Cultural Awareness in Global Teams

🌍 The Real Reason Your Team Isn’t Connecting Might Surprise You 🛑 You’ve built a diverse team. Communication seems clear. Everyone speaks the same language. So why do projects stall? Why does feedback get misread? Why do brilliant employees feel misunderstood? Because what you’re facing isn’t a language barrier—it’s a cultural one. 🤔 Here’s what that looks like in real life: ✳ A team member from a collectivist culture avoids challenging a group decision, even when they disagree. ✳ A manager from a direct feedback culture gets labeled “harsh.” ✳ An employee doesn’t speak up in meetings—not because they don’t have ideas, but because interrupting feels disrespectful in their culture. These aren't missteps—they’re misalignments. And they can quietly erode trust, engagement, and performance. 💡 So how do we fix it? Here are 5 ways to reduce misalignments and build stronger, more inclusive teams: 🧭 1. Train for Cultural Competence—Not Just Diversity Don’t stop at DEI 101. Offer immersive training that helps employees navigate different communication styles, values, and worldviews. 🗣 2. Clarify Team Norms Make the invisible visible. Talk about what “respectful communication” means across cultures. Set expectations before conflicts arise. 🛎 3. Slow Down Decision-Making Fast-paced environments often leave diverse perspectives unheard. Build in time to reflect, revisit, and invite global input. 🌍 4. Encourage Curiosity Over Judgment When something feels off, ask: Could this be cultural? This small shift creates room for empathy and deeper connection. 📊 5. Audit Systems for Cultural Bias Review how you evaluate performance, give feedback, and promote leadership. Are your systems inclusive, or unintentionally favoring one style? 🎯 Cultural differences shouldn’t divide your team—they should drive your innovation. If you’re ready to create a workplace where every team member can thrive, I’d love to help. 📅 Book a complimentary call and let’s talk about what cultural competence could look like in your organization. The link is on my profile. Because when we understand each other, we work better together. 💬 #CulturalCompetence #GlobalTeams #InclusiveLeadership #CrossCulturalCommunication #DEIStrategy

Your inclusion plan goes out the window the moment your leaders say "let’s pow-wow," or your Zoom meetings still open with "long time no see!" I wish I could tell you that real inclusion lives on a nicely designed deck. Wouldn't that be super easy? But, no, that's not how it works. Real inclusion, the one that makes your talent want to stay at your company, lives in the tiny choices you make every day. And the choices you don't make, too! Real, tangible, and meaningful inclusion lives in the way you schedule meetings, communicate, share feedback, build docs, and send invites (among many other things!) So, let me share 7 small but very intentional inclusion steps you can take to start making a difference: 🟣 Add cultural and religious holidays to your calendar so you don't schedule meetings when your team's supposed to be OOO (there are plugins for this!) 🟣 Ask your team how they want to receive feedback: in 1:1 meetings? In writing? In public? Everyone's different! 🟣 Turn on captions and transcripts for every video call so all your team members can access the information that was shared 🟣 Run an accessibility check on all your decks and docs (Canva and Office have these options!) 🟣 Add context to calendar invites to minimize anxiety 🟣 Remove phrases like "long time no see," "pow-wow," "shoot me an email" from your vocabulary 🟣 Stop assuming everyone had a "great" weekend or holiday. Breaks aren't joyful, fun, or even restful for everyone. No, these actions won't solve all your Inclusion issues, but they're definitely a good starting point! What would y'all add to this list?

Meetings aren’t for updates - they’re where your culture is being built… or broken. Meetings are key moments where distributed team members experience culture together. That makes every meeting a high-stakes opportunity. Yet most teams stay in default mode - using meetings for project updates instead of connection, ideation, debate, and culture-building. 3 ways to reduce meetings and make the remaining ones count… 1. Co-create a Team Working Agreement. Before you can reinforce values, your team needs to define them. I’ve spent hundreds of hours helping teams do this - and have seen measurable gains in team effectiveness. Key components: - Shared team goals - Defining team member roles - Agreed-upon behaviors - Communication norms (sync vs. async) 2. Begin meetings with a connection moment. Relationships fuel trust and collaboration. Kick things off with a check-in like: “What gave you energy this week?” Or tailor it to the topic. In a recent meeting on decision-making norms, we asked: “Speed or certainty - which do you value more when making decisions, and why?” 3. Make team values part of the agenda. Create a ritual to recognize teammates for demonstrating team behaviors. Ask the question: “Where did we see our values or team agreements show up this week?” And check in on where could the team have done better. Culture doesn’t happen by accident - especially when your teams are spread across time zones, WFH setups, and multiple office sites. Your meetings can become a powerful tool to build culture with intention.

⚠️ Try This The Culture Observer Exercise During your next team meeting, assign one person as the culture observer. Have them monitor team dynamics: 🔎 Speaking patterns: Which voices consistently dominate, and which are missing? Where did we notice people seeking approval? Were there moments we softened or avoided something to keep the peace? 🔎 Dealing with ideas: What happens when someone shares a half-formed thought? Do people explore risky ideas or resort to safe ones? 🔎 Energy shifts: What topics or moments seem to energize the room? Which drains the energy? 🔎 Dealing with ambiguity: What happens when no one has the answer? How do team members navigate ambiguity and uncertainty? 🔎 Managing conflict: What happens when two perspectives collide? How does the team manage disagreements? After the meeting, spend 5 minutes debriefing what they noticed. Rotate the observer role so everyone gets to see your team's culture from the outside. For more insights and tools to make culture tangible, check my latest newsletter (link in comments below)

I’ve led a global team of 180+ employees across the US and India, and here’s what I see most teams get wrong in a global setup: They communicate decisions, but forget to communicate how they arrive at them. That’s a problem. Because when you're building across time zones and cultures, the real challenge isn’t language or even the rapidity of execution. Oftentimes, it’s alignment. Early at Rocketlane, we made a simple change that paid off well for us: We made every key decision a discussion. Even if it was just a Slack thread saying: “Here’s why I believe this is the right move. Thoughts?” We realized that if we wanted cohesion, we had to over-communicate not just what we were doing, but why we believed it was the right move. Yes, it takes longer initially, but that initial alignment speeds up execution later on. Your global team isn't just working across time zones; they're working across different communication styles, cultural contexts, and decision-making frameworks. Bridge those gaps with intentional conversation, not efficiency shortcuts. When people understand why, they align more quickly and execute more effectively.

Transformation is often measured in tools, timelines, and revenue. But there's another layer one that doesn't show up in dashboards: cultural transformation. 🌏 When people from different parts of the world come together to work as one team, misalignment isn’t just possible, it’s inevitable. Communication styles, expectations, and norms don’t always line up. And sometimes, even a simple question can spark unexpected tension. Take this example: A quick check-in like "What’s the update on this?" Or a straight forward question on client escalation, might feel completely routine in one culture but come across as confrontational in another. Intentions get lost, feelings get hurt, and frustration builds.  No one is wrong. But everyone feels it.  So, what can be done? ✅We built cultural bridges, placing individuals who understood the nuances of both sides to interpret tone, context, and intent. These weren’t just translators; they were empathy amplifiers. ✅We swapped roles, encouraging team members to shadow each other, experience different workflows, and gain perspective from the other side. Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes changes everything. ✅We invested in immersion, allowing team members to experience working in another location. What once felt confusing over email started to make perfect sense in person. These efforts didn’t erase differences, and that’s not the goal. The goal is understanding. Because trust isn’t automatic in distributed teams, it’s earned through openness, patience, and genuine curiosity. And here’s the truth: There may never be a single fix. Cultural tension is part of the package when building global teams. The win isn’t in eliminating friction but in learning to navigate it gracefully. When teams move from blame to curiosity, from assumptions to questions, that’s where the magic happens. So whether you're an executive or an implementer, I encourage you to approach hard conversations head-on, to listen a little deeper, and to build teams that don’t just span time zones but truly connect across them. 🤝 What’s helped your team bridge the cultural gap? #leadership #culture #empathy #trust #respect

13 actionable steps we can take to keep DEl going, from individual to collective efforts: 1. Learn from the lived experiences of other identity groups and unlearn the lies and biases we are socialized to believe to be true. 2. Don't reach out to marginalized folks only for "diversity stuff" or use them as diversity mascots. Tokenism perpetuates performative representation. 3. Be specific when discussing issues confronting specific identity groups. 4. Trust and support your colleagues when they provide feedback about something they believe is identity-based or racially motivated. Yes to compassion, no to gaslighting. 5. Amplify the voices of colleagues whose opinions are frequently ignored or minimized. Actively seek feedback from individuals who might not naturally have a platform in the organization. 6. Give marginalized colleagues public and proper credit for their work. 7. Speak up against exclusionary, harmful behaviors and unfair practices. 8. Stop seeking marginalized people to shield, endorse, perpetuate, or put forward inequitable and harmful policies and practices. 9. Avoid double standards and placing unreasonable expectations on marginalized groups. 10. Keep in mind the well-being of marginalized employees every day, not just during identity months or when tragic events make headlines. 11. Improve access to information, opportunities, and resources, centering the most marginalized. 12. Review policies and practices regularly to identify and address biases as they appear (e.g., compensation, performance review, development, and promotion.) 13. Promote people with marginalized identities to management and leadership positions, and give them formal power and authority to influence change. —— [Alt text embedded in the image.]

Today we're tackling the million dollar question. We all know that developing our cultural intelligence (CQ) is important. In my earlier posts I established that CQ is linked the success of orgs and individuals, which begs the question: How do we integrate CQ into our programs and culture for the most impact? Here's the bullet point answer: ✅ Embed CQ in leadership training – Move beyond “check-the-box” cultural awareness modules. Tie CQ to decision-making, conflict resolution, and performance management so leaders model it daily. ✅ Design experiential learning – Role plays, case studies, and simulations help employees practice CQ skills instead of just hearing about them. ✅ Measure what matters – Track CQ through engagement surveys, peer feedback, and retention data across diverse groups. Then connect the dots between higher CQ and business outcomes. ✅ Link to career paths – Make CQ competency part of promotion criteria and succession planning. If it influences advancement, people will prioritize it. ✅ Close the loop – Celebrate wins and share stories where CQ improved collaboration, innovation, or client relationships. Nothing reinforces learning like real-world proof. What does it look like in practice? Unilever has woven Cultural Intelligence into its global leadership fabric through programs that anchor CQ within onboarding, leadership training, and talent progression. Early-career participants in initiatives like the Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP) gain exposure to diverse markets and cultures through rotational assignments and mentorship with an emphasis on developing empathy, global perspective, and inclusive leadership skills. For leadership, their workshops, called “Unleash," focus on cultural dimensions such as individualism vs. collectivism and power distance. These sessions are designed to deepen leaders' awareness and to enhance collaborative behaviors. 85% of participants report increases in creativity and cross-team collaboration thanks to these immersive CQ experiences! Unilever’s CQ integration also includes formal governance and accountability structures. Its Inclusive Leaders Programme equips managers with tools to champion equity, psychological safety, and anti-bias behaviors across teams, while a Global Diversity Board steers progress and reviews inclusion metrics quarterly. These programs and other internal initiatives show how Unilever embeds CQ into both the development and the strategic infrastructure that sustains inclusive, high-performance leadership. So what to do? Start small. Pick a goal to start and keep building. Soon you'll see the benefits of a workforce with great CQ. A strength that Unilever states helps them “understand and meet the needs of consumers, identify new commercial opportunities for growth and innovation, and attract, retain and develop the very best global talent.” #CulturalIntelligence #DiversityEquityInclusion #GlobalLeadership #TalentStrategy #OrganizationalCulture

At your annual or quarterly retreats make space to connection. One of the most impactful events we did this year was a photo exercise. The WORK: 1. Each attendee sends 5 photos that summarize their year 2. The facilitator puts all photos into a slide deck 3. Round 1 - walk through all photos slowly and ask each attendee to write down what photo speaks to them and why (has to be a photo from someone else). 4. Go around the horn giving 1-2 minutes per attendee to share why they picked that photo and what spoke to them 5. In the last round, have every attendee take 3-4 minutes and share their 5 photos with context as to why this is a key moment for that year. You will be blown away at what you learn about your team. You will laugh, you will cry but most important you will connect at a deeper HUMAN level with your team. If strategic cultural alignment is the goal and cultural alignment is 99% and strategy 1% this is the work we cannot overlook.