LEADING AND MANAGING ACROSS CULTURES

Hands-on guide to global best practices and their re-applications in your business.

ABOUT
THE PROGRAM

OVERVIEW

4 x 1/2 days online via Zoom

•  First half-day: 15 October 2024
•  Second half-day: 22 October 2024
•  Third half-day: 29 October 2024
•  Fourth half-day: 7 November 2024

Price: EUR 1650

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

Do you know…

  • How to sell your ideas to your foreign boss?
  • How to build an efficient team with people from 15 different countries?
  • How people from other cultures see you and why this is important?
  • What the ”cross-cultural hygiene factors” are and how to use them in selecting, motivating, leading your people?
  • How you should switch between high-context and low-context communication to fit your audience?
  • How you need to handle daily cultural conflicts in today’s interconnected ”global village”?

In today’s increasingly international, cross border, cross cultural work environment having the answers to the above may make the difference between successful leaders and ”management drop-out”s.

We will not only show you the best existing models for inter-cultural communication and people management, but we will also practice how you can use them in real-life.

For whom: Middle to senior leaders working in an international environment, whose roles involve acting in multiple countries, or company owners who are eager to expand internationally.

PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Sandy Vaci

Faculty

Co-Facilitator

Javier Monedero

Primerica
Citibank
Spanish Embassy (Iraq)

MAIN TOPICS

The purpose of the Leading and Managing Across Cultures program is to:

  • show you the best existing models for inter-cultural communication and people management.
  • practice how you can use them and review dozens of personal ”case anecdotes” to illustrate every point.
  • learn how to turn understanding of hidden cultural differences to your advantage – in business and also personally.

External influencing 

– dealing with customers, partners

  • Archetype assessment, cultural coding definition
  • Defining and exploiting hidden self image differences
  • Cultural segmentation for unobvious biases
  • Selling and negotiating in different cultures
  • Reinforcing and changing cultural biases – at individual and group levels

 

Internal influencing

– dealing with HQ and subsidiaries, bosses, peers, employees

  • Understanding how you are seen from other cultures
  • Putting your sales pitch in the other person’s cultural context
  • Defining the right level of context for your message
  • Estimating context needs when dealing with unknown backgrounds
  • Using your cultural understanding to create the best message, delivered the perfect way

 

Cross-cultural management in the 21st century

– being ”on-line, all the time”, globally

  • How the interconnected ”global village” increases the risk of cultural conflicts
  • How to create your interaction model, instead of reacting to cultural differences
  • How on-line cross-cultural management differs from the ”old” models
  • Multi-cultural, digital leadership techniques for the 21st century

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

This course is founded on the extensive leadership, teaching, and coaching experience of the faculty.

During these immersive sessions (4x half days) the participants will experience how their identity shapes their experience, and how to capitalize on their unique style to build trust, partnerships, confidence, and success. We will also will solve number of case studies such as: TEVA, Volkswagen, Nestlé, Uniqlo.

This is a highly interactive program that requires active participation. Besides individual participation we also focus on teamwork, group exercises, and learnings from each other’s experiences. Selected literature will be referenced for pre- and post-work and further individual development.

The sessions will also provide opportunities to create a strong network, build mentoring relationships and lifelong support. 

DAY 1

Setting the scene
  1. “What are we dealing with?” – CULTURAL vs. other biases
  2. “Why should we care?” – BUSINESS vs. personal impacts
  3. “Where do we start?” – EVERYDAY survival techniques in different cultures
  4. “What are the basics?” – cultural HYGIENE FACTORS to build and manage diverse teams across countries and cultures
  5. Reading lists, homework challenge

DAY 2

Proven cultural leadership models explained and made useable
  1. Edward T Hall – cultural archetypes, basic drivers
  2. Clotaire Rapaille – cultural coding, re-coding, influencing
  3. R. D. Lewis – cross cultural engagement and communication models
  4. G. Hoefstede – business applications in multi-national companies
  5. Reading lists, homework challenge

DAY 3

In-company vs. external (market) influencing
  1. Managing employees, bosses, suppliers, business partners
  2. Selling and influencing in other cultures
  3. Penetrating new markets using cultural diversity models
  4. Different layers of “culture” – in-company, in-market, in cyber-space
  5. Reading lists, homework challenge

DAY 4

Advanced models for break-out business advantage
  1. Cultural coding and re-coding – examples, techniques
  2. Using self-perception segmentation for defining products, messages, delivery models
  3. Culture vs. “Gen Z”, “Millennials”, others – finding and managing impact points
  4. Culture vs. AI, online / remore work and the latest “management fads”
  5. RECAP, next (personal) steps

Learning Outcomes

Following successful completion of the program, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the components of cultural diversity and how they can be managed / changed
  • Be able to take advantage of unique insights derived from cultural understanding
  • Learn how to build multi-cultural teams and lead / develop people with different backgrounds
  • Develop a comfort level in creating, and working in, an efficient multi-cultural work environment
  • Learn and practice the general skills needed to manage and lead across diversity

ABOUT THE FACULTY

Sandy Vaci

Faculty

Sandy is an international senior executive from Canada, with 40+ years experience in 40+ countries, across 4 continents.

He started his career at P&G Canada, then, at the Royal Bank of Canada, worked closely with Dr. Clotaire Rapaille, global authority in cultural archetyping and author of the bestsellers “The Culture Code” and “The Global Code”. Sandy drove international expansion at Cadbury International (North Am, Lat Am, Eu, Middle East) and RaiffeisenBank International (15 CEE countries). At Citibank Global Consumer Bank he was responsible for digital strategy for 18 countries across Europe, Middle East, Near East and Africa.

Since retiring from executive duties as CEO – Austria at the Royal Bank of Scotland, he has been helping companies in Africa and Asia through CapPlus Exchange, a Chicago based NGO and splits his remaining time among lecturing, mentoring and board duties. He is also founder/owner of the Codebreakers™.

MORE THAN 1000 EXECUTIVES HAVE TAKEN PART IN THE JOURNEY!
LEARN FROM THEM!

Bálint
Hoffer

Vice President, GL Accounting, International Reporting & Intercompany

ViacomCBS

Karol
Jakubek

Managing Director

ROSSMANN Czech Republic

Martina
Martinić

Project Center Director at Rijeka Refinery Upgrade Project

INA Grupa

Gábor
Heiszmann

CIO

UNIQA Biztosító

Predrag
Vasic

Member of the Executive Board

OTP Srbija

András
Becsei

Deputy CEO, Retail Division

OTP Bank

SEED Business Leadership Program has been a real eye opener for me in terms of how many leadership tools I can have in my toolkit and how to use them intentionally. It was a great realization how simple things can change the game and lead the organization to an enhanced performance.

"One of the best workshops, which I have ever experienced."

Great venue with a comprehensive leadership principles overview, focusing strongly on a practical side of leadership. I really enjoyed the teamwork during the training and I can strongly recommend the program to those, who would like to move their leadership skills to upper level.

"I am absolutely thrilled with the program."

You start from aspiration and values, continue with building the story around people and, at the end, you tackle with your final goal – how to drive the business. Mentoring and coaching techniques during the program are refreshing and using these techniques after the program suit you with the most useful tool – how to learn continuously and efficiently.

One thing I loved about this course that we were able to meet people – both presenters and participants – who has a waste experience in their industries. I can mention the President of Vodafone, the CEO and founder of WizzAir. Furthermore, I was in the same working group with the Senior Vice President of MOL from whom I could learn a lot. I would recommend this course to any executive leader who is humble enough to open up and has the willingness to look inside and understand what his weaknesses and areas of development are.

SEED is one of the best things that happened to me during the last several years.
It gave me new vision and the energy to try to become a better leader than currently I am.

SEED’s Business Leadership Program was a very good executive educational program for me. What I gained from SEED and what it means for me is how to set aspirational goals, and how to build a team to achieve these goals.