Belonging, Privilege, and Purpose in Asia

As I celebrate another birthday, I’ve been reflecting on the journey of building a career and life across cultures. The path hasn’t been a straight line, and some of the most valuable lessons have come from moments of discomfort.

Years ago, when I was giving workshops for free and working nights and weekends to grow my global communication training, I gave a session for an international group from the U.S., Europe, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

During the Q&A toward the end, one participant stood up and said:

“Your presentation was so white.”

Unprepared for that perspective, I didn’t know quite how to respond other than to engage. I thanked her for sharing and learned more about her background: a Taiwanese woman who had grown up in the West and had recently returned to Taiwan.

Afterward, the organizer apologized for her remark, but looking back, I’m grateful for it as that moment became a turning point. 

Over the years, I’ve worked hard to move beyond Western frameworks and to partner closely with local Learning & Development teams in Taiwan and across APAC to ensure my programs are contextually relevant and culturally grounded. 

This has also meant investing in non-Western learning frameworks: choosing the English-Mandarin bilingual option for my coaching certification, working with a Singaporean coaching mentor to gain more regionally rooted perspectives, and completing the Advancing Inclusion in Asia Masterclass Certificate Program with The Conference Board of Asia. Each of these experiences has helped me see culture (and coaching) not as a lens to be “translated” from the West, but as a living, diverse set of paradigms that shape how people learn, lead, and connect.

Her comment also made me reflect deeply on my role as a Westerner in Asia. Two recent examples stand out:

In one workshop, a participant asked, “Is this your Asian Dream?”

He explained that while many Asians have an “American Dream,” I seemed to have the opposite. He wondered why I came to Asia 18 years ago, at a time when the global narrative of success was still largely Western-driven. 

“Had you predicted the future?” he asked.

Another example is the everyday surprise when strangers hear me speaking Chinese. It seems to challenge expectations: that a Westerner would invest so much effort into learning Mandarin, even as many invest years in learning English.

A question that has stayed with me comes from Chandran Nair ’s Dismantling Global White Privilege:

“If you are a White person in a predominantly non-White society and workplace, are you aware of the privileges that come your way just by virtue of being White? What are the downsides? Are you conscious of how you rely on White privilege for its benefits?”

My answer is that there are both privileges and downsides. My choice is to consciously not rely on those privileges where I can — by showing up as an equal: speaking the language, working with local companies, and never playing the “foreigner” card. At the same time, I don't let the downsides affect me: feeling like an outsider when I miss a cultural reference, or being labeled according to a stereotype.

In the end, I am less concerned with questions around identity than with what I can contribute in the global space of cultural and emotional intelligence.

It is truly my privilege to live and work here, for as Dr. Parag Khanna writes in The Future Is Asian: 

“Asians widely hold the view that markets should be subordinate to overall societal well-being, rather than held up as ends in themselves.”

That mindset matters deeply to me. I’m grateful to live in a society that values harmony and collective care, and to the many participants, clients, and partners who continue to challenge me to keep growing and refining my work.

As I look ahead to 2026, I’m excited to further my journey through the global CQ Fellows program with David Livermore, deepening my research and practice around what truly equitable culturally intelligent solutions look like in today’s global workplaces.

Contact me here to set up a Discovery Call on how you can develop your own CulturalEQ communication skills for leadership and team communication in today's VUCA world.