A World of Difference From Peru to the Netherlands to Silicon Valley: Building Leaders Who Actually Get Culture with Maria Angela Calmet
Are you leading teams across cultures but struggling to understand why brilliant strategies fail and talented people clash? The answer might be simpler than you think, and more complex than you've imagined.
What happens when the biggest barrier to global leadership isn't language or logistics, but the invisible assumptions we carry about how work should get done? Maria Angela Calmet has spent over 15 years leading projects across five continents, and she's discovered that the most successful leaders aren't just culturally aware—they're culturally competent.
As CEO and founder of Allopoli and author of LIDERESA, Maria Angela has seen firsthand what separates leaders who thrive globally from those who fail spectacularly. Her framework goes beyond surface-level cultural etiquette to address the root systems that drive behavior, decision-making, and trust-building across cultures.
In this conversation, Maria Angela reveals why directness in Dutch culture completely transformed her understanding of feedback, how a simple question about an engineer's character in Egypt opened her eyes to relationship-versus-task orientations, and why cultural competence is now listed as a top future skill by the World Economic Forum.
But this isn't just about working with international teams. Whether you're navigating subcultures within your own organization or building bridges in your local community, the principles Maria Angela shares will change how you see leadership itself.
Here are 5 key insights you can expect from this episode on building cultural competence as a leader:
- The Tree Analogy Framework - Why focusing on visible cultural differences (the leaves and flowers) while ignoring root beliefs and assumptions leads to persistent conflict and missed opportunities.
- Four Essential Leadership Competencies - The specific skills Maria Angela has identified through her global experience: effective communication, developing talent, visualizing impact, and thinking in solutions.
- The Fish Bowl Revelation - How to identify the cultural "water" you're swimming in and recognize unconscious biases that shape your leadership decisions without your awareness.
- Direct vs. Indirect Communication Reframe - Why Dutch directness taught Maria Angela that clear feedback is actually an act of kindness, and how this insight can transform your approach to difficult conversations.
- Relationship vs. Task Orientation - A powerful example from Egypt that demonstrates why some cultures prioritize personal character over technical competence, and what this means for building trust in global teams.
If you've ever wondered why your best intentions sometimes create the worst outcomes when working across cultures, this conversation will give you the framework to lead with curiosity instead of judgment. The future belongs to leaders who can see the world through multiple cultural lenses—and Maria Angela shows you exactly how to develop that vision.
00:04:08
Three Cultures That Shaped a Global Leader
00:06:20
Building Allopoli: Creating Communities Across Cultural Differences
00:11:39
Why Cultural Competence is the Future of Leadership
00:16:00
Task vs Relationship: When Cultural Worldviews Clash in Business
00:20:48
Four Essential Leadership Competencies for Global Success
00:25:44
Breaking Barriers: Women Leaders in Latin America's Patriarchal Culture
00:33:11
From Offense to Understanding: How Dutch Directness Changed Everything
00:37:06
Beyond Surface Culture: Understanding the Roots of Cultural Differences
What You'll Learn
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