Culture-Conscious International Ltd provides customised Global Leadership Coaching for business leaders, HR professionals, and expatriates. We spoke with Culture-Conscious International Ltd’s president, Jan O’Brien to discover more about the success of her firm.

Culture-Conscious International Ltd provides customized Global Leadership Coaching for business leaders, HR professionals, and expatriates, and for anyone seeking to develop their intercultural competence and leadership skills in the global arena.

By working with CultureConscious International, their clients learn how to eliminate confusion and disorientation when dealing with different world views and business practices, and to develop more trusting relationships with their international counterparts. Also, they learn to develop a practice of self-leadership, that will give them the skills and confidence to successfully handle the challenges and opportunities of living and working in a multicultural environment.

As a Master Certified Coach, through the International Association of Coaching (IAC), and a senior facilitator with Personal Leadership Seminars, Jan is passionate about supporting global business leaders to become more effective and inspired so that they can expand what is possible in their leadership. What Jan means by ‘what is possible’ is the cross-cultural context where so often, leaders struggle. By building trusting relationships and phenomenal communications, leaders who practice intercultural competence and mindful and creative leadership, can effectively transform their multicultural business experience.

Kickstarting the interview, Culture-Conscious International Ltd’s president, Jan O’Brien begins by telling us a bit more about the company’s overall mission, and the steps they take to ensure they achieve it.

“At Culture-Conscious International Ltd, our mission is to provide support to global business leaders so that they can become more effective and inspired, in order for them to be able to expand on what is possible in their leadership. Included in our coaching packages, is a global leadership assessment tool that helps you to cultivate an effective intercultural mindset. Its focus is uniquely on you and how you as an individual approach your work in the international arena, and it reflects the ways in which you would tend to behave in intercultural settings.

When discussing what differentiates the firm from competitors, Jan goes into detail about how she delivers her coaching package, and what’s included within it.

“My way of delivery is on a one-to-one or small group basis, which allows me to do both feedback and feed forward and is unique to each individual. The format of my coaching package has a minimum time frame of three months via phone, Skype or online platform. Coaching individuals and small groups over an extended period, makes a much greater impact than putting people into a one-dayonly classroom environment. Now, I combine the strengths of past training experience with a delivery through coaching.

“Included in my coaching package, is a private online journaling/note-taking site which only I and my clients have access to. This is a platform where they can document their progress, challenges and intercultural experiences and receive continuing support between coaching sessions. Through this tool, I have the ability to stay connected to my clients on a continuing basis, even when they are traveling or located overseas. This provides a method for my clients to give me immediate feedback. Also, I respond to their online posts, observations and questions and help them discover timely solutions.”

Bringing the interview to a close, Jan envisions what the future holds for the company.
“My company is constantly evolving, and I strive to remain open to potential changes and new possibilities in my profession – including what is of interest to my clients! As a result of numerous requests, I am excited to share that I am now offering Personal Coaching, which includes a process for taking leadership of yourself when faced with challenges and personal and professional transitions.

“The central method I use is called Personal Leadership: Making a World of Difference™. Personal Leadership (PL) is about mindfully and creatively taking leadership of yourself, accessing your inner wisdom, your full intelligence, and your personal resources. PL, (developed by Sheila Ramsey PhD, Barbara Schaetti PhD, and Gordon Watanabe EdD) has been developed and tested for over 15 years with people from all over the world, in a wide variety of contexts including leadership development, global business, teambuilding, intercultural relations, international education, expatriate services and personal development.”

Looking ahead, Jan notes on some of the changes she thinks may occur within her industry, highlighting some of the significant research that has already begun.

“Given the significant research being done in the area of social and emotional intelligence, I am continually exploring new skills for my own professional development, including a social and emotional intelligence assessment. Then, I in turn, support my clients to incorporate new developmental pathways for them to explore, measure and develop for themselves. These, and other skills and tools that I use in the coaching process will bridge the gap between my clients’ present situation and their goals for the future, while ensuring that the changes are sustainable and empowering.

“Coaching, as described by the International Association of Coaching (IAC),
‘Coaching is a transformative process for personal and professional awareness, discovery and growth.’”

Company: Culture-Conscious International Ltd

Contact: Jan O’Brien

Contact Email: [email protected]

Address: The Stables, Watermill House, Chevening Road, Chipstead, Kent TN13 2RY, United Kingdom

Web Address: www.culture-conscious.com