ABSTRACT
Back in the last century, most people who worked in business spent between 70 and 90 percent of their time communicating, mainly verbally but also in writing, with superiors, co-workers, subordinates, clients or customers, friends or acquaintances, or media. These days, people may attend meetings and conferences by Skyping on their laptops or even their smartphones rather than attending in person. Intercultural communication is a process whereby individuals from different cultural backgrounds attempt to share meanings. In the classical anthropological sense, culture refers to the range of human phenomena that cannot be attributed to genetic outcomes. Communication is a process of circular interaction involving a sender, receiver, and message. In the most basic terms, the sender sends a message to the receiver. Traditional Western models of communication are a reflection of Western cultural and philosophical thought. The most basic skill that global leaders must cultivate is learning how to effectively communicate and listen cross-culturally.
