Amanda Cahal
The world is watching the Summer Olympics in Paris, which brings together athletes from more than 200 countries.
It’s a celebration of sports and international cooperation–-and it serves as a reminder of the importance of effectively communicating and interacting across cultures, said Amanda Cahal, adjunct faculty member and director of EMBA Global Programs at the Daniels College of Business.
“The Olympics brings to the front of our mind all of these different cultures, nationalities, ways of doing things and ways of celebrating,” said Cahal, who is certified in Thunderbird’s Global Mindset Inventory, as well as the Insights Discovery System, a communications style assessment leveraged at Daniels.
Whether they are sharing time on the field or living together in the Olympic Village, Olympic athletes are getting a crash course in multicultural communication at the Summer Games, Cahal said—and it’s a skillset that is growing in importance.
Cross-cultural communications and a focus on connection have always been important topics in the business world, but they have become even more prominent in the past several years; technological advances, social media, remote work and other factors have created a more globalized society.
“With the touch of a button on LinkedIn, we can connect to anyone anywhere in the world,” Cahal said.
There may be hurdles to overcome, but being able to communicate across cultures has big benefits. It can enhance collaboration and diversity, improve client relations and allow for more robust insights.
So, what are the keys to better connecting across cultures? Cahal has some strategies that can help.
Be open and curious
“Curiosity is a huge piece of it,” Cahal said. “It’s this idea of being a bit uncomfortable, where you can sit in that and ask questions and be curious and stay open—all of this is really important.”
Reflect on your own culture—then learn where you can adapt
Cahal said it’s important to understand that where we come from drives how we view things. Instead of simply focusing on other people’s differences, also reflect on who you are, what defines you and how you might come across to others.
“Culture is values and beliefs that become the norm,” she said. “We talk in class sometimes about what’s in your core, what’s a very fundamental belief that no matter where you are in the world, or no matter who you’re speaking to, that wouldn’t change.”
Then, reflect on things you can flex or bend to better communicate and connect with other cultures.
“One of the examples I use sometimes in classes is when we go to Vietnam and you try to cross the street, it goes against everything you’ve ever been taught,” she explained. “In Vietnam, there are mopeds everywhere and the traffic will never stop, so you just have to step into the traffic, and people will go around you. It’s terrifying the first time you do it, but if you don’t flex on that, you’re not going to get anywhere—literally nowhere.”
Don’t be on cruise control
Most people have their own belief systems and ways of doing things—and then “make their own assumptions about a particular person, culture or nationality based on very little information.”
“It’s very easy to be on cultural cruise control and assume, ‘My way is the best way—the only way—to operate, to communicate, to have a belief system, to run a company,’” Cahal said.
Instead, ignore the assumption that your way is best—and be willing to adapt, ask questions and learn about other people, other cultures and other ways of doing things, Cahal said.
Understand if a culture is more relationship-based or task-based
In the U.S., many business leaders are very task-oriented and results-based. “As a culture in this country, we jump right into business,” Cahal said. But many other countries, including the recent Executive MBA global trip destinations of Rwanda and Uganda, are instead relationship-based. “When communicating with people from those cultures, it’s important to ask about their family and focus on that relationship piece,” she said.
“You’re not going to get your questions answered, you’re not going to get work accomplished, without building a relationship first.”
Understand that cross-cultural communication skills benefit everyone
No matter what field you work in or where in the world you live, being able to communicate across cultures is a skill that is in growing demand, Cahal said.
“We often say to the students in the global business class, ‘Whether you decide you’re going to be an expat when you graduate, or you’re going to stay in Denver for the rest of your life, you will use these skills,’” she said. “We live and work in a very global, multicultural world, and that is going to be more and more true as populations grow, as demographics change and as technology continues to supercharge our communication.”