Keith Teo
In the space of three sentences: How did you come to do what you do (for a living)?
I discovered the possibility to become an intercultural trainer and consultant by pure chance, I didn’t even know before that such a job exists. I lived and worked in Brunei and Taiwan experiencing very closely the influences and differences caused by different values between cultures. This has been a hard way as I never participated in an intercultural training before and had to figure out the influences of cultural differences all by myself. Before starting at intercultures, I have worked as a freelanced intercultural consultant in Singapore. Working at intercultures, I deeply developed my knowledge and skills as an intercultural coach – mainly in interaction with Stefan Meister, who is well known in the intercultural training field – facilitating successfully several intercultural projects and workshops.
How might intercultures’ customers find you unique?
What makes me unique? That is a good question. I always considered my qualitites and competences as normal and ordinary, but the more I talked to different people I realised that my huge international experience is not as common as I thought and is something that makes me really unique. For the last 10 years, I have been traveling across the country for about 40 weeks annually. I am extremely familiar with its different regions and I know a lot about the most recent developments and happenings, which enables me to give advice to leaders on current trends as well as their management styles and strategies.
What do you like about working with intercultures?
I like so many things! Where do I start? The intercultures team and the network of experts are totally impressive and committed to their work. Every project and training is designed to ensure to be relevant and unique. Consultants and facilitators are then matched and selected accordingly to their experience and strength so that the client receives the maximum value from the project or training.
In a global context – why do you think is your work – and our work together important?
After working in the training and consulting field for more than 15 years, I emphasize in my trainings on the different effects behaviour patterns and actions evoked on people. Armed with this understanding, I experience that my clients start to evolve new perspectives on situations and evaluate these differently. A clearer idea of what is happening in a situation results in a better decision-making. I have developed a strong sense to notice what is missing, not communicated, or not expressed in an interaction between people. I help to overcome these gaps in and between teams, team members, and even national cultures. A better understanding leads to a better engagement, a better decision-making and better results!