Heather Robinson

Heather Robinson is Founder and Principal Consultant of Success Across Borders, a consulting firm providing international organization development, executive coaching, as well as leadership and intercultural communication course design and facilitation. Heather specializes in leadership development, systems thinking and global effectiveness, and she provides expert consultation, particularly with regard to outsourcing to India. She is inspired by vitality and beauty in nature, images, words, music, movement, stillness and being. For the last five years she has danced with ANAR DANA, performing women's traditional dances. Warning: she is also an inveterate punster.

Born in the US to Swiss and US parents, Heather was raised on four continents. She has lived in India, the UK, Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, Greece, Israel and Pakistan, and currently resides in the US. In addition, she has worked for short periods of time in Spain, France, Scotland, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway. She is fluent in English, German and Swiss-German, conversational in Hindi/Urdu, and has a basic knowledge of French and Spanish.

With close to 30 years of industry experience, Heather’s clients have included Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Nokia, SIEMENS, Robert Bosch, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Infineon, Pepsico, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Lockheed-Martin, Daimler, Deutsche Telekom, Abbott, Solvay and Hilton Hotels. From 2001 through 2004, she was dean for the Strategic Edge, a global executive development program for the major European aerospace companies, including EADS, BAE Systems, Alenia-Aerospazio, Stork/Fokker and SAAB Aerospace, and in 2011 was part of the team rolling out a global leadership program at Cisco Systems.

A frequent speaker at international conferences and a writer, Heather has contributed to McGraw Hill’s Training Resource Guides, The Consultant’s Big Book of Organization Development Tools, and the Human Resource Press’ Intercultural Training Guide. She is the co-author of Cultural Detective: Switzerland and Cultural Detective: Blended Culture, and is a facilitator of Cultural Detective certification workshops. She is also co-author of the Essential Practice for Intercultural Competence (EPIC). Along with Rita Wuebbeler, she has co-authored articles on working effectively in German-US teams. In 2007, The Project Management Institute published her article on project management in India and in 2010/2011 Diversity Executive published her series of articles on women in the global workplace including, Germany, India, Pakistan and Switzerland.

Heather holds a BA with Double Honors in Biology and a Certificate in Science Writing from the University of California, as well as an MA in Whole Systems Design with a specialization in Organization Systems Renewal from Antioch University, where her area of concentration was Strategic Planning and Systems Design. She is a Certified Integral Coach, Senior Facilitator of Personal Leadership and certified in Marshall Goldsmith's Stakeholder Centered Coaching. In addition, she has taught at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication in Portland, Oregon, the University of Washington International MBA program and the Georgetown/ESADE Global Executive MBA program.

Heather has served as president of SIETAR USA from 2003 through 2005 and was one of the co-founders of SIETAR India. In 2007, she received the SIETAR Europa “Dedication to and Embodiment of Intercultural Principles” Award. She is also the recipient of the Red Cross Unsung Heroine Award and the US Presidential Point of Light.