WE ARE MORE GLOBAL!

Do you know how to manage your business effectively in China? As an expatriate working in Germany, are you comfortable with your communication style managing your German colleagues? Does your global staff know how to develop a successful strategy to manage the offices virtually in Asia? In today’s global marketplace, a global manager is defined in many different ways. Whether the global manager is traveling globally or working virtually across cultures, the key to success is to understand how culture impacts the business environment and to adapt one’s work and communication style to achieve a global mindset. THREE STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE A GLOBAL MINDSET 1. Understand Your Own Cultural Background What is your own culture? First, begin by identifying your cultural background and how this may influence your management style. This is not an easy process. One exercise that has been successful for global managers is to discuss the meaning of their name with colleagues. By defining one’s name from a cultural perspective, global managers are challenged to consider how their cultural background may influence the way they work. 2. Gain Cultural Etiquette Insight Global managers must increase their knowledge of cultures where they do business. Gaining insight into the cultural etiquette of a country will help the global manager make better decisions to lead more effectively. Although learning the etiquette of a culture may seem like a basic exercise, it is sometimes the small mistakes that make the biggest impact. A common example is the business card exchange. It is important to understand the value placed on the business card, especially when working in Asia. For example, in countries such as China and Japan, the business card should be viewed as a symbol of the relationship. Therefore, the card must be treated with care. A few helpful tips include exchanging the card with two hands, keeping the card in sight during the conversation, and understanding that writing on the card is viewed as an insult. Maintaining a level of formality when it comes to the business card exchange is good business practice when traveling globally. Increasing one’s understanding of cultural etiquette will allow the global manager to achieve his goals and, equally as important, will minimize the opportunity for mistakes. 3. Change Your Hat and Adapt! Global managers may not have all of the answers as they are increasingly challenged to work across cultures. The good news is that by adapting one’s own cultural orientation patterns to work effectively across cultures, an individual can strive towards achieving a global mindset. How do you adapt your own management style to meet the needs of the other culture? A global manager is relocating to Shanghai and needs to understand the best approach for develop relationships with his new Chinese colleagues. One of the most important tips for achieving success in China is to recognize that China is a relationship-based culture. Therefore, the global manager must make it a priority to spend time developing relationships with their Chinese colleagues. The global manager should invite his Chinese colleagues out for lunch to get to know them on a personal basis. One quick tip: Don’t talk about business! The focus of the lunch is about getting to know one another. This is the beginning of building a successful relationship in China. Understanding one’s own cultural background and recognizing how it impact’s one’s work style, learning and practicing correct cultural etiquette, and adapting one’s management style to meet the expectations of the local culture and the stakeholders will lead a global manager to achieve a global mindset. Achieving a global mindset will lead to an effective and efficient experience for the global manager.

How can you effectively negotiate a contract with the Chinese? Here is an example of what tends to happen when a US team does not understand how the Chinese culture impacts the business environment. The American team travels to Shanghai for a week-long negotiation with a Chinese team. The American team informs the Chinese team upon arrival that they will need to complete the contract negotiation by Friday to return to the United States by the weekend. The Chinese team invites the American team to lunches, tours of Shanghai, and dinner events throughout the week. By the middle of the week, the American team becomes quite frustrated that they have not made any progress with the negotiation. On Friday, the Chinese team leader escorts the American team to the airport for their departure flight. The American team leader decides to complete the negotiation with the Chinese leader en route to the airport so they will return to the US with a signed contract. What happened? Which team did better in the negotiation? Did the approach by the American team work to their benefit? Learn how to effectively negotiate and build relationships with China and with countries you are working with around the world with a cultural training session. Understanding how to effectively work with other cultures can save employees and organizations time and money.

Whether you are the director of sales for a global company, the government official of a country, or the manager of a manufacturing company, relationship building is one of the keys to success. When it comes to working with people from other countries, establishing a level of comfort from the beginning is a pathway to building a successful relationship. In certain cultures around the world, establishing the relationship upfront is a priority for doing business. For example, when working with countries such as Italy, China and Brazil, the expectation is to get to know one another first before introducing the business discussion. One way to do this is to schedule a lunch upon arrival and spend time with your host. If you are not able to meet your clients in person, schedule a video conference to engage in discussion face-to-face. This interaction will go a long way in building the trust factor that is so important, especially in relationship-building countries. Task and Relationship Building Early in my career, people would tell me that I would be good in sales. I translated that to mean that I was a good relationship-builder, which I took as a nice compliment. Being a Greek-American, I have attributed some of the good ‘sales’ skills to my cultural background. Understanding cultural differences and how they impact not only my behavior, but those around me, has enabled me to engage in effective relationship-building. Although it may seem obvious to do this, it does not always translate as effective as we would like it to when we travel outside of the United States. As Americans we tend to manage our tasks first and focus on the relationship at a later date. This strategy works well in other task-driven cultures but when it comes to working in relationship-focused cultures, it can build roadblocks with colleagues and clients. Relationship Building Tools I facilitated a training for a group of American-based staff working remotely with India. There were significant challenges with the United States staff – specifically building trust with the India staff. One tool introduced to the United States-based team included talking with their Indian colleagues about topics other than business. The American managers began asking their Indian colleagues about their cricket matches. They also asked about the local cuisine. The two teams exchanged photos of each other and they even exchanged recipes and sent care packages of their favorite food. Getting to know the people you are working with can help tremendously in the long run with your work colleagues. That’s right — the teams sent each other care packages! And it was a global company. These minor adaptions to the business strategy can make a major difference in the business relationship and the success of the organization. Not to mention the morale and overall happiness of the employees. As we maneuver through our daily work, one thing is for sure – building relationships will benefit you in many ways. And in several countries around the world, establishing a rapport with your business colleagues upfront will go a long way in obtained long-lasting relationships. Whether we are working with colleagues or clients in Chicago, Sao Paolo or Milan, it’s important to spend time building relationships. It’s also important to remember that in several cultures around the world, individuals need to develop the relationship before they can even consider doing business with other individuals that they do not know. Without the relationship, nothing will get done. Understanding the cultural differences and the expectations of the people we do business with can be a major game changer in terms of global success. So go to Paris for lunch, take the time to have a conversation over coffee with your local team or ask your colleagues in Germany about their summer holiday plans…you will be surprised what a difference it will make when you need that important report done ASAP!

During a recent visit to Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean, I was impressed, although not surprised, with the level of service provided throughout my stay. I thought about how culture impacts relationship building and customer service. Around the world, individuals from certain cultures tend to have a more natural ability to develop relationships. A few examples of these cultures include Greece, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. This is particularly important in places in the world like Turks and Caicos where hospitality is their primary industry. The hospitality I experienced in Turks & Caicos offered a level of kindness that seemed to go beyond a typical customer service training course. As I dug deeper into learning about the local culture, I thought about how islanders also tend to be great relationship builders. I know this first hand from working in the resort industry on the Greek Islands (by the way, a fabulous experience) and also from having ancestry from the island of Corfu in the Ionian Islands. Having the natural ability to develop relationships with customers tends to translate to a high level of customer service especially in places like Turks and Caicos. Repatriation from the Island Life When I repatriated (returned to my home country, the United States, after working in Crete and Corfu, Greece for a few years), I hit the wall as we say. I discovered a lot of resistance toward how I could offer value to global organizations based in the United States. I was trilingual (English, German, Greek) and I had been working on a European team catering to a global clientele. This was in 1995. That was over twenty years ago. Unfortunately there still remains resistance in the topic of how national culture impacts business. Some examples include how one’s culture impacts the way someone leads a negotiation, how they communicate, and how they view time which directly impacts how they perceive deadlines. We cannot take national culture out of global business. Each culture has specific characteristics that make it unique. By learning these cultural characteristics, we are more equipped to handle daily tasks and challenges in the global business environment. Knowing someone’s cultural background in addition to their background and experience, their company culture values, and all of the other variables needed to manage business effectively will only help us toward achieving global success. Self Awareness and Understanding How do we tap into our own cultural background and translate it to benefit us in our personal and professional life? How do we identify these cultural characteristics in cultures other than our own? We increase our knowledge of cultures and we increase our self awareness and understanding of ourselves and others. Improving our self awareness is not easy. It is about making a personal change in one’s thought process. We need to be aware of our own cultural background and how it impacts our work style. We also need to be able to adapt our work style to meet the needs of the other party. Having a high level of awareness allows us the opportunity to tune in to why we do the things the way we do and how it impacts others and it also allows us to view situations from our client’s perspective not just our own. Knowing what our client or colleague needs and adapting our approach so the other person has a better understanding will enhance the overall relationship whether you are working in the resort industry on a beautiful island, working in oil and gas on a rig out at sea, or in an office headquarters in Chicago. Your Island Challenge Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure during the summer months, I challenge you to look around and to ask questions about the local culture. Take a moment to talk with people when you are traveling and to learn about their way of life and how they get things done. You might be surprised at how much you can learn about yourself in this process and how you can improve your own self awareness. At the end of the day, whatever time zone you are in, business is about people. When we think we can work globally with other people from around the world without considering their cultural background, we are missing opportunities. How much more successful could you be if you took a moment to consider how the individual or team’s culture could impact their work style and how you might adapt your mindset to meet their needs?

I recently returned to the place where I took my first expatriate assignment right out of college. What an exciting experience to return to the island where I gained so much experience and cultural insight. My trip back to Crete, Greece reminded me of how much I grew and changed during my time overseas. During my stay on the beautiful island of Crete, I reflected on the reasons why someone should absolutely go on an expatriate assignment. For those of you contemplating an international assignment, here are a few tips of why you should run, not walk, to the airport for your exciting experience abroad. Grow and Change Get ready to challenge yourself to grow in ways that you may never experience without leaving your home country. My first day on the job at a Greek resort company, my manager told me he not only wanted me to DJ at the resort but he also needed me to speak German. At the time, I did not speak German but I spoke English and Greek. I did have experience as a DJ but that was the last thing I expected to be doing at the resort. I learned German on the fly, as we say, and went to Germany to take German language classes during the winter season. Change is good and also difficult but you will look back and realize how much you grew not only as professionally but personally. Enhance Your Cultural Awareness By living in another country, you have the opportunity to increase your cultural awareness and open your eyes to other ways of doing things. Working in Crete, I was on a team with people from Belgium, Germany, Greece and The Netherlands. The clientele in the resorts were from all over Europe. I quickly realized that I would have to learn how to work with a culturally diverse team and cater to European guests. It was exciting and challenging at the same time. I gained cultural insight working with cultures different from my own. Some of the tips I gained I still use in my every day life. Gaining cultural awareness is a skill that will help you not only interact with other cultures more effectively, but when you return to your home country, you will gain an enhanced ability to interact and to work with people with different interests and backgrounds than your own. Learn to Adapt Learning to adapt is no longer an option to work effectively in a global marketplace. It is imperative for future global managers and leaders to understand how to work with other cultures. Working in another culture will allow you the opportunity to adapt to other ways of getting things done. Learning to adapt is vital to one’s path toward global success. This is a skill that can best be learned when you are ‘thrown’ into an environment that you are not used to and do not understand. We tend to get used to the way things get done in our own environment. When we leave the country and work somewhere else, everything is different. We must adapt and change to the new way of doing things. Manage the Unexpected When we think of working in another culture, rarely do we immediately think about the variety of experiences and changes we will go through during our stay. As a Greek-American, I grew up in a household where olive oil, bread, and tomatoes were foundations of our diet. Moving to Crete, I grew a stronger appreciation for the healthy Cretan diet. I lived on fresh fruits and vegetables and the delicious Cretan olive oil. I also learned what I needed to survive and be effective in over 90 degree heat day in and day out. I worked outside most of the time and believe me, if you are not used to working in this heat, you will learn quickly what to eat and what to drink (Cretan mineral water) to have the right amount of energy to get through the day. In other words, when you are living and working in another country, you are faced with unexpected challenges and it is up to you to find the solutions. Increase Your Marketability If you work in another country and come back to your US headquarter office with a set of tools to work effectively across cultures, you will be more marketable. Being able to manage, to negotiate, and to communicate across cultures is a key to success for global managers. Mistakes will be made and can be costly if companies do not have managers with the skill set to work with other people from around the world. Less than half of the United States population holds a passport, which means they do not leave the country. I once trained a client who was relocating from the company headquarter location in the United States to Singapore. Before he started his new role in Singapore, headhunters from Asia where calling him for his next opportunity! Understanding culture and how culture impacts business is very important. So say yes to that assignment whether it’s 6 months or 3 years and pack your bags. Expect to change and enjoy the process of growing your global mindset. Find a fellow expatriate to talk to if you need some reassurance. You won’t regret your exciting opportunity to grow, to change, and to enhance your global mindset!

A postcard manager is someone who conducts business around the globe and who glides through the workday without an awareness of the cultural nuances of their surroundings. Here’s an example… Day 1: You travel to London for three days on business. You land in Heathrow from Chicago in the morning and take a taxi to the office to start your workday. Dinner is arranged at the hotel with your team and you retire early after a long day. Day 2: You rise early and take a taxi to the office after breakfast at your hotel. The day is filled with client meetings and at the end of the busy day, you head back to the hotel with a taxi for dinner and retire early to bed. Day 3: You spend the morning following up with client requests and prepare for your return back to the United States in the afternoon. But wait… Did you get to take in the local culture? Did you stop at the local pub for an order of fish and chips? Did you take the Tube? Did you stop at the corner cafe? Did you experience the local culture and cuisine during your short stay in London? On your next business trip, follow a few of these tips: -Take a moment to observe the way things are done in another culture. -Take a walk outside your hotel for a morning coffee and take notes about your observations. Consider how the observations could translate into adapting your work style in that culture. -Take time for dinner at a local restaurant and consider any cultural differences that may impact the way you manage your business in that country. You may be surprised at what you can learn in just a few days in a new environment. Take the challenge! Don’t be a postcard manager on your next business trip. Don’t miss out on a valuable opportunity to enhance your global mindset. Please share with me a tip you gained while traveling around the world on business.