#17 - Victoria Rennoldson: Turning cultural differences into leadership strengths

Victoria Rennoldson is an award-winning Cultural Intelligence and communication coach, author of Become a Global Leader, and host of the Culture Cuppa podcast. In her work with global leaders, she helps teams understand the hidden cultural dynamics that shape how we communicate, collaborate, and build trust across borders.

In this episode, Victoria joins Sarah to explore the idea of the “cultural clash” - those subtle, often invisible moments of friction that can slow down projects, create misunderstandings, and quietly undermine team dynamics. Together, they unpack why cultural intelligence is becoming an essential leadership skill in today’s global organisations.

Victoria shares her practical framework for diagnosing where a team sits on the cultural map and explains how leaders can move beyond simple awareness to take meaningful action. The conversation also explores how cultural intelligence intersects with gender, hierarchy, and behavioural preferences, and why intentional leadership is key to building truly inclusive teams.

In this episode, we talk about:

01:15 - Understanding cultural intelligence and why it matters in global leadership

04:55 - Client journeys and the cultural challenges leaders often overlook

08:25 - The intersection of gender and cultural intelligence

11:10 - Understanding power distance within multicultural teams

13:32 - Building trust and collaboration across cultures

15:23 - The key capabilities of culturally intelligent leaders

18:31 - The importance of intentionality in leadership

23:17 - Adapting communication and behaviour to different cultural contexts

27:04 - Final reflections on leadership and cultural intelligence

Victoria also shares a simple but powerful two-minute habit that can transform the way leaders approach meetings and decision-making in diverse teams.

If you lead across cultures, work in international teams, or want to build a stronger culture of belonging within your organisation, this conversation offers thoughtful insights and practical ideas you can start using straight away.

About the host

Sarah Perugia is an expert women-in-leadership coach and whole-person leadership transformation specialist, dedicated to empowering female leaders to thrive. With over 20 years of experience, she partners with organisations across the globe to develop and retain top female talent, strengthen the female leadership pipeline, and promote gender equality in senior roles. Drawing on her background in acting, neuro-linguistic programming, and Positive Psychology, Sarah empowers leaders to advance their careers, build confidence, enhance performance, and ultimately flourish and thrive. Her offering combines tailored leadership development programmes with one-to-one executive leadership coaching to unlock their full potential.

If you’d like to learn more about Sarah and her work with women in leadership, you can find out more here: https://www.sarahperugia.com/women-in-leadership/

In this show, we cover

Cultural Intelligence, Communication, Cultural Clash, Inclusive Leadership, Cultural Awareness, Leadership Development, Relationship Building, Trust, Cultural Diversity.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more!

Contact and Connect

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-perugia-leadership-coaching/

Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/victoria-rennoldson

Become a Global Leader Book: https://culturecuppa.com/book

Cultural Communication Confidence Podcast: https://culturecuppa.com/podcast/