I learned, in practice, that it doesn't have the same weight or form for everyone. In some cultural contexts, time is urgency, efficiency, schedule. In others, it's presence, waiting, listening.
Between these layers, we realize that leading requires more than clarity. It requires sensitivity to perceive when a pause communicates more than a meeting, when listening sustains more than a well-done presentation. Building long-term relationships, especially in multicultural contexts, depends on our ability to recognize the other's time: their way of processing, trusting, deciding.
I've caught myself adjusting the tone, the rhythm, the approach—not out of insecurity, but out of respect. Because communicating in diverse environments is less about what is said and more about what the other can hear.
It's there, in that space of listening and intention, that consistent relationships are born: those that last, even when scenarios, goals, and roles change.
Being between different cultures taught me to inhabit duality without rushing to resolve it (accepting that there are contradictions and different views on the same situations). To understand that not every silence is discomfort, and that not every urgency is priority.
Having lived on cultural borders gave me a skill that no technique offers: the ability to inhabit nuances.
And perhaps that's the greatest asset today, in a world that talks a lot, runs a lot, but listens little.