Organizations now need to attract, retain, and motivate teams and employees across distance, time zones, and cultural differences. Building authentic and lasting human relations may be the most important calling for leaders in this century. According to management and global leadership specialist Maya Hu-Chan, the concept of “saving face” can help any leader preserve dignity and create more empathetic cross-cultural relationships.
“Face” represents one’s self-esteem, self-worth, identity, reputation, status, pride, and dignity. Saving face is often understood as saving someone from embarrassment, but it’s also about developing an understanding of the background and motivations of others to discover the unique facets we all possess. Without that understanding, we risk causing others to lose face without even knowing it.
Hu-Chan explains saving face through anecdotes and practical tools, such as her BUILD leadership model (Benevolence, Understanding, Interacting, Learning, and Delivery). This book illustrates how we can honor face to create positive first impressions, avoid causing others to lose face, and, most importantly, help others save face to build trust and lasting relationships inside and outside the workplace.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maya Hu-Chan is a globally-recognized keynote speaker, author, leadership educator, and ICF Master Certified Coach. Ranked Top Leadership Coach of 2021, Top 8 Global Solutions Thinkers by Thinkers50, World Top 30 Leadership Gurus, and Top 100 Thought Leaders in Management & Leadership, Maya has worked with thousands of leaders from Global Fortune 500 companies, government and non-profits around the world.
Maya is the president of Global Leadership Associates, a global consultancy that partners with organizations to build leadership capabilities and enable profound growth and change.
Her book Global Leadership: The Next Generation was a Harvard Business School Working Knowledge book. She is a contributing author of 10 business books and a columnist for INC.com. Her most recent book, Saving Face: How to Preserve Dignity and Build Trust (Berrett-Koehler 2020), is #1 Amazon Best Seller. This book explores the nuances of working with people across cultures and diverse backgrounds through the universal concepts of saving, losing, and honoring “face.”
Born and raised in Taiwan and living in San Diego, California, Maya is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English. She earned her Master’s degree from University of Pennsylvania and B.A. from National Chengchi University in Taiwan.
Maya has lectured at the Brookings Institution, University of California, San Diego, University of Chicago, University of Southern California, and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Voices for Leadership-Your Pathway to Becoming a More Influential Leader
Hardcover – January 17, 2022
by Brian Brogen (Author)
Featuring Maya Hu-Chan
A new age has dawned. Prominent leaders, experts, and visionaries are digging deep to examine their shifting roles and responsibility in business, their communities, and society. They have become change-makers, paradigm-shifters, and alchemists. By asking leading questions and sharing our collective experiences, we will empower the generations of new thinkers and an international movement of voices for leadership. Read the secrets of success from these 40 leaders, including mine.
Available on Amazon. Click here to purchase.
Coach Me! Your Personal Board of Directors: Leadership Advice from the World’s Greatest Coaches 1st Edition
by Jonathan Passmore (Editor), Brian Underhill (Editor), Marshall Goldsmith (Editor)
Featuring Maya Hu-Chan
Chapter 14- How ‘Face’ Can Help You Manage Up
In Coach Me! Your Personal Board of Directors: Leadership Advice from the World’s Greatest Coaches, a team of world-renowned executive coaches and leadership experts delivers a revolutionary collection of contributions from 52 of the globe’s leading management thinkers. Each curated piece explores a critical issue in leadership, covering topics like self-awareness, communication, interpersonal relationships, emotional intelligence, delegation, coaching, change management, transition management, execution, and career development.
Among the 50 stories included within, readers will find inspirational and practical advice based on real-world leaders who were forced to transform their company’s business model, their organization, or themselves to achieve success. Each concise, actionable chapter lets you be a fly on the wall of a successful leader demonstrating a solution to a commonly encountered leadership problem.
Available on Amazon. Click here to purchase.

Organizations now need to attract, retain, and motivate teams and employees across distance, time zones, and cultural differences. Building authentic and lasting human relations may be the most important calling for leaders in this century. According to management and global leadership specialist Maya Hu-Chan, the concept of “saving face” can help any leader preserve dignity and create more empathetic cross-cultural relationships.
“Face” represents one’s self-esteem, self-worth, identity, reputation, status, pride, and dignity. Saving face is often understood as saving someone from embarrassment, but it’s also about developing an understanding of the background and motivations of others to discover the unique facets we all possess. Without that understanding, we risk causing others to lose face without even knowing it.
Hu-Chan explains saving face through anecdotes and practical tools, such as her BUILD leadership model (Benevolence, Understanding, Interacting, Learning, and Delivery). This book illustrates how we can honor face to create positive first impressions, avoid causing others to lose face, and, most importantly, help others save face to build trust and lasting relationships inside and outside the workplace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maya Hu-Chan is a globally recognized keynote speaker, author, leadership educator, and ICF Master Certified Coach. Ranked Top Leadership Coach of 2021, Top 8 Global Solutions Thinkers by Thinkers50, World Top 30 Leadership Gurus, and Top 100 Thought Leaders in Management & Leadership, Maya has worked with thousands of leaders from Global Fortune 500 companies, government and non-profits around the world.
Maya is the president of Global Leadership Associates, a global consultancy that partners with organizations to build leadership capabilities and enable profound growth and change.
Her book Global Leadership: The Next Generation was a Harvard Business School Working Knowledge book. She is a contributing author of 10 business books and a columnist for INC.com. Her new book Saving Face: How to Preserve Dignity and Build Trust will be published in June 2020 (Berrett-Koehler).
Born and raised in Taiwan and living in San Diego, California, Maya is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English. She earned her Master’s degree from University of Pennsylvania and B.A. from National Chengchi University in Taiwan.
Maya has lectured at the Brookings Institution, University of California, San Diego, University of Chicago, University of Southern California, and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.



Featuring AUTHOR Maya Hu-Chan
Buy Now on Amazon
Featuring AUTHOR Maya Hu-Chan-Chapter 14
Buy Now on Amazon