Whilst IQ, and more recently EQ, were once regarded as the highest and most sought after qualities of leaders in western organisations, future leaders will be selected and judged by their levels of “CQ” i.e “Cultural Intelligence”, including their ability and aptitude for managing teams from diverse backgrounds and nationalities, overseeing cross-cultural communications, and handling cross-border negotiations and transactions. Very few of these skills are taught in western educational institutions and much of this has to be learnt from experience, trial and error, and listening to those who have done it all before.
David Thomas has spent the last 30 years living, working and managing relationships in the Asia Pacific region, including leading numerous missions, delegations and study tours to China designed to support western leaders on the ground and to highlight and address some of the cross-cultural challenges for their business and their teams, which always makes the difference between success and failure.
Past speaking engagements include:
- Property Profile Group Asia Day – Developing an Asian mindset
- William Grants & Sons, UK – Bringing China to You
- Real Estate Results Network – Three Cups of Tea
- First National Annual Conference – Doing business with Asians
- Louis Vuitton – How to sell luxury products to high net worth Asians