What if the silence in your meetings has nothing to do with confidence and everything to do with culture? Organizational psychologist Neelu Kaur joins Lori Adams-Brown to decode the invisible operating systems shaping how professionals communicate, advocate for themselves, and lead across cultures and organizational hierarchies. IN THIS EPISODE:   - What the "self-trust recession" is and why it matters for global leaders right now   - The paradox at the heart of corporate America: individualistic society, yet over-indexed workplaces   - Why "just speak up" is incomplete advice when power dynamics are involved   - The Abilene Paradox: how teams end up agreeing to decisions nobody actually wants   - The difference between assimilation and adaptability at work and why organizations are getting it wrong ABOUT NEELU KAUR: Neelu Kaur is a global keynote speaker, organizational psychologist, and author of Be Your Own Cheerleader: An Asian and South Asian Woman's Cultural, Psychological, and Spiritual Guide to Self-Promote at Work. She partners with Fortune 500 companies to build transformative leadership cultures, holds a Master's in Social and Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and is a certified NLP master practitioner. TIMESTAMPS:   00:00 - Introduction and Neelu's cross-cultural background (India to the US)   04:00 - The self-trust recession: outsourcing inner authority in the age of AI   08:00 - The I vs. We paradox in corporate America   12:00 - Assimilation vs. adaptability in hiring and onboarding   18:00 - Psychological safety and cultural assessments in executive teams   22:00 - Inclusion at work events: safety, restraint, and belonging   26:00 - Speed culture vs. strategic depth: the cost of always being on autopilot   36:00 - The Abilene Paradox and how groupthink silences the room Join us for the exclusive bonus episode on Patreon with Neelu. FIND NEELU KAUR AT:   Website: https://www.neelukaur.com   Book: Be Your Own Cheerleader (available where books are sold) Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode. Visit https://www.aworldofdifferencepodcast.com for more resources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices