Episode 38
Dr. Marc Geil - Shaping Global Business with Cultural Intelligence
This week, organizational psychologist Trisha Carter speaks with Marc Geil, the Global Director of Culture and Employee Experience at Wahl Clipper. Marc shares his transformative experiences as a Rotary Youth Exchange student in Japan, highlighting his shift in perspective through cultural immersion. They discuss the metacognitive aspect of cultural intelligence, emphasizing the importance of understanding diverse perspectives within global business and employee environments. Marc also speaks on applying cultural intelligence to organizational culture and personal interactions. They explore how cultural intelligence can be applied beyond international boundaries, recognizing diverse generations and ethnicities. Through personal anecdotes and professional insights, Marc provides advice for those navigating cultural differences, aiming for deeper global connection and understanding.
If you would like to connect with Marc you can find him on LinkedIn
Transcript
I would like to acknowledge the Dharawal people, the Aboriginal people of Australia, whose country I live and work on. I would like to pay my respects to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and thank them for sharing their cultural knowledge and awareness with us.
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[00:01:26] Trisha: In this podcast, we're focusing more on the metacognitive aspect, thinking about our thinking, it's CQ strategy. Today I'm speaking with a friend and colleague who is the global director of culture and employee experience for us corporation Wahl Clipper. And it has over 3, 300 employees spread across 24 countries.
[:[00:02:09] Marc: Thank you. It's really good to see you too, Trisha. Thanks for having me.
[:[00:02:30] Marc: I mean, as I, as I was looking through this, I said, all of them, right. I love every culture I've ever experienced, but, you know, in all seriousness, the Japanese culture is probably, the first that I grew to love and appreciate. I was a Rotary Youth Exchange student, when I was 15, till 16.
[:[00:02:48] Marc: Yeah, and it was a completely transformative part of my life, and it was in all my years of, of experiences later that I realized those first, that first experience was what was really so transformative in how I see and view the world.
[:[00:03:13] Marc: Yeah, during that time in Japan, For the first part of being there, I was, in an immersive language camp for a month, but then the rest of my year, I spent in Okinawa, Japan, which is the southernmost island, of the country. And, I mean, Tokyo in general was a vast shift from where I grew up.
[:[00:03:49] Marc: But then to, to start recognizing that even within the country of Japan, there was this sub dimension or this sub culture of Okinawa, which had its own unique customs and its own unique, language and, and those sorts of things. And, all of a sudden I realized. The, the difference there, but then also the sameness of looking back at the United States and realizing we might be one country, but based upon the location that you are in the United States, there's this subcultures that exist.
[:[00:04:35] Trisha: That's amazing. and that recognition of, looking back and going, Oh, well, actually we like that too. Yeah. So you see the commonality and then you would have gone home to see much more of the difference, between the areas around you. Were there cultural aspects that stood out in Japan as well?
[:[00:05:12] Marc: So it was a, it was. That was one of the little learnings, right? but one thing that really stood out to me was the hierarchical differences, that, that existed, you know, recognizing that, that power distance was in play. And of course I didn't understand the term power distance when
[:[00:05:30] Marc: but learning those things at a young age and, and seeing that Around the world, people interact in a much different way. And, and that was something, again, I took back on that moment. It's a big aha.
[:[00:05:47] Marc: No, not at all.
[:[00:05:55] Marc: yeah, I, I had one great thing about the, the Rotary program was the, training they kind of gave you as a student going into a new place you know, being prepared that everything you were going to see, everything you were going to taste, everything you were going to smell was going to be probably different than what you grew up with, and being open to all of that.
[:[00:07:06] Marc: I can flex and use these cultural sort of, uh, dimensions. Um, and, but when I come back to the United States, I have to remember where I'm at and flex again, and, and almost treat, Coming back to the United States as going someplace new, and and thinking about it as I just have all of this cultural knowledge now that I can can use as my tools.
[:[00:07:56] Trisha: That you needed to
[:[00:07:57] Marc: Yeah, maybe I never really thought about that way, but probably, yeah, it was those moments where I could say, okay, I need to, I can debrief on where I just was and kind of have that what we call CQ strategy, right? And how am I going to get ready for, Getting home. And how am I going to get ready, whether it be both directions, right?
[:[00:08:41] Marc: That to me has always been one of the most, important or probably the most important aspect of the model for me.
[:[00:09:04] Marc: Sure. For most of my career, I worked in international marketing and business development and probably for a good, I don't know, dozen, 12, 13, 14 years, I was on a plane probably once a month.
[:[00:09:26] Marc: Most of my work was always internal, which again was, more about how we, developed our internal processes, how we, engage with others, how we built our marketing programs, have for consistency, which was always, something of a, challenging, work experience, but also very rewarding to, to get a group of.
[:[00:10:09] Marc: We obviously have our teams to continue to go out into the market and meet with our customers. My focus really shifted on how are we making the experience the best it can be for our employees within the organization?
[:[00:10:40] Trisha: And it's not really how it would be pronounced in other parts of the world, but this is probably the Australian pronunciation of the corporation name. And so, you know, if you, if, if a name sounds different in different cultures, and in other languages, Then how much must marketing need to change to adapt to that as well.
[:[00:11:21] Trisha: And so you think about that and that CQ is so important in that area. And then you think about employee experience and engagement and all of those things. You're also responsible for learning and development in some ways. And so all of that is so important because you're dealing with the employees around the world who also have, very different perspectives on what it means to come to work for an organization.
I think about, making a lot of those shifts and, you know, , you said you were highly motivated, so we know you read a lot, we know you're always learning, , but what else did you do to help yourself as you're making those shifts around the world?
[:[00:12:16] Marc: And ultimately more impactful , in the programs that we needed to do. And David's books really spoke to me when I first found them about, How to take what I naturally was discovering was something I was really, in tune with, the CQ model and apply that in my business practices. And, so I really dove headfirst into everything that, that he was putting out because all of a sudden the the things that were still, predominantly based in theory.
[:[00:13:11] Trisha: And, very successfully, I think, you know, you would have had colleagues who were friends around the world. You would have been meeting up with people. You would have been sharing ideas, but what were some of the challenges?
[:[00:13:41] Marc: But making those connections between individuals, making those connections between groups was Challenging at times, but also so rewarding. When I would see the aha moments in somebody else's eye or those moments of going, oh, they're thinking about this differently.
[:[00:14:07] Marc: So challenging at times in order to how do we build consensus? How do we have, a consistent sort of, program go out, for, to reach our business results. But, in doing so, how are we connecting with each other as people? And when I had a, small team of young professionals, that were working for me years ago.
[:[00:14:47] Marc: I've done this with, my family and my, my kids often say, dad, not another grocery store. But I think there's so much to be learned from a grocery store. And especially when you work in a consumer products company, right? Where are things placed? What, how are people engaging with the products? You know, all those things.
[:[00:15:18] Trisha: And I remember going to a grocery store in the U. S. and going, So many breakfast cereals.
[:[00:15:27] Trisha: Well, that too. Yeah. So many different types of toilet paper. I remember that coming back from
[:[00:15:42] Marc: Right.
[:[00:15:58] Marc: Yeah. It was, the shift was just a shift from our customers and what we were doing external facing, right. To, to our employees. And the work was still constantly to bridge the gaps in understanding of perspective, right. Between our employees and from culturally different diverse backgrounds, but now also get, I also get to focus my attention on developing our talent through the organization. But all with that lens of cultural awareness. So when I bring in my leadership, when I, when I'm training the leadership development program, for example, I, often try and make it relevant, right? So I have some, I was mentioning to you earlier, I have some upcoming ones where I'm going to be with our team in Europe and.
[:[00:17:00] Marc: How are we taking this product and putting it out globally and making sure that it fits in all of our global landscape to how are we now going to build this? this model of leadership in the whole global organization that we want everyone to follow, but make sure that all of our culturally diverse employees, can see themselves using it, can see themselves adopting it.
[:[00:17:43] Trisha: And so not forcing people to become the ideal American manager, um, or, but making a model that fits with people around the world.
[:[00:18:25] Marc: That the CQ model isn't just about international culture. And for me, for the longest time, that's just what it was because that's what I could relate to. And, and now because of my work on organizational culture and making sure that we just build the strongest organization we can around the world. I, and then also in my CQ fellow, being with all of you in the CQ fellows program, I was really, I guess I was really, my eyes were open to the fact that the model is, it can be applied to any cultural group, right?
[:[00:19:20] Marc: And, and now in my work in the organization, I'm saying how can we use our cq, the CQ model as we talk about organizational culture? How can we do it as we talk about, this. Team in the organization versus this team in the organization. How do we bring your team dynamics closer together and understanding by even having, that motivation to understand, right?
[:[00:19:57] Trisha: I was speaking with Jennifer, one of our colleagues in a couple of episodes previously, and she shared that one of her big shifts was recognizing how the model applied to generations and how it applied to her and her daughter. And so I think, you know, when we look at generations, when we look at workplaces, we're seeing four or five generations together, which is, you know, not something that's happened previously.
[:[00:20:37] Trisha: So, yeah, it's,
[:[00:20:43] Trisha: yep, that's right, life is different.
[:[00:20:47] Trisha: yeah, so there's, so there's always learning to be done. There's always people to, build bridges towards and yeah, to become part of our new, circle, if you like. I know as part of your work with CQ fellows, you've been working on a book. Slowly. Yes.
[:[00:21:13] Marc: Working full time.
[:[00:21:19] Marc: So I've been an adjunct for, for a long time, and, it's rewarding to stay a bit connected to, academia, after I spent so long in academia myself and, and doing that all on the side of my, regular everyday job. And so one of my favorite things is to teach is strategic management.
[:[00:21:55] Marc: So, yep, I, I did start a book, , in 2023 when we were first in our CQ Fellows program and, and I was all excited and gung ho for it and, I hit a little bit of a stall though this year. So I've, I've got about 50 percent written. And I really started to question some of it. I've had some really good opportunities to, to chat with some fellow CQ fellows, and kind of bounce some ideas around and I have some new clarity.
[:[00:22:53] Marc: I've always been fascinated with how we as, we just connect with other people. And, that's really going to be the focus of the book, of, of how we take those real human experiences and look at them almost as a case study. And, Recognize, how we might apply the CQ model in these everyday human interactions.
[:[00:24:00] Trisha: . I love that. Yeah. It is so real and true. Fantastic. So Marc, if people who are listening to this want to connect with you and want to follow up with you, how is it best to do that?
[:[00:24:12] Trisha: Okay
[:[00:24:16] Trisha: And when you eventually publish that book, I'm sure we'll, we'll hear about it from that spot. And also don't worry, listeners, I will let you know as well.
[:[00:24:25] Trisha: so for our final questions, Marc, what advice would you give someone who's going to follow in your footsteps?
[:[00:24:36] Trisha: Every, I love that.
[:[00:25:03] Marc: In my opinion, as members of shared collective called humanity. We have the shared obligation to seek deeper connectedness to one another and to, to seek an understanding of each other.
[:[00:25:17] Marc: I think it takes real intentional acts to recognize, our neighbor and to seek knowledge and offer a hand, say hello, open that door to building a more collectively and culturally intelligent world.
[:[00:25:43] Marc: I hope that someday looking back at my life, I'll have done my little part to bring people closer together, to be that bridge in building deeper understanding and helping everyone, myself included, to recognize that we all come from different places, that we all hold unique values and cultural identities. And that there's much more that lies beyond the surface. , we need only activate that CQ, knowledge or CQ to ride the wave of exploration and, and together, you know, just, just build a better place.
[:[00:26:16] Trisha: you.
[:[00:26:17] Trisha: That is very encouraging.
[:[00:26:23] Trisha: Thanks. And thank you listeners for joining us on this, on this journey and exploration. And we hope that you will push that follow button so that you can listen to the next episode of The Shift.
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