I crossed new bridges in 2024, ones I never dreamed of before. I've long likened my role to an East-West bridge, however, a new kind of bridge unexpectedly emerged this year: East-East.
Several examples:
✨️ Because I can speak Chinese and have worked in Japan, I found myself in a unique role: coaching executives from China on working with Japanese
✨️ Supported a senior Korean leader transition into her role managing her company's Taipei office and understanding the nuances of Taiwanese business culture
✨️ Partnered with a Taiwanese leader to develop her intercultural communication strategy as she started leading Indian and Thai colleagues
✨️ Led Train the Trainer sessions for a Japanese consultancy, who then adapted my Chinese-English materials into Japanese
In fact, I initially rejected the first case, as I thought I wouldn't be qualified. But as it turned out, I was, however, needed to adapt quite a lot. 👉 For eg, when working with a client from the US or Europe, there's a lot of foundational concepts to cover such as Confucian influences that just aren't necessary for those already within East Asia.
These experiences also inspired me to think deeper about the future of intercultural communication training, how to localize DEI in Asia to make it relevant, and approach cultural intelligence from a more holistic, intuitive perspective.
Thoughts for 2025:
Overall, there is a strong market in East Asia for intercultural communication training and coaching, however, it must be adapted to suit a relevant framework and develop its unique voice. Personally, I think it's fine to draw from Western models and research, but then 'follow the spirit rather than the letter' of the content, paired with rich local experience and expertise.
Kommentarer