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American Solutions for Business

L. Bonita Patterson

About the Session

Bridging the Cultural Divide in Global Communications

There are numerous examples of international cultural disasters due to arrogance and ineptitude. They occur in all areas of business including strategy, marketing, and management. A key to avoiding blunders and boosting success is effective communication. The tricky thing is that respectful communication varies by culture.

Learn tips and techniques to master cross-cultural opportunities and get it right the first time.

Biography

L. Bonita Patterson, President, Polaris Consulting Group. Ms. Patterson is the author of Communication Under Fire: How To Talk When Things Heat Up; Emotional Intelligence in Action: Training and Coaching Activities for Leaders and Managers, and numerous articles on business and leadership issues. Her company provides keynotes, executive coaching, consultation, facilitation, workshops, and management retreats to improve bottom line results by aligning behaviors with strategic business intent. She works with a broad array of corporate, government, and non-profit clients in the areas of communications, emotional intelligence, leadership and team development, diversity, and strategic planning.

Ms. Patterson has presented speeches, seminars, and workshops to numerous organizations including: City and County of Denver, City of Westminster, Colgate University, Colorado Department of Transportation, Coors Brewing Company, DeVry University, eBay, Energy Education, Guaranty Bank & Trust, Hewlett Packard, Hospital Corporation of America, Johns Manville, National Conference of State Legislatures, 9News, The Medical Center of Aurora, TIAA-CREF, Time Warner Cable, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Her organizational change work includes:

• Revitalizing a flagging organization
• Facilitating a "post-merger" transition to a new operating model
• Developing an executive leadership program leveraging world-class educators, executives, and researchers to enhance leadership capabilities of senior management in global organizations

Ms. Patterson's work experience includes more than 20 years in management and leadership with IBM, Vice President of a leadership development company, and Division Manager of Training and Development for the U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons plant closure project at Rock Flats. 

Ms. Patterson holds an MS in Organizational Management and a BA in Communications, and she is a graduate of the Harvard / Wharton Executive Management Program. She is guest faculty of the Women’s Vision Leadership Institute and is past president of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Human Resource Association.