'm going to be
sharing with you today.
There are five tips on how you can improve your multicultural
communications in the workplace.
This is especially if you're a leader, a senior executive, or you are
designed to level up into directorship or even C-level, how can you
lead better?
How can you communicate in ways that people understand?
Right?
So this is what I want to understand, want to want to provide for you
a little bit of it in a distinction around the word culture.
What does culture mean?
Like when it comes to culture, if I would ask a hundred people in the
room, what is culture?
How do you define culture?
I may get a hundred different responses.
So intuitively what this means is that intuitively we kind of know
what culture means, but when it comes to articulating culture, we get
a sense of it.
But if we don't understand the distinctions around it, how can we
become better at multicultural communications?
So here's what this means when it comes to culture, culture is an
observable and describable group of behaviors, actions within a group.
So these are words that we use to describe actions and they are common
actions within a group.
So that's why we also have individual culture.
You have your own culture.
I have my own culture and our individual contract, the individual
level this is where it describes our personality, our characteristics,
and our traits as well.
And that's why when you have groups and leadership teams, you can't
really say, well, we have a culture of honesty, or we have a culture
of integrity.
You can't really say that it's not really precise or accurate because
it's around actions.
It's, it's got culture describes actions.
And so when you look at someone's actions there, the culture derives
our actions, the words that describe a culture, derive what our
actions are, the behaviors as well within a group, and they're
observable they're describable.
And so that's what culture really means.
So then when we talk about cross cultural communications, cross
cultural means that now you're having interactions, transactions and
communications from people who observe and who exhibit different
behaviors, different actions as a result of their groups, and from
where they belong.
And so when we're having these interactions, that's why it's important
to understand more about them so that you can communicate in
accordance to their values and in ways that they can understand and
receive it as well.
And that's what I want to share with you today.
So at the end of this video, you're going to come across, we're going
to come up with five very key strategies and techniques as well on how
to improve your communications when it comes to having cross-cultural
communication.
So if you haven't done so already, remember to subscribe to my
channel, ring that bell down below as well, because every single week
I release videos on this topic and so much more.
So let's go, let's talk about the five ways.
The first way to improve cross-cultural communications is to number
one, connect to transcend biases.
What does that mean?
We all have biases and some of you have heard them talked about as
cognitive biases, but we all have biases.
We all make assumptions about other people.
We make assumptions about why people do what they do and why and how,
what words we use to describe other people's actions.
We all have these biases.
So when it comes to connecting, when we have these biases, we are
tending towards communications that are transactional.
Transactional is kind of like touch and go.
It's just in that moment when I need you, I want to talk to you and
then that's it.
It's not about long-term.
Transactional is just one transaction.
And the problem with transactional communication is, is that the aim
of that moment of connection with that individual is just for the
moment.
And we're not interested, or we're not thinking about longer-term
relationships.
We're not thinking about potential for other opportunities in the
future.
And that's what transactional means.
And when we are in transactional in communications, this is what opens
up and further can progress more biases.
So here's what it means to connect, to transcend biases.
Instead of focusing on how is this person, how is this action
different?
How are their differences going to stand in the way of me achieving my
goals?
Or how are the differences going to create conflicts?
How are there differences?
How do I need to get them to see things from my perspective, instead
of focusing on those things?
This is more about putting the focusing on, well, how am I going to
serve them to the highest values and make sure to see that how are
their differences as well, going to enhance our abilities together, to
work towards a common mission?
How would the differences going to enhance?
Because when it comes to genuine growth and genuine progression and
productivity that happens maximum growth and productivity happens at
the intersection of both challenge and support.
It happens at the intersection intersection of both sameness and
differences.
So how might our differences further refine our actions and further
refine our common mission as well and how we achieve it?
So this is a different perspective.
Now we transcend biases and that in those moments it's just simply to
focus on how can I become my best self in every transaction and every
communication that I have with them, how can I be my best self?
Right?
So that is the first way, most importantly, to connect, to transcend
biases.
The second way to improve cross-cultural communication is to gain
greater precision.
So what does precision mean?
When it comes to communication precision, there are two layers to be
more precise.
One is on the spoken word and wasn't one, the other one is on the body
language.
Spoken words, these are the actual words that are audible to your
audience.
The ones that are spoken, sounds coming from your voice produce from
your voice and they receive it and they interpret it.
And that's what they respond to, those spoken words.
When it comes to spoken words, different cultures plays different
emphasis on certain words.
For example, some cultures have different words to relay more formal
communication versus more informal communication.
And sometimes formal communication is more appropriate for that moment
in time.
And whereas still some other cultures perceive some body language,
some gestures as offensive, and some gestures are more appropriate
when it comes to senior leaders.
And another example could be that there are certain cultures that make
a differentiation between what words are more appropriate to use for
senior leaders, versus what words are more appropriate to use when
referring to more junior managers.
And these things are very important because absent this level of
precision, right?
If you're absent in this level of precision, what could happen at best
is just the miscommunication and misunderstanding.
But if this was to be escalated at worst, it could lead to often, you
know, individuals becoming offended or individuals misinterpreting it
to a fact that they are offended and not wanting to move forward in
collaboration or not feeling that there is the right fit.
So that's the importance of having this level of precision.
So you're somebody listening to this right now, and you're realizing
that yes, there is a difference between way different cultures, and
the way that they communicate difference between formal and
informalities difference between body language difference between the
way that they describe things.
And it's causing a lot of communication.
If you're really seeing this, and you're somebody who really desires
to achieve this outcomes for your career, so that you can have more
meaningful work relationships to senior leaders and stakeholders,
either somebody who's serious about having these outcomes, then I
invite you to work with me.
Every single week I meet with executives, directors, just like you,
where we are working towards, how do we become more precise in our
language?
How do we understand how to communicate across cultures that are
tremendously different from our own?
And how do we navigate through these complex landscapes of
communication, where they have different communication styles, they
have different cultural backgrounds and therefore different
perspectives that are born out of their perspectives.
So how do we navigate through that?
And every single week, I give some deep level training to show you how
to produce that outcome and how to be effective in it, how to be
professional as well.
So if you're serious about having the support, then I'd invite you.
Below this video in the description below, there's going to be a link
and that's really an application.
And someone from my team or myself, we're going to get on that initial
call with you and just to explore whether or not it's the right fit.
And of course, if I can truly help you in your situation, and if we
can, then I'll be delighted to walk you through the steps and to help
you elevate your communication and give you that executive presence
that you desire.
So if that's you and you're serious about it, then click the link
below.
And I look forward to seeing you on the inside.
The third way to improve cross-cultural communications is to develop
others awareness, others awareness.
This is the opposite of self-awareness and we all know what
self-awareness entails and awareness of self.
This is the opposite.
It's an awareness of others.
See, there are two biggest mistakes that I see executives and
directors making when it comes to communicating effectively across
cultures.
The first biggest mistake that I see them making is that they're
making assumptions around what other people may behave, how other
people behave based on their own cultural upbringing.
And the second biggest mistake that I see is making assumptions and
believing stereotypes based on media portrayals.
So this is important to do the research.
What is that culture?
What are the differences exactly and understand what are the exact and
real differences in cultural communications.
And it's also that you can analyze decisions better together, and so
that you can make decisions better together on certain projects that
you are moving towards.
That's all the purpose of this for.
So make sure that you are doing your research so that you have the
facts and without judgment.
So this is developing others awareness.
The fourth way to improve cross-cultural communication is aim for
what's meaningful.
Right.
Aim for what's meaningful.
So when you extract what's meaningful out of that interaction out of
that relationship, what you're doing is you're attracting the meaning.
And if you really understand the root meaning, what it means is having
an appreciation for pairs of opposites, because in any relationship at
work and personal life, life gives you both relationships gives you
both.
You're going to have both challenge and support.
So it's not about hoping for support and wanting to avoid challenges.
It's not about hoping for acceptance and wanting to avoid rejection.
It's really extrapolating the meaning behind it.
And the greatest meaning the greatest fulfillment comes at the
intersection of both.
And so when you aim for what's meaningful, this is about embracing
both that relationships will give you, but also knowing that what
comes along the way is not going to be in the way of achieving your
goals.
It's not going to be in the way of achieving your mission, and it's
not in the way of being able to be productive.
Everything is on the way.
And so when you extrapolate meaning, this is what allows you to
transcend to greater levels of appreciation of others for who they
are.
And that's ultimately every individual desires to be appreciated for
who they are and desires to have embracing of differences.
So when you extrapolate what is meaningful, it also allows you to show
up differently and allows you to appreciate others for the difference
that they bring, because you can see how these differences can help
further refine your craft, refine how you analyze situations together
and make better decisions together in collaboration as well.
So that is why the fourth way is to infer what's meaningful instead of
wanting to avoid rejection or wanting to avoid miscommunications or
wanting to avoid challenges to your perspectives, because life is
going to give you both.
So find the meaning of it, which is really an intersection between
those pairs of opposites.
The fifth way to improve cost cross-cultural communications is to be
open-minded.
When you are open-minded, this is what allows you, and really does
help you to hold the judgment between what's right versus what's
wrong.
Because when it comes to behaviors, cultural behaviors, there is no
right or wrong.
It's when we label things as right or wrong, that there is
difficulties in relationships.
It's what extrapolates conflicts, it's what creates biases and
enforces them.
So being open-minded will allow you to hold that judgment between
rights and wrong, right, and wrong and embrace the intersection of the
two.
So I have a video coming up next.
So stay tuned it's right after this.
And this video will go into a deep dive on how to be open-minded.
How do you train your brain to become more open-minded it's coming up
next.
I'll see you there.