I help Leaders and Teams work better together across mindsets, cultures and expectations.
When people don’t understand each other, work slows down, decisions drag, and frustration builds. Cultural gaps left unaddressed don’t just create tension, they make collaboration harder and progress slower.
Hi, I'm Alena
DIVERSE TEAMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE STRONGER, MORE CREATIVE, AND MORE EFFECTIVE, BUT ONLY IF THEY KNOW HOW TO WORK THROUGH THEIR DIFFERENCES.
At every level, these challenges show up in different ways:
For the team
Collaboration becomes frustrating. Deadlines slip due to miscommunication, roles feel unclear, and decision-making drags. Instead of using different perspectives as an advantage, people retreat into silos, and valuable input gets lost.
When communication styles, decision-making approaches, and expectations clash, it doesn’t just create friction, it slows everything down.
For the individual
You may feel like your ideas aren’t valued, or you hesitate to speak up because you’re unsure how they’ll be received. You might struggle to connect with colleagues who think and work differently, making teamwork feel frustrating instead of energizing.
For the organization
Managing both up and down in a culturally diverse workplace requires a different approach. Leaders need to align teams across different work styles, develop relationships with international stakeholders, and ensure that cultural differences don’t become roadblocks to collaboration and business growth.
WHEN PEOPLE DON’T KNOW HOW TO NAVIGATE DIFFERENCES, EXECUTION SLOWS DOWN, OPPORTUNITIES ARE MISSED, AND BUSINESS OUTCOMES SUFFER.
Does This Sound Familiar?
You encourage open communication, hoping for better teamwork, but instead, disagreements escalate and stall progress.
👉 Emma, a manager in a global team, encourages open discussions, but when a disagreement arises, her European team members push back directly while her Asian colleagues remain silent. Instead of resolving the issue, the tension lingers, and decisions keep getting delayed.
You want more fresh ideas, but some team members stay quiet, and you lose the creativity that diversity should bring.
👉 Jeff is always quiet in meetings, even when he has valuable insights. His colleagues assume he has nothing to add - but in reality, he comes from a culture where speaking up without being invited feels inappropriate. The company keeps missing out on his ideas, and he starts disengaging from the team.
You follow the usual change management steps, but people still push back - because their real concerns are left unspoken.
👉 A leadership team rolls out a big organizational change. While some employees adapt quickly, others hesitate. The change isn’t failing because of bad strategy - it’s failing because employees in different regions interpret leadership messaging differently and don’t feel comfortable voicing their concerns.
Your team says they understand your instructions, but the results don’t match. You end up stepping in and fixing things yourself.
👉 Luis, a senior leader, asks his team to "prioritize the key tasks for the week." Everyone nods, but by Friday, nothing is finished. In his culture, prioritization means focusing on the most urgent tasks. In his team's culture, it means making sure everything gets done - but at a slower pace. He’s frustrated, and instead of pushing work forward, he ends up fixing things himself.
What’s at Stake?
When people don’t know how to navigate differences, collaboration suffers. And when collaboration suffers:
Decisions take longer, because people hesitate, misunderstand, or don’t feel safe enough to challenge ideas.
Execution weakens, because assumptions lead to mistakes, rework, and delays.
Business results slip, because opportunities are missed, innovation is stifled, and productivity drops.
THE PROBLEM ISN’T DIVERSITY. THE PROBLEM IS NOT KNOWING HOW TO WORK WITH IT.
The Solution
I don’t believe in quick fixes or one-size-fits-all training. I help leaders and teams learn how to navigate differences, so they can work better together, communicate clearly, and move forward faster.
Turn Differences into Strengths
People approach work differently based on their background, thinking style, and experiences. When those differences aren’t understood, they create tension. When they are understood, they create better decisions, richer discussions, and stronger collaboration. I help teams recognize these differences and use them to their advantage.
Create Psychological Safety & Build Trust
Teams only perform at their best when people feel safe to share their ideas, challenge each other, and take risks - without fear of blame or judgment. Psychological safety allows people to speak up. Trust ensures that they rely on each other to follow through. I help leaders create both - so teams collaborate more openly, solve problems faster, and perform better.
Lead with Confidence in a Global Workplace
Leaders who know how to adapt their leadership across cultures, communication styles, and expectations don’t just reduce friction - they speed up decision-making, improve team performance, and drive results. I help leaders develop cultural intelligence so they can guide diverse teams effectively.
Make Collaboration Clearer and More Efficient
Assumptions about communication can slow things down. In some cultures, people won’t push back on unrealistic deadlines. Others won’t ask clarifying questions. Without the right approach, things get lost, projects stall, and work needs to be redone. I help leaders and teams communicate expectations in a way that works for everyone, so execution happens smoothly.
Using REAL DATA from YOUR organization, I tailor learning experiences that help
Services
Executive Leadership programs
Develop future-ready leaders who align strategy, culture, and people for lasting business impact.
Team Development & Collaboration Training
Strengthen trust, communication, and synergy across diverse teams to boost performance.
Inspire, challenge, and equip leaders and teams with actionable insights for today’s complex workplace.
Keynotes and Strategic Workshops
WHY WORK WITH ME?
Hi, I'm Alena
After living and working in eight countries, I’ve seen how small cultural differences can make or break collaboration, execution, and business results.
Something as simple as giving feedback or making a decision can mean completely different things depending on who you're working with. In some cultures, direct disagreement is seen as healthy debate, in others, it's perceived as disrespect. Some teams expect clear top-down instructions, while others thrive on collective input. If these differences aren’t understood, small misalignments turn into delays, miscommunication, and lost opportunities.
I learned this firsthand. My first international job as a project manager had me changing countries every month. Even with a background in psychology and leadership, I struggled. Getting people aligned and making decisions across cultures wasn’t something leaders were taught - we were just expected to figure it out. That costs time, energy, and results.
That’s when I realized the power of Cultural Intelligence - not just as a skill, but as a way of leading.
For the past 15 years, I’ve helped 200+ organizations across 10 industries build stronger leadership, high-performing teams, and inclusive workplaces. I’ve trained 5,000+ engineers in intercultural competence and certified 2,000+ engineers in global competence in collaboration with KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
My approach is simple: I help leaders and teams learn how to navigate differences and turn them into competitive advantage. So they can collaborate effectively, make smarter decisions, and accelerate business success.
If you’re wondering how this could work for you, let’s talk.
Customer reviews
I would very much recommend working with Alena. She is one of the warmest and most inclusive people I have ever met and she is sitting on a goldmine of knowledge and competence.
She is easy to work with and always focuses on creating as much value as possible for others when it comes to developing people and organizations and creating high performing and prosperous teams. She is so extremely skilled at creating cognitive diversity, intercultural and inclusive leadership and communication, motivation and psychological safety for teams and organizations. (See more)
Marcus Ödlund | Culture & Community Manager
I got the privilege of getting to work with Alena for 6 sessions and it was revolutionary for my career trajectory. Alena helped me understand where my passion was and made me ask the difficult questions to open myself up to different opportunities. The sessions, discussions and homework were always rewarding and thought provoking. Alena's knowledge, patience, experience and passion make for lively sessions that need concentration and deep reflection. I could not recommend Alena enough. It's really been a wonderful experience and I can't believe what we achieved in only six hours.
Annie Gray | Global Customer Success Leader
