CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION
cross-cultural communication leadership workshop
SESSION 1 — CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION Category: Development Formats offered 20–30 min: A focused briefing on one specific friction point (e.g. how disagreement gets read differently across a team), with one live exercise. 60–90 min: The full session…
Conflict Transformation & Difficult Conversations
Cross-Cultural Intelligence, Communication & Collaboration
Feedback Training & Facilitation
Non-Verbal Communication & Body Language
Team Strategy, Vision & Alignment
Workshop
Description
SESSION 1 — CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION
Category: Development
Formats offered
20–30 min: A focused briefing on one specific friction point (e.g. how disagreement gets read differently across a team), with one live exercise.
60–90 min: The full session below.
Half-day (up to 3 hrs): Full session plus a working session applying it to the team's actual current project or conflict.
Group size: 6–40, adaptable for larger leadership offsites on request.
What happens
- Opening exercise — a quick paired activity where participants compare how something as basic as saying "no" or pushing back on an idea actually gets communicated in their own backgrounds. Surfaces the gap fast, without anyone needing to be an expert on culture going in.
- Case walkthrough — real, anonymized situations from twenty years leading teams inside Swedish and Swiss organizations, where a cross-cultural miscommunication genuinely stalled a decision or a project. Grounds the session in what actually goes wrong, not theory.
- Live practice — participants run a real exchange (e.g. giving critical feedback to someone from a more hierarchical background versus a flatter one) and get direct, specific coaching in the room.
- Close — the group writes a short, shared "communication code": three or four concrete norms they agree to carry back to work. Not a takeaway sheet — something they built themselves in the room.
Activities and their benefits
Paired comparison exercise → immediate mutual understanding, reduced friction
Real case study discussion → practical, applicable insight rather than abstract theory
Live coached practice → confidence, measurable communication skill-building
Group communication charter → team alignment and behavior that actually sticks after the session ends
What makes it mine
This isn't communication theory — it's twenty years of having led real teams across Swedish and Swiss organizations, plus a Certified Norm Engineer accessibility background, which means the exercises are built so the quietest or least fluent person in the room gets equal airtime, not just the most confident one.
Benefits
Paired comparison exercise → immediate mutual understanding, reduced friction
Real case study discussion → practical, applicable insight rather than abstract theory
Live coached practice → confidence, measurable communication skill-building
Group communication charter → team alignment and behavior that actually sticks after the session ends
Hosted by Zayera Khan
About the Host
I've spent over twenty years redesigning how people experience healthcare, government, and corporate systems — at 1177 Vårdguiden, Arbetsförmedlingen, Scania, Azets, and Swisscom, across Sweden and Switzerland. Along the way I trained as a leadership coach, because the hardest problems in any organization are rarely technical. They're about whether people can actually say what they mean to each other, and whether everyone in the room can follow along once they do. I also hold a Certified Norm Engineer qualification in accessibility, so when I facilitate, I'm building the room for everyone in it, not just the people who are already comfortable speaking up. Outside my day work I've made five documentary films and written more than a hundred essays, most of them about crossing cultures and choosing the honest thing to say over the polished one. I'm based in Stockholm and work in English, Swedish, and German.
Certifications & Credentials
M.Sc. in Interaction Design, Malmö University
B.Sc. in Cognitive Science, University of Skövde
Certified leadership coach
Certified Norm Engineer — accessibility qualification
Currently completing the TRAC Resekonsult program at YH Akademin, graduating December 2026
Past Clients
I've worked as a UX and service-design lead inside major organizations including 1177 Vårdguiden, Scania, Arbetsförmedlingen, Swisscom, and Orange Switzerland. At Arbetsförmedlingen I designed and delivered UX training to more than 100 colleagues as part of a company-wide adoption program — my most direct experience running structured sessions for a large organization. I haven't yet delivered external wellbeing, creativity, or development workshops through a platform like this one, though the facilitation and communication skills carry over directly from that training work and from my coaching certification.
Focus Areas
Creative/CultureDevelopment/Coaching
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
Languages
German, English, Swedish, Urdu
Travel Locations
Within Sweden, Malmö, also possible within Europe.
Corporate Experience
Moderate
Session Types Offered
Interactive (eg. improv, group-art, yoga etc.)
Past Experience Doing Sessions
Yes - Interactive
Client Requirements
Depends on the session
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Workshops › Creative & Team Building › CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION