Forging Bonds in a Global Workforce: Build Rapport, Camaraderie, and Optimal Performance No Matter the Time Zone

This first-of-its-kind resource shows how to cultivate trust and build solid connections with customers, colleagues, and partners in today’s hyper globalized, digitized work world

Perfunctory efforts to show investment in a business relationship―detailed in so many books about global work and cultural intelligence―doesn’t cut it anymore. Business professionals working across national and cultural boundaries need to form authentic relationships that drive rapport, camaraderie, and optimal team performance―and Forging Bonds in a Global Workforce provides the most thorough and practical approach to date on this issue. 

Renowned academics in the field of intercultural relationship-building, Andy Molinsky and Melissa Hahn deliver an easy-to-understand approach to help you supercharge your global relationship-building skills, including a focus on: 

•  Mindset: Conquer hidden biases that can interfere with relationship building and learn the 6 specific ways relationship building differs across cultures.   

•  Beginnings: Master key cultural differences in small talk and the initial stages of finding common ground.

•  Deepening: Learn to diagnose the local language of trust, develop creative ways to build relationships on global teams, and keep disagreements from escalating into conflict. 

Gone are the days of once-a-year global travel, when learning a few key customs and new words from a cheat sheet was insurance for closing the deal in another country. Business success today requires deeper engagement than ever. Apply the lessons of Forging Bonds in a Global Workforce to build lasting connections and drive career and organizational success in a truly global economy. 

Andy Molinsky, PhD, is a professor at Brandeis University’s International Business School, and earned his PhD in Organizational Behavior and his MA in Psychology from Harvard University. He also holds an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University and a BA in International Affairs from Brown University.

Melissa Hahn is an intercultural consultant, trainer, coach, and university instructor. She earned her MA in Intercultural Relations from the University of the Pacific and is an adjunct faculty member at American University’s School of International Service.