From Peru to the Netherlands to Silicon Valley: Building Leaders Who Actually Get Culture with Maria Angela Calmet

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One of the ways that really changed the way of how I saw culture and leadership was when I was working in the Netherlands and I experienced firsthand how direct people could be before moving to the Netherlands, the way that I experienced directness was it was as if really someone was being mean. You know, why aren't you sugarcoating things? Why do you have to be there and you want to see me cry? It was mind blowing to understand that if really one, it has nothing to do with, me personally has nothing to do with that. The idea behind being direct is if I'm not direct with you, then you are going to miss out on an opportunity to learn and to grow. So why would I sugarcoat it? Because if I sugarcoat it, then you're not going to get the message. You're not going to get the idea. And if you don't get the idea or the message, then how is it that you're going to really strive to make it better or to change?

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Welcome to the A World of Difference podcast. I'm Lori Adams Brown and this is a podcast for those who are different and want to make a difference. What if the biggest blind spot holding back today's leaders isn't a technical skill or strategic thinking or even emotional intelligence, but their inability to navigate cultural differences? In a world where teams span continents, clients come from dozens of countries, continents, cultures, and a single misunderstood gesture can derail a million dollar deal. Cultural competence isn't just a nice to have. It's the difference between leaders who thrive globally and those who fail spectacularly without understanding why. Today I'm talking with Maria Angela Calmette, CEO and founder of Allopoli, an international best selling author of LIDERESA and someone who has worked across five continents building leaders who can actually navigate our complex multicultural world. With over 15 years leading projects from South America to Asia, from Africa to North America, Maria Angela has seen firsthand what happens when leaders get culture right and devastatingly wrong. But here's what makes this conversation different. Maria Angela isn't just teaching cultural awareness. She's showing us how to move from understanding our differences to actually integrating cultural competence into every decision we make, every team we build, every market we enter. And for women leaders, especially in Latin America, she's created a proven framework that's already changing careers and breaking down those barriers. Whether you're leading a global team from your home office, navigating international partnerships, or simply working with colleagues whose backgrounds differ from yours, this conversation will change how you see leadership itself. This is a conversation every global leader needs to hear. Let's dive in.

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Hi, Maria. A very warm welcome to our audience here at A World of Difference podcast. So exciting to see you today. How are you?

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Hi, Laurie. I'm very excited, too. Thank you for having me.

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It's going to be fun. We've already enjoyed being together in person here in the Bay Area a few times, including having coffee here where I live in the South Bay, and seeing each other at How Women Lead events, How Women Invest. And it's really exciting to get to have this conversation. We first met at our Get On Board week in Palo Alto for, you know, helping women get on corporate boards at that event. And I just had the conversation with you where we immediately connected on cross cultural intercultural as it intersects with business and the academia aspect of it all. And so I'm really excited because this audience is going to absolutely love everything you have to say today. So I'm really looking forward to getting into it. But let's first start off, give us a little bit about maybe some of the experiences that have formed you and shaped you as a person. So what are the cultures that have formed you and how do you sort of identify when people ask you? You don't have to say where you're from, because that's a hard question for a lot of people. But, yeah, what are the cultures and places that have formed you?

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So there's three main cultures that have really formed me. One is Peru, the Peruvian culture, the Netherlands, the Dutch culture, and then the States. So the American culture. And I was born in Missouri in the States. I moved to Peru at a very young age with my parents. Both my parents are Peruvian. So I grew up in Peru, and then I moved to the Netherlands for a couple of years to work. And then after that, lots of things happened. But then I moved back to the States. So I've been living already in the States for almost five years now. And these have really been the cultures that have shaped me, even as I see my own profile. Let's say I have a lot of things that are very Peruvian, a lot of things that are very Dutch, a lot of things that are very American. And I'm this kind of mix of the different cultures and different places that I lived in. And that's really, I think, what makes people who have lived in so many different countries so authentic. Because it's. You get. I get to pick and choose the best things of all the different cultures, and you choose to adapt to those.

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I love it. And this is one of the things that we really connected over because so many in this audience will relate to that. Whether you have been raised as an expat kid or you're an expat yourself or you're an immigrant or you've moved between countries and cultures at all, many people will have similar experiences to what you said, where you just sort of choose these parts that form you. And then sometimes it's not even necessarily a choice. You don't always realize that what you're doing is something that's cultural. So, like, I remember when I met my husband and we had been dating for a while, and then I took him on a trip to Venezuela with me, and he had never been there. We met in the States. He had grown up in Thailand and India. And when he went to Venezuela, he was like, everybody walks like you. And I was like, well, it's not me, it's the culture. So sometimes you think that it's personality, but it's really the culture and you've created. And you speak quite a bit on all of this topic and the nuances of it. So. So I'd love for you to tell us a little bit more about what led you to create Allopoli.

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Sure.

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So allopoly means it's allo, that means different, and poly, which means community. So it's how to get people from different communities together. And the reason why I created Allopoly was because I want to help companies and teams be the best that they can be. I want to help companies and teams reach their full potential, and that's via cultural competence frameworks and tools, as well as identifying those hidden biases or unconscious biases that we have. So by implementing these different cultural tools and identifying the biases, I am able to help teams, help companies minimize those conflicts so that they can maximize their. Either their team performance or just, you know, company performance overall.

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That's so exciting. Really is.

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I know. It's. It's one of the things that I really enjoy, and I guess that's really one of my purpose in life, is to share knowledge and also to help people become the best leaders that they can be or the best persons that they can be, the best person they can be. And aopoly really is part of my journey to do this. The first time that I did this, and we talked about it before, is my book LeaderZA, which is a leadership book for women. And the reason why I did that was so that I could share my knowledge and share my experiences with others. So ideally, it's. I, as a leader, went through so many mistakes so many things that happened, you know, if I can share them with you so that you cannot make these mistakes, I mean, hopefully it will ease your way to becoming the best professional that you can. And what I also talk about the book and what I share with a lovely also is my mistakes. We oftentimes hear about all the successes and all the great things that people achieved. And in this book and within a lopoly, I open up about the things that I did wrong. You know, I did this wrong, I did this mistake, I learned this way, and this was the outcome that I eventually overcame and was able to be successful. And with allopoly, it's very much the same that instead of, you know, women empowerment, it's actually cultural competence. Because for me personally, that was one of the most challenging experiences that I had. Moving from different countries, learning to speak new languages, adapting to culture. And again, there were. I made so many mistakes. If I had had these tools before moving or before leading teams in different continents, that would have helped me so much more. Or I mean, there's always going to be cultural shock, but at least I would have had the tools to best deal with this culture shock. And ideally, this is what I want to help leaders with. It's you're leading a team that might have different cultures and not necessarily a different culture comes from a different country. It can also be subcultures within that same country, and you're leading a team that are, let's say, from different cities, from your same country. And with that, it's really, how do you identify these unconscious biases that are cultural so that you can lead your team better? There's a couple of frameworks that I use, but in one, for example, you identify the similarities and differences that you have so that you can actually focus on those differences to provide value instead of judging them or minimizing them. And in the others, it's five cultural dimensions. And some of them, for example, is how direct or indirect you are. Are you really focused on relationship or on tasks? Are you egalitarian or hierarchical? So all these different things that you really don't know that you are that way. And I help people and teams identify it. And there's one really fun photo that I use or picture where you can see it's two fish in a bowl and a fish bowl full of water, and they're swimming, having a great time, and one of the fish asks the other, how's the water? And then the other fish is like, what's water? Because, you know, it's that's actually culture. These are the things, and these are, these are the things that I help teams and leaders identify. You know, what are these things that are so natural to them or so hidden that they actually aren't aware? Like the fish. That's not. I mean, it's swimming in water all the time, but it's not really aware that water exists. You know, what's water?

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Yeah, it's such a powerful metaphor. You know, I've heard people describe cultures like the ocean we swim in, the air we breathe. You just take it for granted.

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Right.

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When you're in it and you don't even acknowledge it. And that, you know, sociologists, anthropologists have really helped people have this lens. Like, what if you take off the glasses of your culture and that's sort of what you're helping people do. I'm wondering about this with you. Why is cultural competence important, especially for today's leaders? What have you seen with that?

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So lots of reasons, really. I have here, if you look at. Well, cultural competence, first of all, is one of the future's skills to have. According to the World Economic Forum, it's in the future of jobs report 2025. Global citizenship is one of the top next skills to have. And this is supported also by the Inter American Development Bank. Having said that, it's the way that I share or try to explain cultural competence and why it's important is with a tree analogy. And this tree analogy actually comes from Aperian. And it's imagine two trees, two separate trees, and you can see those trees. You can see the trunks, you can see the leaves, you can see the flowers. In one tree you have flowers, let's say, that are blue, you have long leaves and in the other one you have flowers that are red and that have short leaves. Those are the things that we can see. And in culture, those are the visible things of culture. The language that we speak, the way that we dress, the way that we behave. These are the different things that we can visualize in culture. However, all these things really stem from the roots. And the roots are really our beliefs and our assumptions, the way that we see the world, all these different things that have shaped, let's say our flowers or our leaves or our branches and cultural conflict really stems when we try to explain or understand the visual things, the flowers, the leaves, those branches from the other tree with our own roots. So understanding, you know, why does this tree have this color or this colorful flower when ours is completely a different color? Because it's based on our own roots on Our own assumptions on our own values and belief system. And that's what I help people do. And that's why really it's so important for cultural competence to be developed by leaders or for leaders to focus on that. Because without that again, going back to unconscious bias, we believe that everyone has the same values that we have. We believe that everyone has the same beliefs that we have. And once as a leader, if you try to develop projects or lead a team and you tend to minimize. Oh yes, because we are all, let's say human or we are, you know, we're all members of this company. We are very similar. And yes, you can be very similar. But this stems from an assumption that the values in each person of your team are the same values as your values or the belief system from every single person in your team are exactly the same as yours.

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Yeah, big mistake.

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Exactly. Exactly. So this is why really it's important to have cultural competence in leadership so that we can really understand and just either style switch or at least be careful. Curious enough to learn that, oh, they actually are different from me and learn more about that.

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Yeah. And increasingly, you know, we've been saying this for years now, but the world is becoming such a smaller place with how we work and these distributed teams. And not just because we're here in Silicon Valley, but this is true in Taipei and Singapore and in Rio and everywhere. There's so many people that are working in places where they're constantly working with a team virtually or in person, where people have different cultural values they're bringing in. And you mentioned these Hofsteids cultural dimensions. And you know, Erin Meyer with her culture map has really applied those to the business context specifically. It's been really helpful to a lot of people. So when you think about these competencies, maybe do you have an example of a situation maybe where there were two different worldviews showing up? Maybe it was around the way communication happens, whether it's, you know, low context or high context. Or maybe it's time orientation. Or maybe it was something around how decisions get made. Was it more consensus based or was it more, you know, the boss makes a decision, everybody gets in line and nobody questions. Do you have any examples of where you've seen that really clash?

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Oh, so many. I tried to pick some one that, I mean, I've been involved in decision making scenarios where they. It's very egalitarian and also very hierarchical. In the egalitarian. It was amazing because you could, I mean you would be sitting, sitting next to a CEO and it really didn't matter if that person was an intern. That person was going to be heard. The decision ultimately laid within the CEO. But that person, really, she or he had a voice and could speak to them. Hierarchical. It's usually it's just the management team that speaks or, you know, managers or heads of department, and really the interns or the assistants or the entry level people, they really don't speak up that much. It's more allowing the managers to speak up or make the decisions. So with that, it's really interesting to see how decisions are made in different cultures and to respect that and understand that. However, for me, I guess the most interesting aha moment, let's say, about culture was I was working at a multinational company. I was leading the sustainability projects in Africa. That company at the time was building a new factory in Egypt. So I was talking to the person in charge of that project in Egypt and he asked me if I knew the engineer that was in charge of building the factory. And I actually knew him. He was a friend of mine in the Netherlands. I knew his family, I knew his daughter, I knew his wife. And he asked me, well, how is he? Well, he's a great engineer. He's already built all these different factories for the company around the world. So he was really an amazing engineer. And then he asked me, well, but how is he as a person? And I just stopped because I really didn't understand why are you asking me, why is he as a person? How is he as a person? When you should be really, at least in my mind, you should be focusing on, does this person know how to effectively or efficiently build a factory? You know, is this person going to be able to build this factory within the allotted frame of time and within the resources? Not really, you know, if it's a good person or not, it's obviously important. But that wouldn't have been my first question to ask about that person, right? And he said no, because if he's not, let's say, a good husband or a good colleague or a good father, then how can I trust that he's going to be good in this job? How is he going to be trustworthy? And that for me was the aha moment. You know, it's. This is really how culture sometimes focused on relationship building rather than task. I myself am a bit in between. But it's really important. And for cultures that really focus on relationship building, you need that trust. It doesn't matter how if you are the best at your job or the best of what you're doing if there's no trust, nothing's going to happen. And the project probably it's, well, it's not going to happen really. And well, when you are task based, it's. You can actually get people from all over the world online and just get them to do a project and they really don't care who's working on the other side of the screen. They'll be able to just tackle the problem. And it's, it was this moment where oh my God, this is really someone that, whose way of thinking is very different from mine. And this is amazing. You know, it sparked that curiosity. It's like, oh my God, I didn't know, you know, that people could think this way. So yeah, lots of, lots of examples.

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It's so incredible. And I think, you know, this is why I truly believe this. Cultural competency, the global mindset has been acknowledged as such a key leadership core competency in the future of work. Because the more we interact with across cultures, the more we need that curiosity instead of a judgment about how the culture is showing up in the workplace. And the more we can hear from each other and do our work better and be better leaders. Like what you said you wrote your book about. Sometimes it's just a matter of that knowledge. You know, this culture operates this way.

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And then you know, you don't have.

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To operate that way, but what you do need to do in a global workforce is understand and be curious about why people are showing that this way. And maybe you'll have something that adds to your leadership and you'll want to adopt too, because it's something you never considered. As we think about these competencies though, what other key competencies do you consider are important for leaders?

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For leaders especially, there's four things that I consider that are most important and it's effective communication. Developing talent, visualizing the impact and think solutions. These are really the things that I focus more in my book. And it's again effective communication, not just the dimensions that we're looking at or direct, indirect or high context, low context culture, but it's really understanding who your target audience is and adapting the way that you communicate to them. In my experience, you can, you know, if you are in a town hall meeting, the way that you are going to present information has to be very, very different. And than if you are, let's say, presenting to the management team, very, very different audience, you might even be talking about the same thing or presenting the same thing, but the way that you deliver the information has to be very different. Then with, let's say developing talent is how do you focus on developing the people that are around you? But I focus here. We usually associate leaders with people who have a team. And I want to emphasize that you can be a leader also without having a team. You can lead upwards, you can lead downwards, you can lead sideways. So it's all the different ways that you can actually develop talent. Not necessarily your own team, but you can develop talent as a mentor, you can develop talent also as a colleague. All these different ways that you can develop talent within the company. Then the third thing is visualizing impact. What I've seen is that sometimes people focus on the team, as in their team, let's say their, their functional area, let's say marketing, finance, operations, supply chain, but not as a company. So this creates really these silos of us versus them. And the more that you think the impact that this is going to have beyond your, your, let's say your area that function really, that's where you understand how the impact ripples throughout the company. It's the one change in marketing, can have a change in finance, can have a change in supply chain, can have a change in operations. It's visualizing really that impact, minimizing the silo mentality, the us versus them mentality, and really understanding that the company is your team and whatever that you do, how does it really impact all the other different areas or all the other jobs when you're presenting a new idea or when you want to change something? And the last one, it's think about solutions. And this is not to say that you just have to provide solutions and never provide problems or ask for advice. No, not at all. But it's, let's say if there's a challenge, try to come up with some solutions and talk about those. As a leader, one of the things that I worked a lot with my team was if there's a challenge, what do you think is the best way to go forward? What is the best solution to do? And not just expect me to know that, you know. And what usually works is, hey, you know, I thought about three different solutions. I think that the best way to go with solution A, what do you think? But it's of course, if there are problems, really bring them up because that's what supervisors are for, are there for, right? It's to help you out. But if you really want to lead a team and then because afterwards you are going to be in that position where you have to come up with solutions as well, or at least decide which one is the best solution to. To select, given all the resources and all the information that you have at that time. So that's really the challenge. And focus on that. It's. Try to focus on the solutions or provide more solutions whenever you are facing a challenge, instead of just ask or waiting for someone to, to offer you or to provide you with that solution.

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That's really good. I like that because it allows this exchange of perspectives, which is, you know, what we really love here about bringing guests on and learning from each of your perspectives. And I think that, you know, when we have these different cultures that have formed us, then the perspectives are broad within one person even, like you. And so, you know, you mentioned you have this book and you created this framework specifically for women in Latin America. We have a lot of Latinas here as well, and this book, part of California. What are some of the unique cultural dynamics you think that women leaders face in Latin America, specifically compared to maybe other regions where you've worked across all these different continents?

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So, first and foremost, I think it's role models. And even as I was doing the research for my book, I could see lots of role models in Europe or in the States, lots of literature written about this, but not so much in Latin America. I'm happy to say that it's improved since I wrote the book, which was almost four years ago, I think, but that was one of the main things, right? It's. Most of my role models back then were men. I had the privilege of having some role models and some mentors who were women, but most of them were men. And I think that we. I mean, in Latin America, this is something that's improving, but we still have a long way to go. And then there's one thing also, that it's. It's. It's. Latin America still has somewhat of a chauvinistic culture, so. And again, going back to unconscious bias, there are a lot of things that people still believe that should be done by men or that should be done by women. And it's very challenging to really tackle and change the paradigm because it's. And according to some of those countries, that way of seeing the world in this chauvinistic way, it's actually a public policy problem. So it goes way beyond companies, it goes way beyond NGOs, way beyond the government. It's culture. So that's also something that I brought to light in the book.

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I love that you bring that out. And certainly there's nuance all around Latin America and how that shows up. Right. Because it's a ton of countries. We're not, you know, you can't say it's all the same from Argentina to Mexico and everything in between. But I was recently in Mexico and I was staying in a hotel and I was speaking with one of the cleaner ladies. She was on the, on the elevator with me. And, you know, just asking her her perspective. There had been the party for the Mexican Revolution where they got in the plaza and they were singing and it was really beautiful and so much fun. And then the next morning, in the same spot, in front of this Teatro in Guanajuato, they were protesting the government. And it's a, you know, a woman president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who recently was even assaulted sexually, her chest was grabbed. Right. And so she's speaking out about that. And so you're seeing, wow, even a woman president is still having to deal with these kind of power dynamics and, you know, public shaming and assault of women, even in a public space. And, you know, she, as she's spoken about it, not only is she pressing charges, but she's saying this happened to all women, which, you know, so I was asking this woman her perspective on all that, and, you know, she just said it's very patriarchal here. Even in this hotel where she was working, she's like, like there's just a lot of machismo and what it means to be a woman here. You know, we just, there's a lot of ways we're seen, even with a woman president, and we can't expect a woman president to change a history and a system that was built by men for all these years. It's going to take several presidencies. This is not like a one person thing. You know, she can do these small changes. But changing an entire system and history of a large nation like Mexico and changing all of the work environments, in addition, addition to the political environment is more than one person could possibly do, especially when it's been so entrenched for so long. And so what is your perspective on that? When people are trying to bring change as women leaders, maybe in Latin America.

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Specifically, I think that we are in the moment to try to do this and to actually lead change. And again, we are talking about a culture that's been there for hundreds of years. So it's not probably that we are going to see some changes during our lifetime, but most of the big changes, they will come after, you know, after we die already, for, let's say, our grandkids, our great grandkids. That's when the change is really going to be there. But at the same time, it's up to us really, to start doing those building blocks. You know, there were a lot of women who started doing this. And I even say as an example, let's say I have a lot of people that I know that who are, let's say, 70 and older. And when they were growing up, their mothers didn't have the right to vote. So you really need to remember that, you know, change takes time. And now it's something that we all take for granted. But, you know, it's in the 20s, really, they didn't have votes or in. And it wasn't a universal vote in all countries. Different countries started having votes for women in different years. But with that, it's this time to actually start showing women that there are role models that they can reach up to. It's time to embrace also the feminine qualities of leadership, because you have. And I'm not saying that the masculine qualities of leadership are wrong, because we need both. The thing is, we need both. We need masculine, let's say, skills, and we also need feminine skills. But it's. Let's try to embrace those more. And that's helping, supporting each other, you know, dialogue, looking at different, let's say, ways that the projects or the things can impact people who are working in that or the different dynamics for people who are in that company. You know, so it's. It's really an interesting time to start developing all these things. And just because we're. I don't think we're starting or think we are in the middle of this, but we still have a long way to go. But not to not lose faith because. Because just as it's the first step for us and we're putting these things on the table where we're talking about it, that's going to be really the basis for the future generations to be more open with the idea of all these things, or at least feminine leadership that we're talking about.

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I agree. When you think about the long history, it also helps us look into the future. And so, you know, in the United states, it was 1920 that women got the right to vote. And, you know, that was my grandmother's generation. And then in Mexico, it was in the 50s, a little bit later than some of the other places. But all that to say it's very recent and so it's very fragile. And so keeping that is kind of part of the task here in the United States right now, because there are people who want to repeal the right to vote for women. But it means that you never can take for granted, especially when something is so new that it's just going to be there, you know, forever and ever. But you've worked across continents. You've worked across South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia. When you think back on your career and your experience of working in these different cultures, do you have a moment you could share when your own cultural assumptions were challenged in a way that really maybe fundamentally changed how you approach leadership or business?

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I think that's a really good question. One of the ways that really changed the way of how I saw culture and leadership was when I was working in the Netherlands and I experienced firsthand how direct people could be. Before moving to the Netherlands, the way that I experienced directness was it was as if really someone was being mean. You know, why aren't you sugarcoating things? And then, you know, it's like, why do you have to be there? And you want to see me cry? Why would you be that? Why would you say things like that? And then after being in the Netherlands and experiencing how direct culture is there, it's. It was mind blowing to understand that it really. One, it has nothing to do with me personally. Two, it has nothing to do with that. The other person as well. It's really. It's. The idea behind being direct is if I'm not direct with you, then you're going to miss out on an opportunity to learn and to grow. So why would I sugarcoat it? Because if I sugarcoat it, then you're not going to get the message. You're not going to get the idea. And if you don't get the idea or the message, then how is it that you're going to really strive to make it better or to change? And that's when I said, oh, my God. I mean, being direct, it's actually. It's beneficial to me and it's beneficial for the other person because if they're asking feedback, I can be direct and just know that I'm not going to be hurting that person's feelings. It's going to be accepted. I mean, what I'm going to say, it's going to be accepted and understood that it has nothing to do with, you know, me being mean or it's. It's really. It's. If I don't give you a clear message, how are you going to benefit from that? So that, for me, was completely groundbreaking and shattering. It's. Yeah.

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Incredible. Yeah. I do think there's so many cultural misunderstandings within High context and low context, you know, indirect, direct communication. I. The Dutch colonized Indonesia, and so my years living there for 10 years, we would encounter, you know, Dutch people on vacation. Maybe, you know, they came to visit where their grandparents had been back in the day or whatever. There's just a lot of Dutch tourism there because it was a colony. And, you know, Indonesians are much less direct, you know, with their communication. There's a lot of triangulation when you need to give feedback, like, tell your friend to tell your friend, or tell your neighbor to tell. You know, it's very indirect and so. But the Dutch were some of the most direct people I ever encountered in that, you know, because of how direct their culture is. And you could just see so often how the myth. It was like the feelings would get hurt, and you started to understand this really is a kindness. They're trying to help you understand if you do this with your baby, it will be better for you. They're not trying to criticize your parenting style or whatever it is.

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Right.

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They really were approaching out of kindness. And sometimes those things are hard to see because culture is, like you said, the water we swim in.

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Right.

[00:36:35 - 00:37:06]
The ocean we swim in. And this is why this conversation, both in business and in any organization where you work, where there is at least two cultures, which these days, there's way more typically. And whether you ever travel outside of your own country or whether you have neighbors moving in your community that are from another culture, this is why the work that you're doing really, really matters for people, and it is really making a difference. I'd love for you to just, you know, give you another moment to say anything you haven't said or kind of a closing remark, and then also let us know where we can find you.

[00:37:06 - 00:38:42]
Perfect. Yeah. So oftentimes we think that when we talk about cultural competence or understanding other cultures, it's. I don't know how to. The proper ways of saying hi or, you know, how to end an email or all these different things. But again, going back to the tree analogy, those are the leaves, those are the flowers. What we really need to understand by cultural competence is looking at those unconscious bias. So when we're talking about direct and indirect, it's kindness. You know, you can see that they're direct. But really what you need to understand, it's the set of values, beliefs, and assumptions that really shape the way people see. So it's not just talking about, you know, how to socially interact. If you have to raise your hand or not kiss on the cheek or not, it's really going beyond that. It's trying to understand the roots, trying to understand how we are similar, how we are different. And once we identify those differences and similarities, how can we actually create value or have these differences create the best value that we have for the team, for the company, or even in your personal friendships as well? It's how to actually promote that value and not just keep thinking of, oh yes, they're different from me, or, you know, it's looking at those roots instead of just staying focused on those flowers or the leaves or the branches. And those are the things that we can see, but not, but not, you know, necessarily understand.

[00:38:43 - 00:38:52]
Love it. It's a great way to think about it. Well, if people want to find out more about the work that you're doing or maybe bring you in to speak or find out what your where to find your book and all those things.

[00:38:52 - 00:38:54]
Help, how can they find you, of course.

[00:38:54 - 00:39:12]
So my book is called Lideresa. You can find it on Amazon worldwide and then my website is alopoli, so www.alopoli.com and there you can find me, connect with me and learn more about cultural competence.

[00:39:13 - 00:39:24]
Thank you so much for being on here today, for sharing your perspectives and everything you've learned from living and working around the world and your research. And it's just been incredibly insightful to learn from you today and have this conversation.

[00:39:25 - 00:39:27]
Thank you so much, Lori, for having me. I really enjoyed it.

[00:39:29 - 00:39:29]
You're welcome.

[00:39:29 - 00:39:31]
Bye bye.

[00:39:31 - 00:41:19]
If you've been listening and thinking, I wish my CEO could hear this or my team really needs to understand this. Do not, I repeat, do not keep it to yourself. Cultural competence isn't something we can master alone. It requires curiosity, humility, and the courage to see our own blind spots. And it starts with conversations exactly like this one. Share this episode with your colleagues, your leadership team, your global network. Tag Maria Angela, Calmet and Alopoli on social media. Tell them which insight hit you the hardest. Because the leaders who shape the next decade won't just be the smartest in the room or the most driven. They will be the ones who can build bridges across cultures, who can see the world through multiple lenses, who understand that diversity isn't a checkbox but a competitive advantage in how you make decisions and how you grow your organization. Want to go deeper? Head to the show Notes for links to Maria Angela's book, Li Theresa information about Allopolis cultural competence training and for our Patreon supporters, and exclusive question where Maria Angela shares something you won't hear anywhere else. If this conversation expanded your perspective, please leave a review, share it with someone who needs to hear it and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Remember, the world doesn't need more leaders, it needs more culturally competent leaders. And that transformation starts with you. Until next time, lead with curiosity, listen with humility, and never ever stop learning. This has been a world of difference. Find us wherever you listen to podcasts and join our community of global leaders who are changing the world one conversation at a time.

[00:41:19 - 00:41:53]
Okay, difference makers, I know you and I know when you hear something you really enjoyed and you learned from it, you want to share it. I am like that too, which is why I love to promote guests on this podcast for you to get to hear them yourself. So sometimes they write books, sometimes they write on substack, sometimes they podcast. Sometimes their voice is just every day in the workplace where they live and impact their communities in a variety of ways with all the hats that they wear. So if you enjoyed this episode, and I hope that you did, please share it with a friend, a parent, a.

[00:41:53 - 00:41:55]
Neighbor, somebody you went to boarding school.

[00:41:55 - 00:42:16]
With back in the day, somebody at work, your boss, people on your team because this is a message they needed to hear and it if impacted you, please give us a five star rating and give us a review. It really helps our reach for more people like you to find us, the difference makers, the listeners, the leaders, the people in your communities that are making the world a better place. I appreciate you so much.

[00:42:16 - 00:42:22]
Are you on Substack? Because I am and I'd love to connect with you there. I process things there over Saturdays and.

[00:42:22 - 00:42:25]
Sundays, days off, sometimes weeknights as I'm.

[00:42:25 - 00:42:28]
Researching and reading other articles. And it inspires me to write things.

[00:42:28 - 00:43:05]
Where I'm going deeper into the behind the scenes of what some of the episodes on A World of Difference are all about. I'd love to connect with you there. So if you are on Substack, find me. You can go to loriadamsbrown.substack.com as a free or I would prefer a paid subscriber because then you get access to more of the in depth things that are exclusively for my paid subscribers. I keep my prices as low as they can be on Substack, as low as they allow. But I do believe in being paid for my work and I believe you should be paid for yours too. So join me there and let's make a difference together. Has life ever thrown you a curveball? I've been thrown.

[00:43:05 - 00:43:07]
One, two, maybe three.

[00:43:07 - 00:43:21]
Okay, if we're being honest A few more in life and sometimes you just need a professional to talk with it about and friends help and family helps. But having a professional therapist has been a game changer for me because of the skills they bring into those conversations.

[00:43:22 - 00:43:25]
And I want you to have access to that too.

[00:43:25 - 00:43:52]
So better Help have been willing to give you 10% off your first month if you sign up today with www.betterhelp.com difference. You deserve to have somebody walking through this with you. You deserve all the healing and a professional is the kind of person that will not only listen, but they will give you tools to walk through this journey so that you are not alone. Www.betterhelp.com difference to get 10% off your first month today.