Chinese and Western leaders who depend on each other
I lived and worked in China from 2005 to 2013. Since then I have kept working on the same question from both sides: what happens when Chinese and Western leaders need each other to get work done, and what helps.
Discuss your situationWork I have done
In China I worked with Western companies and their Chinese teams. At a Western multinational's plant in Shanghai, I helped German and Chinese functional heads agree what excellence meant in practice; within a year the plant was recognized nationally for lean manufacturing. At a German-managed hotel in Beijing, I helped management and staff replace two unwritten contracts with agreements both sides wrote. I facilitated mixed French and Chinese leaders at Carrefour and European and Chinese teams at Airbus, coached leaders at Motorola in Tianjin and at Microsoft in Shanghai, and served as Master Coach for Deloitte Greater China from 2011 to 2013.
In the United States I have coached Chinese leaders at Meta and other technology companies as they worked through different expectations about authority and self-expression, and as some of them returned to executive roles in China. In 2026 I worked with a Chinese-rooted investment firm as it prepared to integrate a new Western partner.
Questions leaders bring
- "We agreed on this in the meeting. Why is it not being carried out?"
- "Why did we hear about this problem so late?"
- "Headquarters keeps reversing local decisions. Who decides?"
- "Our counterparts agree in the room and raise concerns afterwards. What are we missing?"
These questions have more than one possible answer. Before calling a difference cultural, I look for the organizational causes that produce the same symptoms, such as unclear decision rights, reward systems that pull in different directions, and different definitions of the same goal. Each side's assumptions get examined, including headquarters'.
How I look at a case
Each situation is examined the same way: what happened, how each side interpreted it, the assumptions underneath those interpretations, the competing explanations, what was done, and what changed as a result. The structure keeps a team from settling on the first explanation that sounds plausible.
Who this is for
Chinese founders and executives responsible for operations in the U.S. or Europe. Western executives working with a Chinese parent company, partner or investor. Leaders of Western companies' operations in China. The HR and organization development leaders who support them.
Research and a book in development
I am researching the organizational friction that arises when Chinese companies operate in the United States and Europe, for a book in development. I am interviewing executives who have lived this from either side.
Interviews are confidential. I agree with you how any account may be used before it appears in the book.
Background
- Lived and worked in China, 2005–2013; conversant in Mandarin.
- Master Coach, Deloitte Greater China, 2011–2013.
- Recognized in China as a Consultant of National Excellence (2005), following a keynote in Beijing on building learning organizations in a Chinese context.
- Cross-cultural programs for the Beijing International MBA at Peking University.
- Closing keynote on cross-cultural virtual teams, Worldwide ERC Asia Pacific Summit, Shanghai (2008).
- Certified in the Cultural Orientations Indicator.
His encouragement helped me make the decision to pursue adventurous executive opportunities in China after working in the US for 15 years.
Our Lean Transformation took off like fire, and within a year we were recognized as the outstanding Lean Factory in China.
Start with a conversation
Tell me about the situation and the people on each side.
Schedule a conversation