Welcome!

You’ve come to the right place if...

You’re looking for a partner in your quest to forge common ground in your work and life.

You’re looking for tools you can use every day.

You’re looking for someone who not only understands what you’re facing, but can help you get where you want to go.

For 20 years I’ve been leading, coaching, and consulting with professional organizations and universities in global and intercultural leadership.

I wrote a book — Humanly Possible: A New Model of Leadership for a More Inclusive World — which distills many of the lessons from my career into specific, concrete things you can do every day to forge common ground as a leader.

At age 23, during my first year in China as an English teacher, I was a confused mess of negative reactions against my environment. I had no training in how to manage my hard feelings, how to turn them into curiosity, and how to adapt my behavior in ways that would help me genuinely connect with people who were very different from me. I’ve been fortunate over the years to build expertise with a set of tools, models, and frameworks to turn things around.

I’ve learned that if we want to make a difference in the world, we need four things:

1. A skill set for managing our emotions and our perceptions — for getting outside of ourselves, and for getting curious about how our brains operate.

2. Self-awareness: What makes me tick? What are my triggers? How does my culture shape what I like and dislike?

3. Understanding others: What makes others tick? What are their triggers? How can I understand their belief systems on their own terms?

4. Bridging: What can and should I do differently to create and reinforce both safety and accountability in my spheres of influence?

I’ve applied these principles in my positions as Dean of Baret Scholars; as Chief of Operations, Chief of Strategy, and Director of the Robertson Center for Intercultural Leadership at UC Berkeley’s International House; as Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins–Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies; and as Director of the Stanford Program in Beijing.

I’ve given dozens of speeches, taught dozens of courses, and led countless workshops for hundreds of professionals and university students from six continents. I’ve worked with CEOs and city leaders. I’ve “trained the trainers” to design and deliver global leadership and global DEI workshops. I’ve delivered dozens of workshops and keynotes on global leadership at global conferences, including the International Leadership Association, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the European Association for International Education, and the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education.

I’ve done all of this in service of what’s become my life’s mission: forging common ground in our spheres of influence.

Interested in learning more or partnering? Join my mailing list or drop me a note.