Coaching Across Cultures: New Tools for Leveraging National, Corporate, and Professional Differences [Paperback]

Philippe Rosinski (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1857883012 | ISBN-13: 978-1857883015 | Publication Date: January 14, 2003

Whether working in another country or bridging corporate and professional boundaries, the demands of global business require new ways of managing and motivating people. Author Philippe Rosinski introduces an innovative form of coaching to meet the demands of today's diverse and international workplace: Coaching Across Cultures: New Toold for Leveraging National, Corporate and Professional Differences. While the concept of culture generally evokes nations- as in Spanish or French culture- Coaching Across Cultures addresses cultural differences from many perspectives: national, corporate or professional. These cultural components have a significant impact on every one of our interactions: how we think, organize ourselves, define our purpose, relate to power, view time and cope with uncertainty. With plenty of real life examples and activities, Rosinski offers new approaches to practical and effective coaching methods to help you push beyond the confines of your own culture's norms when working with clients or coaching a team. Written for coaches, executives, and managers, Coaching Across Cultures demonstrates how one can discover creative solutions to problems and leverage cultural differences, turning powerful ideas into action to facilitate the highest performance possible.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A seminal exploration of what it takes to effectively coach groups with differing cultures." -- The Midwest Book Review

"A treasure for anyone eager to learn how to effectively facilitate human fulfillment and responsible growth." -- Laura Berman Fortgang, author of Living Your Best Life

"An extraordinarily effective tool for any individual who aspires to grow and learn and then progress in any organization." -- Caribbean American & Hispanic Business Journal

"An outstanding book that explains how to develop the new breed of leadership necessary to achieve sustainable high performance." -- Dean O'Hare, chairman and CEO, Chubb Corporation

"Brings new light to managing performance in business by integrating two important domains of leadership: coaching and diversity." -- Mia Vanstraelen, Director of Learning, IBM

"Clearly written ... a serious read ... thoroughly researched ... it bursts at the seams with examples, diagrams, and case studies." -- The Weekly Telegraph

"Coaching as a form of art...Rosinski offers a way of thinking that can help release more human potential." -- Soundview Executive Book Summaries

"This book can help coaches compete in the global marketplace and assist others involved with other international business development professionals." -- Peer Resources

"Wonderful and much needed...Rosinski brings a depth of cultural understanding and awareness to the field of coaching." -- Talane Miedaner, author of Coach Yourself to Success

About the Author

Philippe Rosinski's pioneering work in bringing the crucial intercultural dimension into the practice of coaching has won him worldwide acclaim. An expert in executive coaching, team coaching, and global leadership development, his international corporate clients include Baxter Healthcare, Unilever, Chubb Insurance and IBM. He is the first continental European to be designated Master Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation. Previously the Director of Custom Programs at the Center For Creative Leadership, he is currently principal of Rosinski & Company, a global consulting firm that helps leaders, teams and organizations unleash their human potential to achieve high performance. For further information visit his website at http://www.philrosinski.com/.

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing (January 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857883012
• ISBN-13: 978-1857883015
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother if you ONLY deal with people JUST like you., July 18, 2003

By 

Roberta Hill (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coaching Across Cultures: New Tools for Leveraging National, Corporate, and Professional Differences (Paperback)

Let me be clear, I don't finish reading books these days unless they are good and I certainly don't bother writing reviews unless I think the book is top notch. So it is a pretty safe bet that if you like any of the other books that I have reviewed, you will like this one.

Coaching Across Cultures is another one of those - must have books - for any serious coach working with professionals. Even if you are not interested in an international practice, (and who isn't) this book still is required reading. The book is really about understanding and integrating our differences. Rosinski who lives currently in Belgium, is an Engineer and a MCC by training who has worked in Silicon Valley.

The book is a bit of a smorgasbord. However, it is well designed and packaged so that each section can be considered a self contained component on cultural issues. Part One makes the case for a cultural framework when coaching and points out the dangers of our assumptions and belief systems when working with others of any origin or background. Part Two provides a high level overview of the key components of developing a cross cultural mindset. Although generalized in content, it also provides concrete examples and practical applications of how this plays out in our interactions with others. Part Three is a bit more conceptual and is well suited to those who come from an organizational development perspective. Roskinski has created his own Global Scorecard approach that is tied into his Cultural Orientations Framework. For my reading, it seems thorough, usable and comprehensive.

Coaching Across Cultures is well documented with references, a glossary and some interesting appendixes. There is little to find fault. Perhaps that is because, Rosinski himself is careful never to find fault. He is a great diplomat and finds a place for all styles and approaches whether it is the transactional techniques of some North American coaching styles to the transformational style of others.

If there is one area that I find a little weak, it is his discussion of self-assessment as a precursor the organizational assessment through his Global Scorecard. Now I am the first to admit that assessments are not only my area of interest, it is my business - so I have a bias. That said, I found Rosinski focus on the tools he prefers (the MBTI specifically) left me with the impression that this is THE tool. I also believe that this was not Roskinki's intention - as he does mention a few others but not some that I would have expected. Now don't get me wrong, I love the MBTI and the others he includes but I thought that at least a few more should have been mentioned or acknowledged.

This is a solid, well-written and great new contribution to the field of coaching and working within the global setting. Don't just get this book - read it. I can almost guarantee it will have a positive affect on how you will interact in the future with your clients.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cross-Cultural Understanding for Coaches, December 15, 2005

By 

Keith E. Webb "Cross-Cultural Leadership Coac... (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coaching Across Cultures: New Tools for Leveraging National, Corporate, and Professional Differences (Paperback)

This is the first, and currently only, book on coaching cross-culturally. The author brings the multifaceted perspective of culture into the coaching equation. The book starts with an introduction to coaching and culture and then goes in depth in cultural perspectives. The author wraps up the book with a couple chapters integrating all this into coaching practice.

Coaching is defined as "the art of facilitating the unleashing of people's potential to reach meaningful, important objectives" (page 4). Surprisingly there is nothing distinctly cross-cultural in the definition. Such as "the art of facilitating in culturally relevant ways the unleashing of people's potential..." This definition could come from any book on coaching. Culture is defined broadly to include not just nations and peoples, but corporate culture as well.

The real meat of the book is the second section, nearly half the text. The author presents a series of Cultural Orientations each with tools for how to assess them through coaching. Orientations such as a sense of power and responsibility, time, identity and purpose, organization and communication each have a chapter devoted to them. The author begins each chapter with a presentation of the various cultural perspectives on the Orientation, for example, concerning time there are grids of scarce or plentiful; one activity at a time or multiple tasks; and past, present or future orientation. The author presents a tool for the coach to understand the client's orientation, and for the client (and teammates) to understand himself or herself. The final section is a synthesis of the theory into practice. The author illustrates how he uses his detailed Cultural Orientation grid during coaching sessions.

This book is helpful for those interested in the cross-cultural issues. The book gets a bit lost in trying to reach a wide audience by focusing on at least three audience needs: skills for coaching people of other cultures, cross-cultural team awareness, and personal cultural awareness. The niche this book best fits would be a multicultural team trying to understand each other and how a team leader might coach them through that process of understanding.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STERN'S MANAGEMENT REVIEW RATES THIS BOOK EXCELLENT!, August 4, 2003

By 

Gerry Stern "Stern's Management Review Online" (Culver City, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coaching Across Cultures: New Tools for Leveraging National, Corporate, and Professional Differences (Paperback)

The book is not solely dedicated to the international arena but for everyone who works with people from different organizations and backgrounds. The author's aim is to raise the level of awareness of cultural orientations and suggests how to use differences constructively. The book breaks out of the usual confines of cultural assumptions to find creative solutions. It introduces coaching and cross-cultural concepts, provides a framework for integrating coaching and cultural perspectives, and examines numerous cultural orientations. Rosinski presents a Culture Orientations Framework to assess and profile culture, and a Global Scorecard to help set targets at all levels. Chapters discuss how to leverage power and responsibility, time management, identity and purpose, organizational arrangements, notions of territory and boundaries, communication patterns, and modes of thinking. This is a very thoughtful treatment of an unusual and highly important subject.