'I've Made It'

The World Cultural Tapestry

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Canada has often been called a mosaic but I prefer the image of a tapestry, with its many threads and colours, its beautiful shapes, its intricate subtlety. If you go behind a tapestry, all you see is a mass of complicated knots. We have tied ourselves in knots, you might say. Too many people only look at the tapestry of India that way. But if they would see it as others do, they would see what a beautiful, harmonious thing it really is” – Pierre Trudeau

A New Role for HR and L & D in India : Building Global Talent

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Organizations recognize good leaders, however they give little thought to how local leaders become international leaders and what support and training they may need to get them. If getting the most out of expats and executives doing business across borders is so important, why do so many companies get it so wrong? Is it because most do not believe the impact of culture shock and the cost of culture clash warrant the expense of programs designed to select or train candidates for international assignments despite the evidence?

The reality of today’s global marketplace requires companies to relocate staff to foreign locations to establish and nurture their business presence abroad. Many executives and managers sent to staff foreign operations are chosen for their skills and accomplishments within their native country. The assumption is ‘if they can do it at home, they can do it abroad’. Research suggests this is not the case, because over 75% of all international ventures fail due to cross cultural issues. CLICK HERE FOR FULL Research Study PDF

Ignorance of foreign languages and cultures costs US companies over fifty billion dollars a year in lost sales
- A US State Department Report

For research papers on Cross Cultural training in India check RESOURCES section

Are your teams, leaders and expats in India Culturally Competent?

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Do they know that someone from a different culture (like China) may be showing them respect by avoiding eye contact in conversation? Culture might also explain delays in decision making or lack of quick response to emails from colleagues or clients in the Middle East. In the West, it is common for managers to ask for opinions and feedback from teams. However, in some cultures (like India) that behavior may be interpreted as a weakness in leadership. ‘Saying it like it is’ may be direct and works in the USA, it may not work in Japan.

In today’s business environment, the new norm is working, meeting, communicating, entertaining, negotiating and generally getting things done with colleagues or clients across geographies and cultures. Hence the ability to communicate effectively across cultures can be complex and stressful.

Cultural Competence through training & coaching raises awareness by defining both differences and similarities and their importance in the workplace. It promotes clearer communication, breaks down barriers, builds trust, strengthens relationships, opens horizons and yields tangible results in terms of business success. It also provides practical information on how to communicate effectively way beyond a common language (like English or local language). Body language and other contextual messages are important aspects for leaders communicate across borders.

"Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another." Anita Sachdev

I’ve Made It – Intercultural Solution

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We endeavor to drive teams and leaders to successfully achieve cross-cultural congruence as well as develop the ability to have 'Conversations & Dialogues' by transforming messaging to connection, which in turn impacts both Individual Performance Rate (IPR) and effects the business bottom-line.

The practice covers the needs of multiple target groups such as Expats in India and Indians on assignments across the globe and/or virtual teams.

Our overarching differentiator and program theme is Unconscious Bias, Crossing Boundaries, Build Bridges. We believe our process allows for examination of the self, unconscious bias and beliefs held. The second step is building knowledge of the new country (from history, politics to art) and all factors that impact business and living across boundaries. The last step is developing skills to build bridges and be effective in a global role. The program scope takes the learner beyond cross-cultural sensitivity to focus the lens on how the leaders view themselves and their international colleagues.

I’ve Made It solutions are covered in depth to address challenges experienced by organizations and global leaders in following categories:

• Cultural Adjustment Consultancy
• Intercultural Programs
• International Assignments
• Intercultural Coaching

Click here for intercultural solutions with program offering PDF

Intercultural Program Delivery

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a. Clearing the air on how Intercultural Solution are delivered

Intercultural Programs can ONLY delivered by a person who has lived in a specific country (e.g .If an Indian is working with the Swiss the facilitator should be of Swiss origin or someone who has lived in Switzerland).	Incorrect
Programs can be delivered to Leaders/Expats in the foreign country they are assigned to by a local cross cultural trainer who has extensive experience about the country	Yes
Leader/Expat programs are delivered in the country of origin by any cross cultural consultant along with a country specialist (virtually)	Yes
Intercultural Coaching can be done by Country experts only	Incorrect
One day programs adequate for leaders to be successful in their assignment in a new country	Incorrect
After a 1 or 2 day program Intercultural coaching is not required	Incorrect

b. Global Best Practices on Program Delivery

• Intercultural Program delivery is unique unlike behavioral or soft skills programs.
• The programs are a mix of history, anthropology, cultural models, cultural assessments, opening the mind to the concept “Different is different, different is not wrong”.
• The focus is on building self-awareness as a leader in a new country followed by building knowledge and skills within the context of the deliverables.
• A country specialist delivers a specialized module virtually for 1.5 hours to fill in any gaps. The local facilitator who has understanding and macro overview of the “new country” works closely with the participant(s) to unknot the challenges, align with their new country with winning solutions.

c. I’ve Made It Intercultural Expertise

At I’ve Made It we have inducted over 50 Expats and worked with Indians on assignments to UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Middle East, Egypt, Japan, Brazil and more.

Anita Sachdev, Principal, I've Made It has lived and worked in 6 countries and educated in Cross Cultural Studies in Canada-USA-India. She is certified to deliver Cross Cultural Assessments and uses NLP and Cultural Intelligence understanding to align participants to working with new cultures. She can support participants and team working with any country!