by Caroline Leach | Jul 11, 2015 | Learning
Gracias, William Alexander.
“Very few adults who who tackle a foreign language achieve anything resembling proficiency,” he wrote in his New York Times piece, The Benefits of Failing at French.
That might be enough to dissuade me from my ever-present goal to learn to speak Spanish.
But if you persevere, he concludes, you’ll not only learn a new language, but you’ll also bulk up the synapses in your brain. You’ll do mental gymnastics that will enable to you speak a new language and increase you brain power.
This week I was inspired by the courage of an English-speaking colleague who welcomed a packed room of people in three different languages.
Having endured the good-natured ribbing of my family members when I studied Spanish a few years ago, I had great respect for this person. His pronunciation wasn’t perfect, but he moved beyond his comfort zone to show his dedication to welcoming a multi-cultural group.
And as I wrote in a recent post about working globally, learning a new language is critical to building bridges cross culturally.
For some time, “learn Spanish” has been on my list of annual goals. And every December in my year-end ritual of evaluating my progress, I haven’t yet been able to mark it as compete.
Why do I want to learn Spanish?
For starters, I live in Southern California. Close to half of the population speaks Spanish, and I should too.
If I’m speaking at a local event, I want to develop enough confidence in my pronunciation that I can at least say a few opening and closing words in Spanish.
And half of our company’s business is in Latin America, so learning to speak Spanish makes good business sense.
Spanish is the world’s number-two language based on the number of speakers, which puts it ahead of English. So it’s a logical place to start.
And I want to set a good example for my children, one studying Spanish and the other studying French.
So what’s my plan?
Over the years I’ve scoured the web, tried a class in my community and asked people for advice. Here’s what I’ve come up with.
- Rosetta Stone. This is how I started my studies before, and it’s come a long way with mobile options for my laptop, tablet and phone. I started my first module today and I’ll do 30 minutes daily. Maybe I’ll go for a stacked win from time to time and combine it with my treadmill time. At the end of each month I’ll evaluate how it’s going.
- Radio. During my commute time, I’ll listen to Spanish radio stations.
- TV. A colleague recommended watching favorite TV shows and movies in Spanish. Easy and fun to do with DIRECTV.
- TED talks. This is a good time to turn on the Spanish subtitles when I listen to new TED talks.
- Travel. My daughter went to Spain last year and said it was a life-changing experience. With my family, I’ll plan where our next trip will be. Argentina? Chile? Costa Rica?
Now there are even more reasons to learn Spanish.
Deséame suerte . . . or, wish me luck!
by Caroline Leach | Jun 28, 2015 | Change, Leadership, Learning
What are the work skills of the future?
My last post on Working Globally prompted me to revisit a fascinating report that the Institute For the Future published called Future Work Skills 2020.
It sets forth six change drivers in the world that will reshape how we work:
- Extreme longevity. How will you think about living your life that may extend to 120 years . . . or beyond?
- Rise of smart machines and systems. How will you effectively interact with machines in the worlds of work and play?
- Computational world. How will data drive your life and your decision making?
- New media ecology. How will you communicate effectively in a more networked, visual world?
- Superstructed organizations. How will you communicate and connect on a massive scale, beyond traditional organizational boundaries?
- Globally connected world. How will you increase the diversity of your connections and your adaptability to multiple cultures?
These disruptive changes then pointed to 10 key skills for the future. And while they apply to all workers, it’s interesting how many of them have specific implications for communicators.
That means corporate communications will take on even more significance in the future. Communicators have a key role to play in helping people make sense of complexity and focus on what’s most important to the organization and its stakeholders.
Let’s look at cross-cultural competency. As one of the 10 key skills of the future, it’s defined as the ability to work effectively in different cultural settings.
You could end up working anywhere in the world. Or working with other people around the globe, regardless of your geographic location.
And if you don’t see that opportunity in your current role, it’s something important to seek out where you are or in your next move.
And to work effectively anywhere in the world, you have to be adaptable and flexible. You have to quickly get a read on how people think, how they get things done, and what social and cultural norms they follow. These are great overall change management skills, too, by the way.
Striking the right balance in cultural adaption is also important. As Andy Molinksy of the Brandeis International Business School says, “adapt to a new culture, but don’t go too far.”
Not only should you assess how another culture is different from yours, he says, but you also need to understand the level of difference and adjust your behavior to the right degree.
This is where a focus on diversity and inclusion is invaluable. The Future Skills 2020 report highlights the important role of diversity, in both cross-culture adaptability and in innovation.
This is the ability for diverse teams to come together, identify their points of communality as well as the different perspectives and experiences that enable them to innovate, and created a shared agenda.
In my current role, the markets we serve in the United States and Latin America are diverse and evolving rapidly. Our workforce must fully reflect our customer base, as well as understand the needs of each customer segment.
We also depend on a constant stream of innovation, which is fueled by new ideas and new thinking that come from a diverse workforce. And an inclusive workplace culture is one that fosters collaboration, productivity and engagement.
Want to know more? Check out DIRECTV’s Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
And speaking of diverse teams, pictured above are just a few of my incredible colleagues. Every day I’m amazed and awed by their ideas, insights and accomplishments, and how they all come together to create a highly engaging work environment and corporate culture.
What other skills help to operative effectively in any environment? One is speaking the language. I’ll explore that in an upcoming post.
by Caroline Leach | Jun 21, 2015 | Leadership, Learning, Work/Life
“Mom, do I ship to Croatia?”
My teen daughter asked me that last year when she started selling items on Etsy.
She launched a small business from her room in Southern California. All she needed was her laptop, a broadband connection and some starter items to sell.
Questions began. Did she know how to research shipping rates and timelines to Croatia? Did she price her items with enough margin to cover the shipping costs? What about insurance?
Talk about a great learning experience. And it got me thinking about what it means to be a global citizen of the world. And how to work effectively with people across countries and cultures.
Karie Willyerd and Jeanne Meister have a great definition in their book, The 2020 Workplace.
We’ve been fortunate to have Karie speak at DIRECTV’s annual leadership meeting, global HR conference and our Young Professionals Network.
As the world becomes more global, social, digital and diverse, Karie and Jeanne define global citizenship as:
- Understanding how to conduct business in another country
- Developing increased cultural intelligence and a deeper appreciation of the relationship between business and society
- Being able to understand complex policy environments, and
- Knowing how to work in virtual teams with people from all over the world.
The best way to do that is to live and work in another country or region. The next-best alternative is to travel globally for your work or on your vacations.
And there are several other ways you can become a citizen of the world. I’ve been reminded of this recently by some of my colleagues in our DIRECTV Latin America business – Ana Diaz, Pamela Gidi and Sandro Mesquita to name a few.
Observe. Watch how people do things. Take your cues from how people communicate with you. Give as much weight to what is unsaid as to what is said. Pay attention to how people react to things – their words, actions and body language.
Early in my career I bought hardware for satellites. While most of my suppliers were U.S.-based, I also worked with companies in Japan, France and Germany. I learned how to observe people’s behaviors as much greater cultural indicators than only their words. I even wrote a magazine article about international subcontracting, a precursor to my corporate communications career.
Ask. In a respectful and thoughtful way, ask people for their ideas. Their perspectives. Their preferences. Ask why and how. As Stephen Covey said, seek first to understand.
Read. Libraries are a window on the world. So is the internet. Harvard Business Review has great pieces on global business. Nicholas Kristof and Thomas Friedman at the New York Times have fascinating global perspectives. Financial Times and The Economist are other favorites.
When I shared my daily news rituals in LinkedIn, Dan Weidman made a great comment about perspectives in The Guardian and the Daily Mail, so I’ve added them to my list.
Sometimes I’ll toggle my Wall Street Journal app to the Asia or Europe editions.
To fit in this reading, I follow my usual news scanning framework – scan the headlines for a quick sense of the news, and read at least one article.
Think. Make time and space to simply sit and think. This is great advice in Dorie Clark‘s new book, Stand Out, about generating breakthrough ideas and building a following around them.
How does what you’re observing, learning and reading all fit together? What development in one part of the world will likely to affect another? What business opportunities could result? How does that change how you prepare for the future?
Empathize. Put yourself in other people’s shoes. Ask how they’re likely to think about a new development. Ask how they are used to working. Ask what would be most convenient for them.
It can be as simple as scheduling meetings at a time that is convenient in their time zone to trying to write or speak at least a few words in their language.
Network. How diverse is your network? This is a great question that BCG’s Roselinde Torres asks in her TED talk on 21st century leadership.
Are your colleagues, friends and acquaintances of different ages, perspectives and backgrounds? How great is your capacity to develop relationships with people who are very different from you? It’s this diversity, Torres says, that gives you broader ability to see patterns and solutions.
At DIRECTV our seven employee resource groups are a great source of connections and insights. And in keeping with my work/life blend where everything is interconnected, I’ve enjoyed insights into a variety of cultures by getting to know the parents of my son’s soccer team members.
Learn. As in, learn a new language. For me, it’s Spanish. Because I live in Southern California and half DIRECTV’s employees are in Latin America, this makes the most sense.
I’m trying to use my commute time for learning and practicing. In part this is because no one is around to laugh at my pronunciation in the sanctuary of my car.
And if I can scale the significant hurdles of learning a language after the age of 10, there are multiple mental benefits according to a recent New York Times article by William Alexander.
How are you becoming a global citizen of the world?
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