It is no longer the exception that customers and teams of employees are made up of people from a variety of countries…it is the rule. Corporate mission statements often state that teams of employees from different countries and cultures "will benefit from the best parts of each culture and develop international synergy". Sadly, lasting synergy rarely develops.

The international marketplace offers huge opportunities for those individuals and corporations who overcome cultural barriers. More and more international customers are available to us through the Internet, E-mail, and face-to-face interactions. Is your product designed and sold in a way which appeals to people from a variety of cultures and countries? Are you and the employees who service your product prepared to interact successfully with those customers?

With over 25 years of experience working with American, Pacific Rim and European multinational corporations in the areas of change management, leadership and global competitiveness, Doug speaks extensively about the cultural and management challenges facing individuals and organizations in the international arena. He motivates and challenges audiences around the globe to examine their respective management styles and business strategies, and then determine the effectiveness of each across a variety of cultures. While working for Tokyo Disneyland, Doug learned that even the largest and most prestigious companies are not immune to cultural mishaps, requiring the need to be sensitive to the diversity of other business environments.

Doug firmly believes in the strategy of educating and entertaining at the same time. He reinforces diversity concepts with actual stories from Disney as well as other organizations' successes and disappointments. While many of his stories are humorous, all connect with an underlying message to serious learning points, creating an opportunity for each participant to reflect upon their strengths and areas for improvement.

Doug's keynote presentations and workshops are designed to get the audience involved. By creating a hands-on environment, his goal is take the audience on a journey of learning they will both remember and apply for a long time. A key goal Doug has for every presentation is to create an opportunity for each participant to be both motivated-for-the-moment and to use the concepts back on the job. He does this by encouraging his audiences to reflect upon their strengths and areas for improvement, then identify at least three "next steps" they will implement upon returning to their respective work environments.

His presentations are tailored to meet the client's individual needs, covering the most relevant issues in the client's own language. Doug conducts an in-depth needs assessment prior to any assignment. In the cases of longer presentations or workshops, Doug incorporates leadership, and motivational topics as directed by the client. With smaller audiences, Doug can provide "hands-on" activities and facilitate working groups for goal setting, management style analysis, and problem solving.

Presentations: 45 to 90-minute keynote speeches, 2 hr. to 1/2-day workshops or breakout sessions, and full-day workshops.