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From Third Culture Kid to International Business Etiquette Expert
She lived abroad as a child and as an adult; she studied, worked, and traveled to more than 70 countries on 7 continents; she speaks French and Czech. Today Sharon Schweitzer has built a career around understanding cultural differences and the tremendous role they play in building strong and successful international business relationships. And at The Culture Mastery we are honored that Sharon is a partner trainer and ally in building cultural competence for our clients.
On this podcast episode she shares her experience of growing up as a U.S. military child in Japan and how the experience of attending Japanese schools affected her return to America.
Sharon is also the award-winning author of the best-selling international business book, Access to Asia, a guide providing insider tips on culture, dining etiquette and business protocols across the globe, in the USA and ten Asian countries.
One of her key insights that most Westerners sometimes forget or ignore is the fact that personal relationships represent a highly valued currency for success in Asia. Respecting the desire of most Asian cultures to establish, build, and maintain close ties with potential business partners will go a long way for achieving commercial goals.
Sharon’s recommends a two-step approach for crossing cultures:
- Have a true sense of who you are, and then
- Adjust to different environments gradually without loosing yourself in the process
Connect with Sharon via her various social media channels: Her personal Twitter account (@sharonschweitz) and that of her company (@access2culture), LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+, and Facebook. To keep up to date with Sharon’s blogging activity check out her author’s page on the Huffington Post, where she shares a significant amount of content and thought leadership around crossing cultures.
Since this episode was published around the 2018 Chinese New Year celebrations, get a taste of Sharon’s work with this article on the Year of the Dog.
Sharon Schweitzer and The Culture Guy (aka Christian), enjoying some authentic Texas BBQ after a successful cultural training session
During our conversation Sharon also mentions the Global Thinkers Forum, a global platform that brings together a diverse network of thought leaders creating meaningful conversations around global challenges and trends.
Do you have feedback for The Culture Guy, Questions, Comments?
Listener feedback for The Culture Guy Podcast continues to be excellent and we encourage you to keep sending us your input for future episodes:
- What are your tips and tricks for cultural adjustment?
- What were some of your most memorable “cultural fool moments”?
- Which topics would you like to hear discussed on future podcast episodes?
To send in your feedback for the show, please email Christian and use our social media outlets: The Culture Mastery Facebook Page, the Facebook Page for The Culture Guy Podcast, our company’s Twitter feed, Christian’s personal Twitter, and our Instagram profile.
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