Mo11 – Successfully Consulting To Clients With Global Reach
Speakers: Dustin R Walling and Lee Mozena
Host: Tom Ingram CMC
Date and Time of Session
This session will be conducted from 4:00 PM till 5:15 PM on Monday October 26, 2009
Session Track: BUILD
Session Description:
Thomas Friedman argues the world is “flat”. But today’s global business landscape means your clients’ need for guidance on cross-cultural issues is increasing. This seminar covers top business issues in global business settings, provides a framework for understanding possible causes, and gives guidance and tools for improving relationships
Session Objective / Value
Despite Mr. Friedman’s claim of a “flat” world, engaging with people, suppliers, or vendors from distant cultures can make it seem anything but flat. Lack of understanding about the foreign business environment and very real cultural stumbling blocks that cause misunderstandings can set the stage for wasted capital expenditures, lost productivity, alienated stakeholders and clients that simply evaporate.
This experiential workshop challenges participants to examine common business situations from a variety of perspectives, some quite foreign to their daily reality, and start building skills on the spot. We’ll closely explore some of the most common and vexing issues that arise when businesses engage with global suppliers and partners, or acquire foreign human resources. The focus is on cultures unfamiliar to Westerners, such as India, Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Participants will be led through a diagnostic framework that enables them to recognize when common business issues stem from multi-cultural influences or a lack of understanding of the foreign business landscape. Through this framework, participants will build an understanding of the underlying causes, as well as how to confidently recommend options to clients.
Speaker Biographies
Dustin R Walling
Dustin Walling, MS, CPBA, is Principal of Dustin Walling Associates, a management consulting firm dedicated to helping companies and their leaders produce better results, get more satisfaction from their enterprises, and do more for the communities and environment in which they live. Dustin is a consultant, coach, writer, speaker, and thought leader.
Dustin’s specialty is strategic and operational consulting in the areas of leadership, organizational alignment, performance management, and professional development. His experience has included both public and private clients, including Warner Bros., Hollywood Video, Design Within Reach, iParty.com, as well as several universities and numerous small to mid-cap clients.
This experience has led him to be deeply engaged in the management of onshore, offshore, and cross-cultural virtual teams for the last decade, serving as witness to the changes that have occurred as the world has advanced and the challenges that can arise.
Dustin holds an MS in Psychology from Purdue University. He has lived in Colombia, traveled through Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist countries, and found love in India. He now resides in Seattle with his wife and calls Mumbai his second home.
Lee Mozena
Lee Mozena is the founder and principal of Zenith Diversity, a Seattle-based performance consulting corporation. Zenith Diversity helps clients explore the strengths of their own culture as a way to find answers to cross-cultural challenges that arise in the U.S. workplace. Ms. Mozena likes to educate clients about East/West differences and has developed a sub-specialty around working with Islamic culture.
A former educator who believes learning should be enjoyable at any age, Lee uses experiential techniques in her consulting and training, and is known for her warmth, wit and sensitivity.
She has an MA from the New School for Social Research in New York City, and Training Specialist Certificate from the University of Washington Extension Program.
