About David:

Dr David Livermore, PhD (Michigan State University) is a social scientist devoted to the topics of cultural intelligence (CQ) and global leadership and the author of several award-winning books, including Leading with Cultural Intelligence, Digital, Diverse & Divided, Driven by Difference, and Serving with Eyes Wide Open. His newest book, the third edition of Leading with Cultural Intelligence, is the bestselling book on cultural intelligence and is filled with the latest research, case studies, and strategies for anyone who has to lead someone who is different from them.  

David is a founder of the Cultural Intelligence Centre, Director of the Society of CQ Fellows, and the Ahmass Fakahany Visiting Professor in Global Leadership at Questrom’s School of Business at Boston University. He consults with global organizations around the world, including Harvard, Google, Coca-Cola, the US Department of Defence, BMW, Qatar Airways, the United Nations, and dozens more. He has travelled to more than one hundred countries and is a frequent speaker at conferences. He also serves on several boards and is a Fellow with the Society of Leadership Fellows, Windsor Castle, a select leadership community that meets to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing us globally.

David loves to make social science accessible to practitioners. He has been interviewed and referenced by myriad news sources, including The Atlantic, CBS News, Christian Science Monitor, The Economist, Forbes, NBC, the New York Times, USA Today, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the South China Post. 

David and his wife, Linda, have two adult daughters, Emily and Grace. Emily is a litigation lawyer, and Grace is a graphic designer. Some of their favourite family activities are travelling (fortunately!) and discovering new foods together.

LinkedIn

www.davidlivermore.com

Mentions:

Book: Tribal - Michael Morris

About Lucy:

Lucy founded Elembee in 2010 to provide training and coaching which supports and enhances the capability of leaders and teams to be inclusive and internationally effective.

Lucy is a Master Facilitator in Cultural Intelligence (CQ) with the Cultural Intelligence Centre, (Michigan, USA).

She started her career in research and teaching roles at the universities of Aberdeen, then Hertfordshire, before working in various management & leadership roles for the British Council supporting international ambitions of UK universities and leading a transformational leadership programme across nine Arab countries and the UK.

On a personal level, Lucy is a mother of triplet boys who have taught her the true meaning of hard work; and are a constant reminder of the need to adjust thinking, actions and expectations.

LinkedIn

Elembee

Mentions:

Book: Driven by Difference - David Livermore

Book:  Seven Habits of Successful People - Stephen Covey

Book: Hysterical: Exploding the Myth of Gendered Emotions - Pragya Agarwal

Sarah chats with Flor Bretón-García about the joys and challenges of working in multilingual environments. Their vibrant conversation covers a range of subjects about language, including the significance of understanding accents and gestures, about transcreation – not translation! and the importance of empathy in communication. 

Flor also shares her personal experiences and insights on how language shapes our interactions, and the cognitive costs which are associated with speaking in a second, third or even more languages.

About Flor:

Fluent in Spanish, English and German, Flor is a language-passionate, avid communicator and cultural-competence promoter from Venezuela. She is proud to support children and adults to use language in ways that enable them to operate effectively across cultures. 

With sixteen years’ experience in delivering intercultural training in Spanish and English, Flor leverages her knowledge and passion for connecting with people from diverse backgrounds and identities, to help organizations around the world to be more inclusive and equitable. She has lived in Germany and the USA, where she learnt German and English to communicate with their people. These experiences have given her a better understanding of the process of using a foreign language to build bridges at work and in the community. She now takes full advantage of this time living, learning and working in other countries to implement in her trainings, these successful communication methods.

Flor is also a Certified Legal Spanish trainer, and an academic curriculum and content creator. 

Flor is also a Certified Legal Spanish trainer, and an academic curriculum and content creator. She also enjoys mentoring female business leaders in Frankfurt’s Latino community in Germany, and in her role as part of the Chappaqua Independent School District’s DEI Committee in New York, USA.

LinkedIn

Instagram

Mentions:

Book: The Culture Map - by Erin Meyer

Podcast: Ute’s International Lounge

The Kaleidoscope Group

The Little Nómadas

This week, Sarah Black speaks with Gradiola Kapaj, a seasoned intercultural trainer and diversity consultant, about the intricacies of communicating across cultures. 

Gradiola shares her insights on the positive and negative dynamics of multinational teams, the importance of understanding cultural values, and offers practical strategies for fostering effective collaboration. If you’re interested to discover how curiosity and openness can bridge cultural gaps in a globalised workplace, then listen in!

About Gradiola:

Gradiola is an experienced Intercultural Trainer and Diversity & Inclusion Consultant. She works with multinational organizations, global NGOs and non-profits. She has led multinational teams, experiencing first-hand difficulties of working and managing cross-cultural teams in multiple time-zones in hybrid, F2F and virtual environments while also witnessing the benefits of global work, speed of information, global network and cultural and innovation enrichment.

As an intercultural trainer, she has consulted for international organisations by designing intercultural educations, up-skilling trainers and delivering program training in the field of cross-cultural management tailored to each organisational requirements. As a DEI consultant, she has analysed, assessed, educated and strategised for global organisations, deploying her intercultural expertise to recommend global solutions with locally relevant implementation approaches.

Gradiola has lived and worked in Austria, Italy, France and Albania. She speaks 6 languages with Albanian as a mother tongue, English working proficiency and conversation level in Italian, French, Spanish and German. She was a guest lecturer the University of Leibniz Hanover in Germany, FH Kaernten in Austria and is a lecturer of Intercultural Communication and DEI at FH Wien der WKO in Vienna, Austria.

LinkedIn

Mentions:

Book: Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge and Build Confidence  by Andy Molinsky

This week, Sarah welcomes Hanlie van Wyk to the microphone. Hanlie, a social scientist and hate crime scholar, explores the intricacies of fostering understanding and collaboration in polarised and challenging environments.  

Drawing from her personal experiences in South Africa and her extensive research, Hanlie shares about the importance of leadership in driving change, how to navigate polarisation with hope and offers a series of practical strategies for communication.

About Hanlie:

Growing up in Apartheid South Africa, Hanlie witnessed firsthand the transformative power of leadership during Nelson Mandela's presidency. This experience instilled a profound understanding of how strategic leadership can foster cultural change and promote inclusivity. 

She has since dedicated herself to helping leaders navigate thorny issues and solve complex human problems. Hanlie’s professional journey has taken her across four continents, where she led BRATLAB, a behavioural research lab, for ten years. In this role, and her work as a global cultural consultant at the Kaleidoscope Group, Hanlie honed her skills in developing and implementing strategies that promote diversity as a business advantage, equity as a core value, and inclusion as a leadership gift. Hanlie is currently working on a Ph.D. in hate crime prevention.

Hanlie van Wyk

LinkedIn

Mentions:

The Kaleidoscope Group

Book: A World of Three Cultures: Honor, Achievement and Joy

Book: Fascism: A Warning

In this enlightening episode Sarah talks with Advita Patel, the founder of CommsRebel and co-author of the award-winning book 'Building a Culture of Inclusivity'. Advita shares her journey from feeling excluded in the UK to becoming a leading advocate for inclusivity and Cultural Intelligence. 

Sarah and Advita delve into the importance of understanding cultural differences, the barriers to creating inclusive environments, and the role of vulnerability in fostering belonging. 

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to explore how leaders can cultivate a more humane workplace and embrace continuous learning to drive positive change.

About Advita:

Advita is the founder of Comms Rebel, an internal communication and employee experience consultancy, and the President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). 

She is also the co-founder of A Leader Like Me, a global communication consultancy, the co-founder of the Asian Communications Network, and the co-host of Amplifying Diverse Voices – A Leader Like Me podcast.

 As an experienced communications professional and qualified coach she supports organisations to cultivate inclusive cultures through effective change management and revolutionary communications so all colleagues can belong and thrive in their work. 

With a background in project management, Advita brings a unique set of skills and specialises in culture change, communication audits, employee experience, inclusive communication, and digital and transformational communications – with measurement at the heart of the outcome.

Advita has spoken at more than 150 events worldwide and appeared on several podcasts where she speaks about internal communications, change management, inclusion, and confidence. She is a chartered PR practitioner and a fellow of the CIPR.

In 2023 she published the award-winning and best-seller Building a Culture of Inclusivity book, with her A Leader Like Me business partner Priya Bates. This book helps leaders build a culture of inclusivity, so all colleagues thrive. Advita is currently writing her second book focused on confident leadership.

Advita Patel

Book: Building a Culture of Inclusivity

Instagram

LinkedIn

CommsRebel

A Leader Like Me

Calm Edged Rebels

Asian Communications Network

Mentions:

Mindvalley

Kathy Tann Ted Talk - ‘Cultural Intelligence in our Society’

In this insightful episode, Sarah Black speaks with Greg Dearsly, a HSE professional and Cultural Intelligence specialist about the intersection of cultural intelligence, communication, and health and safety. 

Greg shares his thoughts on how and why safety professionals can improve their communication to cater for diverse workplaces. He introduces the concept of power skills as a means of influencing behaviour change, and highlights why trust, cultural awareness, listening and curiosity are so important when building communication in safety practices.

About Greg

Greg Dearsly works to help organizations build valued relationships with their employees through health and safety, due diligence, worker engagement, and continual improvement. He has decades of experience in health and safety, and among his many qualifications, a Master of Advanced Leadership Practices.

In 2023 he became a Certified Cultural Intelligence Facilitator and now explores the world of cultural intelligence through online content and his podcast, ‘The Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional.’

He is part of the 2025 CQ Fellows Programme with the CQ Centre.

Mentions:

Shireen Chua

Book: Humble Inquiry 

Sarah speaks this week with Jenni Field, an international speaker and business communications strategist. Together, they delve into the complexities of cross-cultural communication within organisations, exploring how tensions can lead to personal and team disruption, and why effective communication in leadership creates calm. 

Jenni shares her insights on the importance of listening, understanding different perspectives, and the impact of hybrid work environments on organisational culture, especially during the pandemic. Jenni also introduces some of the eight practices of credibility that are essential for leaders navigating diverse workplaces.

About Jenni

Jenni Field is an international speaker, author, podcaster, researcher, and business communications strategist. She specializes in helping teams and leaders use communication to take people and organizations from chaos to calm.

From Canada to Slovenia, you’ll find her talking about credible leadership, relationships at work, and how to be more impactful with your communication.

A well-respected thought-leader in the communications industry, she is known for her optimistic outlook, energy, and honesty on any stage she is speaking on.

Jenni’s podcast, Redefining Communications with Jenni Field, provides short 15-minute episodes focusing on different business topics and providing advice to help organizations go from chaos to calm.

In 2021, Jenni published her first book, Influential Internal Communication. 

Jenni has led several research projects to help organisations tackle some of their biggest challenges; In 2019 she carried out the only research into communication with deskless workers, repeating it in 2023 to see the impact of the pandemic on frontline teams. 

Her research in 2021 explored the role of line managers and in 2023 she researched the different practices that make a leader credible – leading to the publication of Nobody Believes You; Become a Leader People Will Follow in 2024.

https://redefiningcomms.com 

LinkedIn

Instagram

Book: Influential Internal Communications

Book: Nobody Believes You: Become a Leader People Will Follow

Mentions:

David Livermore

Book: Leading with Cultural Intelligence

Book: Digital Body Language

Sarah Black talks with Trisha Carter, an Organisational Psychologist and Cultural Intelligence expert. Together, they delve into the nuances of cultural communication, exploring how cultural intelligence can bridge differences beyond nationality, gender, age, and neurodiversity. 

Trisha shares her insights on metacognition and the importance of self-awareness in understanding others. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone interested in enhancing their communication skills within their own culture and others.

About Trisha:

Trisha is an Organisational Psychologist, with a curiosity and drive to help others see different perspectives. Her expertise in cultural intelligence, her experience in coaching and training thousands of global executives combine in training coaching and consulting - and as a podcast host - to continuously go deeper and share more about how we think, in order to build global bridges of understanding. She has a Masters Degree in Organisational Psychology and has achieved the highest level of Cultural Intelligence accreditation as a CQ Fellow.

LinkedIn

The Shift Podcast

Substack

Mentions:

David Livermore 

Book - Leading with Cultural Intelligence

Athrú Communications

Julia Middleton Ted Talk - ‘Cultural intelligence: the competitive edge for leaders’

Sarah Black returns for series 2 of The Athrú Communications Podcast, exploring how we can transform how we communicate across cultures and differences.

In this first episode, she introduces Cultural Intelligence CQ) and explores how it can help us understand and connect with individuals from different backgrounds. She shares some of her personal experiences with the challenges and joys of navigating different cultures around the world and closer to home.

Over the next nine episodes, Sarah talks to experts from the fields of communication, workplace culture, intercultural relations, organisational psychology and Cultural Intelligence (CQ) about we communicate more effectively across cultures and differences

Mentions:

David Livermore

Athrú Communications

Trisha Carter

This week we’re dipping into the art of briefing with copywriter Petra Trudell. Petra explains what a ‘good’ brief and a great working relationship looks like and how to better brief our partners.

Petra Canan Trudell is an American copywriter and journalist whose work has appeared in print and web publications throughout the US, UK and Japan. She’s created and managed marketing, editorial and advertising content for a range of clients in the tech, wellness, hospitality and music industries, working with small businesses, public figures, nonprofits, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies to refine their brand voice and improve their international reach through dynamic, accessible copy. She lives in London with her husband and their Shih Tzu, sharing her shopping tips and finds in her weekly Substack, MIDDI.

In this podcast you’ll find out: 

• Why lining your ducks up before you contact a freelancer is key to success 
• Why there’s no such thing as too much information
• Why being  brutal and detailed in your feedback to a copywriter is good for you, and them
• About setting clear expectations upfront 
• Why sharing the dynamics of the team counts as much as brand voice

Connect with Petra: You can follow her on LinkedIn, Facebook , Instagram and read more about her work on her website. You can also subscribe to MIDDI on Substack.

Thank you for listening! 

A Quick Dip is about starting conversations. If you’d like to share your thoughts, keep the conversation going, and ask questions you can connect to Sarah on LinkedIn.

Allyship is one of those words that we hear a lot, but isn’t always fully understood.  In this Quick Dip we talk to Cath Brew about what it really means to be an LGBTQ plus ally, and why it matters. 

Cath is an LGBTQ+ inclusion consultant, mentor and artist who supports allies looking to step into confident active allyship. She works with international schools on whole-school LGBTQ+ inclusion and helps global companies to navigate the inclusion of diverse genders and sexualities cross culturally. 

In this podcast you’ll find out: 

• Why we should support marginalised groups
• The problem with rainbow washing 
• How understanding personal triggers and biases supports being an ally
• Why not making assumptions is key 

Connect with Cath: You can follow her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and read more about her work on her website or join the LGBTQIA+ Allyship in Action Facebook Group.

Thank you for listening! 

A Quick Dip is about starting conversations. If you’d like to share your thoughts, keep the conversation going, and ask questions you can connect to Sarah on LinkedIn.

Are we sure that when we communicate our message isn’t lost in opaque statements, and clouded by complex language that speaks to no one?   In this Quick Dip we talk to Ema Naito about the importance of clear and concise written English. 

Ema Naito is The Clarity Editor. A bilingual scholarly editor who loves clear, plain English and its power to promote an inclusive world. Based in Bangkok, Ema helps multilingual authors around the world write effectively for international development and in the social sciences. She holds a master's degree from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, sings classically, and practices Hawaiian hula dance.

In this podcast you’ll find out: 

• The power of plain language as a bridge between cultures 
• Why clear language is a human rights issue 
• The importance of centering your reading in communications  
• How plain language can help you to communicate your message to a more diverse audience 
• The visual design of text so all readers can navigate your message

Connect with Ema: you can follow her on LinkedIn, Facebook and read more about her work on her Website.

Thank you for listening! 

A Quick Dip is about starting conversations. If you’d like to share your thoughts, keep the conversation going, and ask questions you can connect to Sarah on LinkedIn.

In this episode of A Quick Dip, we take a look at intercultural communication with our guest Mariana Barros as we explore the importance of understanding how cultural differences intersect with organizational and business culture.

Mariana Barros holds a Masters degree in International Relations from the San Tiago Dantas Program (PUC/SP, UNESP and UNICAMP) and a Bachelors degree in International Relations from PUC/SP. She has lived, worked and studied in France , the United States, Equatorial Guinea  and Thailand. She is a founding partner of Differänce Intercultural, and has 20 years of experience in the field of cultural intelligence and DEI. She was a TEDX São Paulo speaker in 2016

In this podcast you’ll find out: 

• What refusing French food can teach us about cross cultural communication
• The importance of self awareness in relation to intercultural awareness
• Why not making assumptions will help you to understand difference 
• How history and context helps us to understand culture.

Connect with Mariana: You can follow her on LinkedIn, and read more about her work on her website. 

Thank you for listening! 

A Quick Dip is about starting conversations. If you’d like to share your thoughts, keep the conversation going, and ask questions you can connect to Sarah on LinkedIn.

For this episode of A Quick Dip, we delve into tone of voice. What does it mean when we talk about an organization or a brand’s tone of voice and why is it important?

To guide us through this topic is Janine Christie, copywriter and creator of True Voice Kickstart. Her mission is to get solo entrepreneurs to unleash a truer and bolder voice in their copy. She works one-to-one with clients to stop second guessing what and how they say everything and say bye-bye to the rules of writing.

In this podcast you’ll find out: 

• The difference between tone of voice and voice 
• Why brand guidelines will help you avoid getting it ‘wrong’ 
• How hitting the right tone will resonate with the right people
• The importance of jargon free copy. 

Connect with Janine: You can follow her on LinkedIn, Instagram and read more about her work on her website. 

Thank you for listening! 

A Quick Dip is about starting conversations. If you’d like to share your thoughts, keep the conversation going, and ask questions you can connect to Sarah on LinkedIn.

How often do we, as communicators, really consider the breadth and diversity of the people we’re communicating with?  In this Quick Dip we talk to Sara Thornhurst about how inclusive communication can help organisations to reach and include more diverse audiences.

Sara Thornhurst is a disabled PR practitioner and trainer who ran her own agency for several years. She has been speaking out about disability in PR since 2016 and has run workshops on disability inclusion, accessibility and diversity issues at multiple industry events and is an experienced public speaker and activist. 

She offers PR consultancy with an EDI focus and runs regular training sessions and workshops for agencies and PR events to help them overcome issues around ableism, and employing and retaining disabled talent. 

She is also the Chair of the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire CIPR Committee and a member of the CIPR’s Diversity Inclusion Network.

In this podcast you’ll find out: 

• How pervasive ableism is in our language
• Why people with disabilities should not be treated as inspirational heroes
• How organisation wide reasonable adjustments benefit everyone 
• How the Social Model of disability can help to change entrenched ways of thinking about disability.

Connect with Sara: You can follow her on LinkedIn, Twitter and read more about her work on her website. 

Thank you for listening! 

A Quick Dip is about starting conversations. If you’d like to share your thoughts, keep the conversation going, and ask questions you can connect to Sarah on LinkedIn. 

Resources:

The Social Model of Disability - Scope

Chartered Institute of Public Relations - EDI Basics

Disability News Service

The Unwritten

Disability Visibility Project and books

“I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much.” - TED Talk by Stella Young

Cultural Intelligence: one of the terms we hear in relation to leadership and communications competencies but what is cultural intelligence?  To answer this question, we asked an expert. 

Trisha Carter is an Organisational Psychologist, specializing in Intercultural Psychology who works in global mobility and diversity, equity and inclusion. She is a Certified Facilitator in Cultural Intelligence (Adv) and has been helping clients to grow and develop their cultural intelligence for over 20 years through her training and coaching business Trans Cultural Careers. Through her work with The Kaleidoscope Group she has consulted to global organisations, assessing, advising and facilitating DEI interventions.

Trisha has lived and worked in New Zealand, China and Australia. She has delivered training and presentations around the world including Papau New Guinea, USA, UK, The Netherlands, Malaysia, Thailand, China and New Zealand and numerous virtual global training programs for participants located throughout the world. She is currently based in Sydney, Australia.

In this podcast you’ll find out: 

• What cultural intelligence is 
• Why it’s important
• How a culturally competent person shows up 
• The four areas you can focus on to develop cultural intelligence. 

If you’d like to connect to Trisha you can follow her on LinkedIn, Twitter and read more about her work on her website. 

Thank you for listening! 

Let’s keep the conversation going, ask questions and share your thoughts by connecting with Sarah on LinkedIn.