We hear again and again that cross-border ventures fail because of cross-cultural differences. Why is that so? There are many reasons: for a start, we are not Spock! We do not possess the ability of the ‘Vulcan’ First Officer in Star Trek to carry out an instant ‘mind-meld’. If only one had the facility to place one’s hand on the head of a being from another planet (or culture) and instantly ‘know’ the contents, language and psyche of the ‘alien’ mind (and they ours) how speedily we could iron out mere terrestrial communication difficulties!
‘Greetings! I am pleased to see that we are different.
May
we together become greater than the sum of both of us.’
Vulcan greeting, Star Trek
Vivianne is a senior consultant, facilitator and coach with extensive experience of cross-border mergers and acquisitions, change and diversity projects. She specialises in cross-cultural management helping global executives with multicultural teamwork, leadership development and coaching across borders.
Her UK-based company Bridgehead Associates works with European and US multinationals in a variety of sectors: beverage, automotive, engineering, banking, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, travel, packaging, information technology, oil exploration, financial services and consulting. Recent projects have included assignments with twelve international corporations (from the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden) listed in the Financial Times ‘Global 500’ companies’ survey, 10 June 2006.
Vivianne is a member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and has coached senior executives from a number of countries. She now also works as a coach on behalf of the Center for Creative Leadership, an international research-based organisation with offices in the US, Brussels and Singapore offering leadership development programmes for global executives. Vivianne works on a variety of projects for the Global Diversity Network, a group of senior diversity leaders from major global corporations.
© Bridgehead Associates 2006
