Knowledge

Communicate on the Same Wavelength

Individualism vs. Collectivism Culture (Hofstede)

The individualism vs. collectivism dimension, proposed by Geert Hofstede, is one of the key aspects in cultural differences studies. This concept plays a significant role in understanding organizational behaviors, entrepreneurship, and intercultural interactions in the global business environment. Introduction Individualism and collectivism are two opposing ends of a cultural continuum that describe the degree to […]

#Intercultural Training

Power Distance Culture: High vs. Low Power Distance Scientific Introduction The concept of power distance was introduced by Geert Hofstede in his studies on organizational and national cultures. Power distance describes the extent to which members of a society or organization accept inequalities in the distribution of power and hierarchy. In cultures with high power […]

Digital Workforce – A New Breed of Employee in Your Organization

#Manager Training

Imagine, then, that you start your workday. At 9:00 AM, you have a scheduled “interview” with a new candidate. But it’s not a typical recruitment interview—it’s a demo of a new AI agent that you need to evaluate before deploying it to your team. You look at it exactly as you would a human candidate—assessing […]

Is a Good Boss One Whose Team Performs Perfectly in Their Absence?

#Communication Training

The traditional vision of an effective leader often associated their constant presence and direct supervision of the team. However, the modern work environment, characterized by the rise of remote work, hybrid teams, and growing employee autonomy, calls for a revision of this belief. Increasingly, a team’s ability to function in the absence of their manager […]

Do Managers Confuse Authority with Respect?

#Communication Training

Managers who successfully lead their teams know that authority and respect are two distinct yet interconnected concepts. Unfortunately, in many organizations, the boundary between them becomes blurred, leading to misunderstandings and management problems. This article analyzes why managers often confuse having formal authority with earning respect, and what consequences this has for organizations, teams, and […]

Building an Organization Resistant to Toxic Leadership Behaviors

#Communication Training

In today’s dynamic business environment, leadership is universally recognized as a key factor for an organization’s success. However, not all leadership contributes to positive outcomes. Increasing attention is being paid to negative leadership styles, particularly toxic leadership, which can pose a serious threat to the organization and its employees. Toxic leadership, although not always immediately […]

Statistics

In the top 100 films of 2019, 68% of all female characters were White, 20% were Black, 7% were Asian, and 5% were Latina.

- IS THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY SERIOUS ABOUT D&I? by Marcy Polanco.

In the U.S., women account for approximately 52% of all employees in the hospitality industry, but only 36% occupy leadership roles.

- Diversity for Social Impact 2023

Out of 1,200 movies, 688 erased males from the Latino community and 828 erased females, indicating a decreasing degree of invisibility for Latinas on screen between 2007 and 2018.

- IS THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY SERIOUS ABOUT D&I? by Marcy Polanco.

Over 70% of women would choose to remain in manufacturing if starting their careers now.

- Women in manufacturing 2021.

Insights

“I was waiting for them to invite me to speak.”

In an individualistic culture, people who can take a central position, express their opinions and convince others of their solutions are valued. If, in addition, it is an egalitarian culture, organizationally flat, then you can and even have to boldly enter the stage, ahead of your boss, and put on a show. In hierarchical and […]

“Yes, i.e. no.”

“Yes of course. I understand what you’re saying. – Great!”. But why don’t you see all the signs that you’ve just received a refusal, and everything you’re proposing simply isn’t possible? You won’t get that report until Friday, that’s for sure. Why are you pushing? You received a refusal, only given in a way that […]

“He got what he got i.e. nothing – because he didn’t check if he could actually realistically expect to get what he ordered.”

You order something from a supplier, meticulously specify the requirements, ask if it will be made in accordance with the specifications, delivered on time – and you are delighted! You hear over and over that everything will of course be delivered and completed. Yes, yes and again yes. Meanwhile, in the middle of the project, […]

Quotes

Every act of communication is a miracle of translation

- Ken Liu

Don’t assume that prior communication has been effective and that people get it

- Benjamin Komlos

It sounds so trite but in relationships, you have to communicate

- Peter Krause

The art of communication is the language of leadership

- James Humes

Trivia

#

What determines the reliability of a psychometric test?

In a nutshell, the reliability of a psychometric test is that its results are consistent over time for a given person. If the results of the test differ after repeated tests, the test is not reliable.

#

What properties should a psychometric test for business purposes include?

That which is soft requires hard measurements. That’s why, when measuring human characteristics, it’s necessary to be as rigorous as possible in order to obtain a reliable result. Thus, the vast majority of pop-psychology tests are just fun, not psychology. For a psychological test to be credible, it must be valid, reliable, standardized, normalized, and […]

#

Culture shock in business

Culture shock is a concept related to the emotions we experience when interacting with another culture. This process is typically divided into several stages: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment. The names are self-descriptive enough to understand their essence. Culture shock in business increases business risk. It’s easy to commit a faux pas, even (or maybe especially) when […]

Benefits

#

Em supports the IDEA approach.

IDEA stands for inclusion, diversity, equity and access. Em helps build a culture based on these values by helping people understand each other.

#

Em helps build a culture of accessibility.

Em supports the idea of accessibility by helping people communicate. This makes it easier to build bridges between employees.

#

Em helps build a culture based on equity.

Em gives everyone a chance to be understood, and thus treated equally due to the manner of communication, talents and expectations. In this way, she helps to build a culture based on equality.

Are you interested in a topic, but it is not in the "wisd.em" section? Describe the problem and we will try to clarify it.

What topic do you want to see in the "wisd.em" section?