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    Unleash the Power of Diversity: Multi Cultural Competence for Business Results
    Unleash the Power of Diversity: Multi Cultural Competence for Business Results
    Unleash the Power of Diversity: Multi Cultural Competence for Business Results
    Ebook183 pages1 hour

    Unleash the Power of Diversity: Multi Cultural Competence for Business Results

    By Debjani Mukherjee Biswas

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    About this ebook

    Cultural diversity savvy is critical for business results in an increasingly global workforce.The author has developed groundbreaking new frameworks and a practical guide to increase effectiveness through multi-cultural competence. In his endorsement, Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers50 Award Winner for Most Influential Leader Thinker in the World says:

    "Diversity - it's been a buzzword in corporate and political circles for about a decade. But most books on leadership and management simply don't address its importance to an organization's ability to survive and thrive. Enter Mukherjee-Biswas' Unleash the Power of Diversity. After reading her thought provoking book, few executives will be able to ignore the relevance of diversity to their company's growth and success."

    The Five Judgmentsanalyze the very real cost of stereotyping in the workplace based upon:

    Reputational Currency
    Physical Impact
    Auditory Cues
    Distinguishing Markers
    Work Product

    A Diversity Forayprovides a practical global toolkit of Dos: *Ask * Adapt * Accept * Appreciate; and Donts, with real life scenarios from multiple continents.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateJul 30, 2013
    ISBN9781481760768
    Unleash the Power of Diversity: Multi Cultural Competence for Business Results
    Author

    Debjani Mukherjee Biswas

    Debjani Mukherjee-Biswas is a renowned diversity strategist, consultant and international public speaker. Her unique background (Asian female IIT engineer, former North American Fortune 50 executive, certified Executive Coach, extensive global work history) makes her diversity insights and analyses tremendously authentic. Her powerful, original frameworks have been introduced to clients and audiences in 23 countries. Currently Principal of Coachieve (www.coachieve.us), she specializes in CEO/ Executive Coaching, Customized Workshops, Organizational Design and Leadership solutions to 'unleash the power within’.

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      Book preview

      Unleash the Power of Diversity - Debjani Mukherjee Biswas

      CONTENTS

      Section One

      Laying the Foundation

      Chapter 1

      Introduction

      Chapter 2

      Mission

      Chapter 3

      Culture Defined

      Chapter 4

      Self-Assessment

      Chapter 5

      Emotional Intelligence

      Chapter 6

      Johari Window

      Section Two

      Introducing Original Frameworks

      Chapter 7

      The Five Judgments: the cost of stereotyping in the workplace

      Chapter 8

      Diversity Foray: a new model for cross cultural effectiveness

      Chapter 9

      The Four A’s: do Ask, Accept,

      Adapt, Appreciate

      Chapter 10

      Don’t SPACE (Shun, Patronize, Assume, Crumble, Escalate) out

      Section Three

      Examining the Five Judgments

      Chapter 11

      Reputational Currency

      Chapter 12

      Physical Impact

      Chapter 13

      Auditory cues

      Chapter 14

      Distinguishing Markers

      Chapter 15

      Work Product

      Chapter 16

      Synthesis of the Five Judgments: the Orchid Effect

      If we synthesize the five judgments, we have the orchid effect.

      Section Four

      Cultural Norms: a Practical Global Toolkit

      Chapter 17

      Unwritten Rules of Engagement

      Chapter 18

      Dress Code

      Chapter 19

      Communication Guidelines

      Chapter 20

      Feedback skills

      Chapter 21

      Building Trust

      Section Five

      Conclusion

      Chapter 22

      Call to Action

      Appendix

      Table A: World Religions by Percentage

      Table B: Religious Groupings of the World

      Table C: Spoken World Languages

      Acknowledgments

      To my mother, Reba Mukherjee: you anchor my life with your deep and innate kindness, mental strength, and unconditional love. Your biggest gift is the unshaken belief that I can—and will—unleash the power that lies within us all.

      To my family who are friends (some in spirit—Dadumoni, Bappi, Baba, and Kudy) and to friends who feel like family: the journey starts and ends with you.

      To Marshall Goldsmith: your support and encouragement is a huge gift. Thank you seems inadequate.

      To clients and session participants all over the world: this book is bolstered by the powerful learning and life experiences you trusted me with.

      Finally, for every leader and individual who seeks to leverage diversity as a competitive advantage: this book is for you.

      Advance praise from five continents and sixteen countries:

      Austria: Debjani Biswas is a brilliant and very inspirational woman. Her thorough knowledge and thinking in the intercultural field is what we need globally now more than ever.—Cornelia Kalcher Tsuha, Founder of Global Success Coaching

      Australia: "I’m delighted to know that Debjani Biswas is sharing her expertise in Unleash the Power of Diversity: Multi cultural Competence for Business Results. Debjani’s ideas are clear, groundbreaking, and practical. The learning from her ideas has continued to influence my interactions and ways of thinking in powerful ways. Once this book is available, I plan to devour more of Debjani’s insights and frameworks for my own personal growth and for the development of my professional capacity to contribute to local and global communities characterized by respect and diversity."—Andrea Dean

      Canada: Debjani Biswas is an excellent communicator and someone who demonstrates a real commitment to supporting change. I appreciate Debjani’s advocacy for diversity because now more than ever we need all hands on deck!—Alison Hendren, MCC, CEO of Coaching out of the Box ®

      Germany: As an Indian female engineer who spent two decades working in corporate America, Debjani Biswas can relate to the topic of diversity with good reason. Considering her individual journey through life—her impressions, ideas, and the advice given in this book become tremendously authentic.—Ladislaus von Daniels

      Ghana: If you’re searching for ways to increase your cross cultural effectiveness, immerse yourself in the Diversity Foray. With Debjani Biswas’ inspired guidance and practical toolkit, you’ll find yourself gazing into a mirror to see your cultural biases and examining options to improve everyday interactions. Using the tools provided, you can start adopting more effective behaviors and move towards becoming a diversity master.—Linda Smittle, Peace Corps Volunteer

      India: Debjani Biswas has, from a very young age, combined exceptional intelligence and diligence in equal measure. I wish her every success—in the certainty that she deserves every bit of it.—Mondira Jha

      India: Delighted that Debjani is synthesizing her vast experience into a book. Knowing her as I do, I am sure her book will be full of wisdom, yet eminently readable.—Rupa Mahanty

      Japan: I believe Debjani Biswas is walking and living diversity. I had several coincidence events—I would say ‘synchronicity’—during the International Coach Federation global conference in 2012 in London with Debjani. I think synchronicity is one of the most important diversity concepts.—Susumu Araki, CEO, Global Management Development Inc.

      Malaysia: This book is a must read for everyone interested in learning about diversity from a new, out-of-the box perspective. Debjani is presenting a new model that addresses diversity using a unique ‘engineering principles based’ approach to cross cultural effectiveness. I am very happy to see how she has developed a set of very practical tools, using an original approach to leverage understanding between people from different cultures.—Mario A. Bolanos

      Nigeria: The first word that comes to mind when you meet Debjani is ‘brilliant.’ She has been successful in a male-dominated field and that requires much applause. Debjani is an inspiration to women in science fields and will always be successful in all she does.—Ronke Okpa

      Norway: With smart differentiation and use of colorful words and concepts, Debjani Biswas has captured and explained the essence of different diversity concepts. In an easy and fun way, she manages to take us on a journey to identify certain patterns in ourselves and others without judging. It makes me want to read the whole book!—Berit E. Ôhn, MCC, Accenture

      Sierra Leone: Debjani Biswas’ view of diversity as a strategy challenges us to leverage our rich, diverse, and multi cultural perspectives and insights and to make a difference in everyday interactions. This results in personal and professional development and growth, which, collectively, ultimately leads to organizational success. I am excited about the opportunities Debjani’s counsel will unleash.—Yinka Massally

      Singapore: Knowing Debjani as I do, her book will be a huge success—not only for the thorough research she has done, but also for her analysis of this complex subject.—Aditi Krishnakumar

      United Arab Emirates: I am very privileged to have known Debjani Biswas. She is an inspirational role model. As her most recent accomplishment comes to light, I am very excited for her and wish her every success. I hope that her book contributes toward making our world a better place.—Kshama Motha

      United Kingdom: Debjani Biswas’ Diversity Foray is a mind-shifting insight and practical tool kit I am now using with my day-to-day personal and corporate clients. Learn this original coaching tool and you will see direct benefit. What I particularly like is the combination of practical insights (as a former executive of a Fortune 50 company) and an engineering background, applied in original frameworks to solve emotional, business-related diversity issues.—David Taylor, Vistage Group Chairman

      United States: Debjani Biswas is a woman of amazing intelligence, managerial courage, and strategic vision. Her writing style is both professional and personal. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about diversity while reading this book. It was as if I had my own diversity expert speaking to me in the same room.—Barbara Weinberger

      United States: Out of the box and into the fray: this challenging partnership of the mind and the written word strives to uplift our realization of human potential to levels that will help us—both singularly and collectively—to experience better days in the period ahead. I am proud to see Debjani Biswas blossom and grow.—Shahrokh Nemazie

      Venezuela: I believe in the power of diversity and consider Debjani Biswas to be a scholar when it comes to diversity. Through her personal and work life, she has been closely connected with the languages, culture, and work dynamics of the world. I wish Debjani much success in this book.—Alberto Galue, PhD

      Preface

      For years I have been asking myself these three questions:

      * What would happen if one applied an engineering mindset of pattern recognition and data harvesting to the messy, complex, emotionally charged world of diversity and inclusion?

      * What is the cost of cultural stereotyping in the workplace?

      * Is there a simple framework and toolkit we can use to reduce these costs?

      In short, how do we leverage multi cultural competence in an increasingly global workplace?

      This book is the first step in answering these questions, based on three distinct building blocks.

      First, the original frameworks:

      • The Five Judgments (the process by which stereotyping occurs)

      • A Diversity Foray (a practical toolkit for combating these limiting beliefs, with a series of dos and don’ts for greater cross cultural effectiveness)

      Second, how does this play out in the real world? The practical global toolkit is designed to provide clear guidelines to navigate cross cultural diversity dilemmas at work. We explore unwritten rules of behavior, communication and appearance, and how they impact trust and reputation in the workplace.

      Finally, this book serves as a handy reference guide and job aid for busy readers. This includes a digest of key concepts for critical segments, and tables on religious groups, countries and languages.

      This book is a compilation of over two decades of corporate and individual observations from multiple cultures. It is founded on personal opinions, experiences, and anonymous qualitative responses from hundreds of workshop participants and clients from twenty-three countries.

      As they say in Italian, divertitevi…

      Unleash the Power of Diversity

      Life is a promise; fulfill it.

      —Mother Teresa

      Section One

      Laying the Foundation

      Analyzing how this book relates to your mission in life

      and assessing your readiness to start the diversity journey.

      Chapter 1

      Introduction

      The journey of a thousand miles . . .

      My fingers are trembling ever so slightly.

      The date is October 17, 2012.

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