Daily Archives: March 31, 2017

"As leaders of our shared global economy, we must continue to work towards gender empowerment and respect for people from all backgrounds and ethnicities, remembering always that we are all ultimately members of one race, the human race. Each one of us is uniquely different," Trump said, honoring 12 women at the 2017 Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Awards.

The awards honor women across the globe who have overcome injustice -- from domestic violence to environmental disaster to gender bias to acid attacks -- and gone on to transform their societies, often in the face of personal danger.

"We must continue once again to shine a light on the horrendous atrocities taking place around the corner and around the globe," Trump said. "We must continue to fight injustice in all its forms, in whatever scale or shape it takes in our lives. Together, we must declare that the era of allowing brutality against women and children is over, while affirming that the time for empowering women around the world is now. For wherever women are diminished, the entire world is diminished with them."

Wednesday's event was Trump's first formal on-camera speech since her husband took office. She made brief remarks thanking attendees at an inaugural ball and though she gave a speech at the White House on International Women's Day, reporters were escorted out of the room before she spoke. The State Department event comes as she continues to slowly embrace her first lady spotlight.

Trump spoke broadly and did not mention her husband or his administration during her 10-minute remarks, signaling a desire to remain above the partisan fray.

She personally handed out the 12 awards and many recipients became visibly emotional upon being honored.

"Their lives remind us of the boundless capacity of the human spirit when guided by moral clarity and desire to do good," she said of the honorees, encouraging those in the audience to consider what it would be like to experience the adversity they were each able to overcome.

"Ask yourself if you would have the fortitude of spirit, the courage of your convictions, and the enormous inner strength required to stand up and fight against such odds," Trump said.

She called for US and international communities to "remain vigilant against injustice in all its many forms."

During the campaign, Trump said she would seek to champion combating cyberbullying as first lady. More recently, she has identified women's empowerment as a key platform for her East Wing.

Her staff is slowly coming together -- on Monday, it was announced that Stephanie Grisham would serve as her communications director, joining chief of staff Lindsay Reynolds and social secretary Anna Cristina "Rickie" Lloyd.

Trump, who is living in New York with son Barron, 11, was on hand Tuesday evening to host a reception with senators and spouses. She is expected to make her move to Washington at the conclusion of the school year.

Her next major White House event will be the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn next month.

This story has been updated.

Link:

Melania Trump highlights women's empowerment in keynote speech - CNN

Consider cultural, national, local and familial dynamics when crafting a leadership development strategy that blends Eastern and Western cultures.

Learning in the East comes with cultural frameworks that are fundamentally distinct from Western learning paradigms. To develop effective leaders, learning leaders must not only understand those differences, they must respect them.

Whether conducting in-house learning initiatives or designing MBA curriculums, CLOs should become familiar with Eastern complexities around family, nationalism and degrees of personal empowerment all of which must be negotiated for successful learning engagements. The West offers many cutting-edge leadership strategies, but to remain relevant, they need to be presented using localized lenses.

Globalism is accelerating cultural exchange through popular entertainment, youth trends and political movements. Millennial workers in Asia are commonly more Westernized than their older co-workers. This often renders certain inherited cultural customs and markers of formality less important to younger generations, including the concept of lifetime employment. As a result, millennials in Asia are more actively job hunting to advance their careers and to increase compensation at a more accelerated rate than in past.

In recent years, China has experienced a boom of wealth, and as a result, more people under the age of 45 are constantly on the lookout for the next opportunity to maximize their earning potential rather than stay loyal to one company their entire career. Development is a part of that career mobility.

There are six key dynamics to confront to build effective learning in Asia:

Define a Leadership Philosophy

Nationalism in some Asian markets plays a greater role, and at times it outranks corporate interest. This is particularly true in the Peoples Republic of China where nationalism is first, and corporate allegiance is second.

As educators groom and develop leaders, it is important to depoliticize learning conversations. In the Academy of Management Perspectives article, In the Eye of the Beholder: Cross Cultural Lessons in Leadership from Project GLOBE, Mansour Javidan, Peter W. Dorfman, Mary Sully de Luque and Robert J. House advocated cultivating leadership behaviors that produce results and show effective leadership in different cultures and settings. Essentially, learning leaders should build a more inclusive leadership philosophy with a keen business performance focus.

Establish a Learning Culture

The Western teacher must be a learner, too, said Randall P. White, a psychologist and professor of leadership in global executive MBA programs at Duke Corporate Education. White is also an HEC Affiliate Professor for Paris, Doha in Qatar, and Beijing, and he teaches leadership for the TRIUM Global EMBA program. He said general expertise is often bound by a lack of specific expertise in the local culture. In that sense, we have to create a space where everyone in the room is learning and sharing those cultural differences. In making it fun like learning new expressions from the students the classroom becomes a safe environment to experiment and practice where everyone is learning.

The spectrum of behavior people can engage in while motivating learners in the development process can be wide or narrow based on culture. For example, the freedom to incentivize and encourage people is ingrained in U.S. organizations, but this trait is not typically as broad in the East. Therefore, classroom examples need to be tailored to account for this distinction.

A Westerner must continually consider how to develop leaders in ways that are locally acceptable and culturally appropriate. Discussions involving personnel reprimands, initiating change, coordinating group incentives and dealing with the rights and privacy of workers and management are typically more restricted in Asian organizations.

Respect Cultural, Familial Boundaries

The way leadership education is structured also should prioritize the different ways people interact with and prioritize their families in the East. Family support is often more available in Asia and the Middle East than in the West. Employees often have significant support to meet fluctuating job demands and to attend learning engagements. Working professionals have access to child care, and its more common to structure careers to stay near relatives and parents.

Americans often struggle to afford the kind of support Asians receive for child care. On the other hand, as structured meal times have historically been more common in Asia, adult children are expected to eat with parents and grandparents. While a lot of women work, they are more likely to go home at normal hours and spend time with extended family and children.

Meanwhile, men are expected to frequently partake in ying chou during the week, or networking dinners. However, in recent years, women have begun participating in ying chou more as well. Thats why having extended family nearby is so important; while both parents work or network, grandparents look after the kids, take them to tutoring, and make sure they complete their homework.

For example, if training is conducted off-site in Asia, such as a five-day engagement retreat, employees will consider bringing others based on how the family ecosystem supports the professional contributor. Further, the end of the training day may be understood differently in the East. Offsite training programs need to set clear expectations well in advance on what is required and what is optional with regard to networking after class.

Facilitate Learner Empowerment

So much of Western-based learning involves being assertive in the classroom environment. Asian learners may need more time to become comfortable speaking up, and Western learners may need to listen more.

Part of this discrepancy is due to the way in which conversations occur, either face to face or electronically. Sometimes the translation from English into another language happens via the use of a smartphone in real time, said Pasquale Mazzuca, managing director for TalentWorks Group, a global management consulting firm. If the educator is not aware of this they may interpret it as not paying attention to what is being said.

Conversely, when speaking face to face, Westerners tend to speak in clear, overt tones that can be considered rude in many Asian cultures where subtlety is valued more than directness. As such, educators need to become adept at understanding culturally specific communication styles, such as pauses in speech and differences in speech patterns. Educators also should exercise great care when expressing opinions, and practice etiquette with strong prohibitions against interrupting and preferences for polite pauses. These considerations encourage bright people to contribute.

Consider Risk and Innovation

Risk and innovation elements commonly addressed in executive education are tolerated differently according to culture. In Asia, stability is greatly valued. This is counter to the concepts that emerge when teaching risk, innovation and change management. One must teach these subjects in a way that helps people tolerate the anxiety they feel when things are not always predictable.

Being vulnerable is not always advisable. There is a saying that the tack that stands up gets hammered down. People tend not to do things that put themselves at risk emotionally or competitively, which can make thinking outside of the box difficult. In the classroom, learners should be given explicit permission to be different.

If the tone can be recalibrated when confronting change so that it fosters support and helps each person to learn, the environment will become less competitive, and people will be more likely to engage and answer questions. When learners understand that different opinions will help the team, they become more likely to propose innovative ideas.

In any culture, people wont do things unless they trust the other party. In the East, there is greater emphasis on forming relationships to earn that trust. It is the learning leaders job to create a classroom environment where participants feel safe participating collaboratively.

Dont Forget Egalitarianism: Age, Gender, Class and Deference

In the West, older people are often labeled unfairly as being resistant to change. But in many Asian cultures age is considered an advantage. Those who are younger are unlikely to challenge an elder since age is generally associated with wisdom. For instance, being assertive in a way that contradicts a superiors opinions could cause them to lose face or be embarrassed. Thus, being subtle is important so that superiors can save face while the younger person gets their message across.

Millennial employees often are challenged when leading people who are older. Learning to lead older colleagues or subordinates can start with simply maintaining the social customs already in place. Formal titles and avoiding first names when addressing senior employees maintains decorum and respect, but they do not have to compromise directives from young executives.

Enabling the more senior members to become mentors to the younger generations helps in the building of a positive relationship, Mazzuca said.

In Africa, Asia and the Middle East, a person may be of low rank within the organization but be a significant community leader. Its a reminder that an organizations culture only trumps national culture during the workday. After 5 p.m., ones personal ethnic culture may become primary.

Western approaches to executive education have much to offer, but they must be localized and adaptable to the home culture. Learning engagements are best when the process is reciprocal a cultural exchange that improves communication with Western offices and strengthens the global organization.

Lily Kelly-Radford is a psychologist and partner at Executive Development Group LLC. Comment below or email editor@CLOmedia.com.

Tags: executive development, global leadership, leadership

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FeatureBlend East and West for Effective Leadership Development - Chief Learning Officer

Fontainebleau Miami Beachs Wellness Escape is just around the corner (April 7-9) and to help get you pumped for the weekend of wellness, were rounding up the top events that cater to every personality whether youre a devoted yogi or a mindfulness master.

Fontainebleau's Wellness Escape will feature lots of opportunities to get your downward facing dog on. Whether youre a yoga novice or have been practicing for years, there will be something for everyone with classes led by Daybreaker and greenmonkey Yoga, which even includes a blissful session overlooking Miamis picturesque beach. What could be better?

Fitness buffs rejoice: The Wellness Escape provides plenty of high-energy ways to break a sweat and build a body you absolutely love. You can hop on a bike during SoulCycle demos, practice your moves during a dance cardio class with 305 Fitness, and get toned with Tone House, JetSet, and Barrys Bootcamp. Oh, and did we mention the Wellness Weekend will culminate with a dance party by Daybreaker?

Be sure to arrive hungry because there will be no shortage of food during the weekend of wellness. Look forward to interactive cooking demonstrations with award-winning chefs, including a make-your-own granola bar class, samples to try of the latest in nutrition, and healthy prix-fixe wellness menus to indulge in guilt-free at Fontainebleau Miami Beach's renowned restaurants.

Whether youre a wellness newbie or focus on wellness all the time, youll have the chance to try out the latest trends during the weekend-long event. Be sure to swing by the 21 Drops booth, where youll learn all about essential oil therapy. Then head to the Recover Me Cryo station and experience spot cryotherapy first-hand. Finally, dont miss a mini PEMF treatment with Dr. Sean Goddard. Lets just say, by the time the weekend is over, your friends will be coming to you for wellness tips.

The Wellness Escape isnt just about fitness and food: its also about personal empowerment and tapping into your spiritual side. Attendees will have the opportunity to try a meditation session and angel readings with spiritual mentor Nikki Novo, and participate in a group meditation class with Miami-based studio Innergy Meditation.

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Sponsored Post: 5 Events at Fontainebleau Miami Beach's Wellness Escape for Every Personality - Ocean Drive Magazine