When your cultural norms are different from the mainstream, or your upbringing hasn’t prepared you to march in step with the dominant group, it may seem that your choices are limited: either blend in or step out. With strong cultural traditions of your own, you may feel you can’t or don’t want to emulate the majority. But it is possible to hold on to the best of yourself while succeeding.
My client Mercedes was viewed as hard working but shy. Her cultural background did not prepare her to feel comfortable contradicting her manager— she hadn’t learned how to be assertive without feeling or appearing aggressive. Her manager knew that Mercedes wanted to succeed and recommended her for a leadership development program sponsored by the firm’s diversity council. In addition to classroom instruction with 
personal assessment and individual coaching, this program included a unique interface with senior management: over breakfast or lunch, senior leaders shared their stories how they arrived in their positions and of what they learned along the way. Mercedes said:
These sessions really opened my eyes. As I got to know the senior leaders, I discovered that while they share a set of consistent values, they employ very different leadership styles. Through the coaching, I was able to role-play different ways to respond to situations until I developed a style that worked and felt authentic to me.
Mercedes learned that it is not necessary to abandon your own culture or “blend in” to succeed. There are many successful leadership styles, and you can discover one that will work for you. It may help to ask successful people who are “like you” how they “made it.” The important thing is to find ways to display your abilities.
And if you want to express you cultural identity. I recommend that you handle your preferences for styles of dress, levels of formality, and other more visible manifestations of cultural differences with sensitivity. You don’t need to abandon your own practices, but don’t over display your differentness either. Be sure your dress, carriage, and voice make it clear you are ready to do business. After all, you want the conversation to be about your competence, not your culture.
Here is a quotation from W.Edwards Deming:
We are all different from one another, but in the important things we are all alike.
From Getting There Staying There Chapter 6. p 47