Bridging Differences with Dialogue and Development
Whether you are working on a global virtual team or relocating abroad, cultural differences create mind distance that can make communication and collaboration more difficult. Would you like to know how people from other countries see the world and how they view your perspective? Would you like to know how to build trust and mutual respect to be more successful in your cross-cultural meetings, negotiations, and projects with people abroad? If so, you’re at the right place. I can help you develop the cultural intelligence and broader perspective that will allow you to communicate and cooperate more effectively with people from around the globe. And I can support you and your family during the stress of culture shock that often accompanies overseas assignments and relocation.
“The transition from Europe to living and working in the U.S. could have been very stressful, but Greg was a great help for me and my family. His expertise and coaching skills helped us both prepare for the move and then adjust once we got there to make the whole experience both successful and enjoyable.” – – Michael Wiedemann, Chief Security Officer at SAP
After living and working abroad for 14 years, I returned to the U.S. in 1990 where I founded the German-Connection to promote better intercultural communication and collaboration. Since then I have trained and coached thousands of individuals as well as teams and their leaders from HP, SAP, Agilent, Bosch, Chrysler, Delco, General Motors, Kodak, Philips, Volvo Construction Equipment, and more. Let me help you like I helped Michael and many others.
Connecting Hearts and Minds
Insights, Skills, & Best Practices for Dealing with Differences
Unraveling an Enigma
The truth is, though, Germans are different from us
Tips for Transatlantic Success
German-American Collaboration
Based on my experience working with a number of German organizations, there are three general strategies that German parent companies use when […]
Successful Transatlantic Collaboration
In addition to choosing the appropriate strategy for collaboration, there are a few other factors that play a major role when Germans […]
Test All Assumptions
We were in the middle of a teambuilding workshop for a German-American management team that was experiencing difficulties. My job as interculturalist […]
Coaching – Shortcut to Success
Coaching is a shortcut to success that uses highly focused sessions on a regular basis so that over a relatively brief period of time, sustainable change can be achieved. Coaching is a goal-driven process aimed at attaining both success and satisfaction.
Global Competence: If you are working globally – whether virtually or as an expatriate – your success depends upon your ability to deal with people who think, feel and act differently than you do. People who are globally competent have the awareness, knowledge and skills necessary to keep their balance when landing in unfamiliar territory. My coaching can help you develop your global competence quickly and safely.
Relocation Support: Have you ever relocated to a foreign country and found yourself disoriented and anxious? This stress reaction to the experience of overwhelming and rapid change is called culture shock. If not managed wisely, culture shock can have a major impact on your life – marital problems, loss of performance and substance abuse are a few of the common dysfunctional reactions. Pre-departure training and ongoing coaching during the transition period are effective means to manage the stress and protect your relationships, health and peace of mind.
Inner Leadership: Do you have potential you have not been able to realize? Do you have habits which are holding you back? Are you unable to motivate yourself during challenging times? If so, you could profit by developing more inner leadership. Inner leadership is a key skill for success in all areas of life, but it is essential when dealing with people from other cultures.
Trust-Based Teams: Think about all the relationships that make your life satisfying and successful. If you examine them all, you will find that they are based on trust and mutual respect. Trust and respect are harder to develop with people that have different cultural values and behavioural norms. If you are working with people from other cultures, whether virtually or face-to-face, understanding how to develop good relationships is the key to your success and satisfaction.
Workshops and Webinars for Groups & Teams
Cultural Intelligence workshops are designed to provide your group or team with the awareness, knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the global economy.
German-American workshops provide both the big picture and subtle details of German and American cultural differences that affect communication and collaboration in the workplace.
Team Development workshops focus on developing the dialogue skills necessary to create trust and respect among team members. The level of trust within a team or organization is one of the best predictors of long term success.
In these workshops I use a wide variety of methods: Case studies, critical incidents, lectures, group discussions, role-playing, films and individual reflection are all employed. The goal is to give participants both cognitive knowledge and authentic experience of the intercultural working situation. The choice of methods for any given situation depends on the training objectives, the time available and the composition of the group.
Incorporating training sessions into actual work assignments is highly cost-effective as both an educational and a teambuilding method. In one workshop for a global team, I focused on understanding cultural differences as they played out in real-time during actual business meetings. We were able to both discover different expectations that participants had of business meetings as well as develop more understanding and rapport among team members. As a result, the team not only accomplished more in that meeting than they usually did, but their team meetings in the future also became more effective and energizing.