I joined the Rockefeller Global Leadership Program seeking tools for adaptation, cross-cultural communication, and a deeper understanding of my own cultural identity. I never imagined the program would open quite as many doors for me as it did! We learned how to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, how to be vulnerable in front of a large group, how to approach certain situations, and how best to be a global leader.
[more]My culture has been socialized since a very young age. I come from a Chinese immigrant family, and they raised me under Chinese cultural norms. Many of the norms I am familiar with may sound absurd to a white American family. For example, I was never grounded; my parents would instead hit me with household objects. When I would visit China, the physical space also contributed to my culture. Meals were always held together at the dining table, and no one would start eating until everyone was seated.
[more]Being a global leader means that you are comfortable with being in uncomfortable and new cultural situations. It also means that you consider and understand how your culture, however normal it feels, may also be confusing to those of a different culture. Each culture has its own subtle differences including individualism versus collectivism, different amounts of directiveness in communication, types of leadership styles, among others.
[more]A cultural experience that took me out of my comfort zone, and yet was extremely valuable to me, was when I stayed at a boarding school in a small town in Poland for a few weeks. I had the opportunity to travel to Szamotuly, Poland my junior year through an exchange program with my high school. It was a history program devoted to studying the history of cultural diversity in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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